Page 54 of A Poisonous Plot

“I don’t know,” Gordon said. “But I know I’d be worried if I was her. I’m worriedforher.”

“With any luck she’s putting her investigative skills to use to catch whoever’s trying to drive newcomers away.”

“I hope so,” Gordon said. “We need to sort this out, and soon. Everyone on our islands should feel safe. What’s been happening is entirely unacceptable. Until we get to the bottom of it, we need people to be careful.”

There was a puzzled undertone to the interviewer’s voice. “Are you saying people shouldn’t eat out?”

“No.” He sighed heavily. “We can’t give in to fear, can we?” There was a brief pause. “I’m sorry. I really don’t know what the answer is. Of course people are going to be nervous about eatingout for a while. The police are working on the matter. I’m sure they’ll have answers for us soon.”

The interviewer thanked Gordon before introducing a song.

Lily looked up at Kit and Seren.

“Areyou worried?” Seren asked, while Kit took his phone and turned the radio off.

“I am now,” Lily said. “I mentioned to Gordon that I was concerned but he insisted I shouldn’t worry. Apparently he changed his mind about that.”

Seren grimaced. “You don’t think someone would try and poison your ice cream?”

“I really hope not.” Her heart was thundering at the thought of it.

“I suppose it’s good that Gordon’s spreading awareness,” Kit said. “Everyone should be a bit more vigilant.”

“There are articles in the press on the mainland too,” Seren said.

“Why?” Lily asked. “Did the police put out a statement or something?”

“I don’t know.” Seren frowned. “I thought you might know.”

Lily let out a sigh that was part growl as she pulled her phone out. “I’ll ask Flynn.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Rather than respondingto Lily’s messages, Flynn wandered over to visit her on Wednesday morning. When he told the sergeant he was nipping out for a while, he didn’t bat an eyelid. The atmosphere between the two of them had relaxed in the past few weeks. He’d even say that they rubbed along well.

“This looks like good timing,” Flynn remarked when he walked into the shop to find Lily staring forlornly into a bowl of ice cream. “Do you need a taste tester?”

“No.” She pulled the bowl closer to her.

He frowned, thinking things might be worse between them than he thought if she was no longer letting him taste the ice cream.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m checking to see if it’s poisoned.”

Confused, he shook his head and pulled out a chair.

“I know what you’re going to say – that I’m just looking for a reason to delay opening the shop, but that’s not what’s going on. I’m genuinely worried the ice cream is going to make people ill.”

He frowned. “Because some of your ingredients came from the garden centre?”

“Yes. I washed everything well, but I didn’t examine everything closely.”

“The results came back from the lab,” he told her solemnly. “In both the herbs and the tea they found compounds that were consistent with daffodils and hydrangeas.”

“No way!” Lily slapped her palms on the tabletop, making him wince. “Daffodils and hydrangeas?I can’t believe you’re serious.”

“You were the one who said all along it was garden plants.”

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