Page 78 of A Poisonous Plot

“Oh.” The doctor grimaced. “I didn’t need to change the dressing today. I only said that this morning to encourage him to stay longer.”

“Should I ask him to come back another time?”

“No. I’ll talk to him. Can’t hurt to check him over again. Keep a close eye on PC Grainger and let me know if there’s any change.”

“Gordon is here?” Lily asked.

The doctor nodded as she left.

“I can get you a chair,” the nurse said, and returned a moment later with one of the orange plastic seats from the corridor. “Not the comfiest, I’m afraid.”

“It’s fine. Thank you.” She didn’t sit, but hovered over Flynn and clung to his hand.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” the nurse said. “Press that red button if there are any problems.”

“Thanks,” Lily murmured, happy to get a moment alone with Flynn. As soon as the nurse left, she moved and ran her fingers through his hair. “Flynn?” She whispered, but got no response. After trying again, she pulled the chair closer and lowered herself onto it, then sat trailing her fingers over the back of his hand.

“I have a funny feeling about Gordon,” she said. “I know it seems unlikely because he got poisoned too, but I just think it’s him. Which isn’t helpful, I know. You police always want proof.” She smiled sadly. “If you’d like to wake up and help me figure this out, I’d appreciate it.” She waited, but he didn’t stir.

“PC Hill is collecting all the evidence from the greenhouse,” she mused quietly. “Maybe there’ll be fingerprints or something.” She looked over at Flynn and smiled, imagining what he’d say. She could hear his voice in her head telling her that someone trying to pin a crime on someone else probably wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave evidence. Then he’d frown and tell her there were a lot of stupid criminals, so they couldn’t rule it out entirely.

“I guess it’ll take a while for the forensic team to do their thing,” she said aloud. “In the meantime, Arthur is going to be under the spotlight. I told him I’d figure it out.” The chair squeaked as she leaned back. “You’d know what to do,” she said sulkily.

Her gaze was fixed on Flynn’s peaceful features, but her mind was somewhere else entirely. Calmly and methodically, she pondered everything she knew about the poisonings.

Eventually, she went back to the day she’d met with Gordon and drank the awful green smoothie. He’d been the one to pour it for her from the jug in the fridge, but as far as she could remember the rest of the staff had been there too. Gordon had introduced her to them.

Since she hadn’t heard of anyone else getting ill after consuming anything at the cafe, it can only have been her drink which was tampered with. Whoever wanted to poison her must have done it right under her nose.

She growled in frustration, certain she was missing something. If she couldn’t figure it out, whoever was responsible might just get away with it.

“Wake up and help me out here,” she whispered to Flynn, giving his hand a squeeze.

Once, he’d joked that she’d never been able to solve a mystery without him. She had a sinking feeling that he might have been right.

Chapter Thirty-Five

When the nurse returned,Lily wandered to the door, looking up and down the corridor. At the end of the hall, Sergeant Proctor was chatting to the receptionist.

A memory came to Lily out of the blue.

It was during her first visit to the island. She’d been on the ferry with Flynn, trying to figure out who’d killed the guy on the cliffs … what had Flynn said to her?

Sometimes in policing we bluff…

Back then, he’d asked her to give him her best guess as to the perpetrator. Then he’d pretended to know more than he did and watched how the suspects reacted.

Her breath hitched as she looked back at Flynn. Deep in her gut, she was sure she knew who’d done all this. She just needed to trust her instincts the way Flynn always did.

After a couple of deep breaths, she pulled her shoulders back and strode along the hall.

“Sergeant Proctor!” Lily called out, stopping him in his tracks as he walked towards the door. When he turned, she shouted again. “I know who’s been poisoning people.”

He squinted, presumably annoyed with her for screeching so loudly in the hospital. The stern look he gave her didn’t deter her.

“It’s Sally Pengelly,” she called out, loud and confident. “You need to arrest her before she hurts anyone else.”

The sergeant’s eyes flashed with annoyance as she approached him.

---