Page 58 of A Poisonous Plot

“Did you find anything?”

Lily chewed on the inside of her cheek, debating how much to say. “I found out that he gets some of his food supplies from here,” she said quietly.

Sally stopped loading the tray and lifted her gaze to Lily. “So?”

“So it would be a convenient way for someone to sabotage his business.”

“You think someone here has been poisoning people?” She huffed out a humourless laugh and picked up the tray.

“I’m looking into that theory, yes.” Lily had to move quickly to keep up with Sally as she went back to the counter.

“I thought you were questioning Arthur because of his blog, not because you were suspicious of everyone who works here.”

“Like I said, I’m just looking into the theory.”

“You can look all you want,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But it’s ridiculous. Nobody here would do that.”

“Can I ask you a question?” Lily said, trying to pin Sally with her gaze as she cleared the items from the tray into the dishwasher.

“What?” she asked impatiently.

“Were you upset when you couldn’t find a job on the island?”

A muscle twitched in her jaw and Lily wasn’t convinced she was going to answer. Finally, she stopped with her cleaning and turned to face Lily.

“No,” she said evenly. “I wasn’t.”

“You must have been a bit disappointed.”

She shook her head. “If I wanted a job here, I’d have found one.”

“How do you mean?” Lily asked.

“I mean, I have a degree in accounting. If I wanted to stay on St Mary’s, I could set up my own business. I’d find a few clients locally, and some more who I could work for remotely.” Shethrew her hands up. “I could also workhere,if it was just about earning enough to live on the island.”

“I don’t understand,” Lily said. “I thought you’d been job hunting.”

“I had a half-hearted job hunt,” she said with a sigh. “But it was only really for my dad’s benefit. I want to live on the mainland. I went to university in Bristol and I loved it. My heart is there, not here. But I know that’s hard for my dad to accept, so for a while I pretended to be checking out my options. Just to give him time to get used to the idea of me living in Bristol permanently.”

Lily’s mouth hung open as she considered the new information. “So you were never upset about the job situation here?”

“No.” She wrinkled her nose. “What did you think, that I might be poisoning newcomers to keep the Scillies strictly a place for true Scillonians?”

“I think it’s a reasonable motive.”

“It’s crazy, and it doesn’t even make sense. Most of the businesses here rely on visitors.”

“Visitors, yes. But people who move here and set up home, and open businesses or take jobs?”

“Everyone is welcome,” Sally said. “I know there can be some banter between born and bred Scillonians and people who move here, but it’s only fun. No one means anything by it.”

“Your dad must have been upset about you not finding a job over here,” Lily said.

Sally slapped a hand on her forehead. “Now you’re going to accuse Dad!” She rolled her eyes. “I can certainly see why Denzel was upset with all your questions. Your crazy accusations are quite offensive.”

“People have been poisoned,” Lily pointed out. “Glynis Ward is still in hospital. I only want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“My dad is one of the most caring people I know,” Sally said fiercely. “Did you hear him on the radio this morning? He’s concerned about the residents, and doing everything he can to make sure people stay safe.”

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