Page 79 of A Poisonous Plot

“Calm down,” he hissed. “Whatever theory you have, we can go somewhere private and you can tell me properly. There are sick people here and you’re yelling loudly enough to disturb them all.”

“Sorry,” she said, barely lowering her voice at all. “It’s definitely Sally Pengelly, though. I just figured it all out. It’s obvious, if you think about it…” She trailed off as Gordon Pengelly stepped out of a room further along the corridor.

The grimace hit her lips immediately, and she did her best to look sheepish.

“You’re right,” she said to sergeant Proctor quietly. “This should probably be a private conversation.” She took a step closer so that only he could hear. “We need to be quick though, before she figures out we’re onto her.”

“What’s going on?” Gordon asked, striding over to them. “I heard Sally’s name mentioned.”

Lily offered him a weak smile. “Unfortunately, there’s been another casualty. PC Grainger was cut by one of those sleeping beauty plants. He’s currently unconscious.”

“Oh, dear,” Gordon said, his lips twisting to the side. “I’m sorry to hear that. What’s that got to do with my daughter?”

“I’m very sorry,” Lily said gently. “But there’s evidence that Sally is at the root of these crimes.”

Heat blazed up Gordon’s throat and his cheeks flushed too. “That’s absurd. She’d never be involved in anything like that.”

Ignoring him, Lily appealed to the sergeant. “We really need to find her. I’m concerned she’s going to do something else. We need to put a stop to this. And quickly.” Her gaze went to Gordon. “Is she here with you?”

“No. She dropped me off. I was going to call her to pick me up.” He gave a small shake of the head and puffed his chest out as he addressed Sergeant Proctor. “These allegations are ridiculous. I hope you’re not going to pay her any attention.”

The sergeant looked down at Lily. “You mentioned evidence? You’re sure it’s Sally?”

She nodded. “I can explain everything in the car, but we should go and find her.”

“You can’t be serious.” Gordon Pengelly huffed out a laugh. “You’re letting some clueless girl do your job instead of doing proper police work?”

“I’d hardly call her a girl,” the sergeant said gruffly. “And I’ve never been above taking information from our residents. That’s what gives our community strength. We work together.”

“Of course,” Gordon said, abashed. “I just don’t understand how she can point the finger at Sally.”

“Sally did it.” Lily looked pleadingly at Sergeant Proctor. “I know we don’t always see eye to eye, but please trust me on this. We need to find her. Right now.”

“You can’t go harassing people based on hearsay,” Gordon said. “Surely you’re above that, if nothing else.”

“I don’t intend to harass anyone,” Sergeant Proctor said flatly. “If Sally is innocent, like you say, then she’s got nothing to worry about.” He tipped his head towards the door and Lily fell into step beside him.

“She’ll be looking at jail time, won’t she?” Lily asked as they made for the door. The sergeant gave her a puzzled sidelong glance, but she barely registered it. “Even if she didn’t physically touch Flynn, this will still count as assaulting a police officer,won’t it?” She didn’t wait for an answer. She didn’t need one. “I hope she gets locked up for a very long time.”

Outside the building, Lily finally stopped wittering.

“You’re sure it’s Sally?” the sergeant asked, stopping in front of the Land Rover.

“No,” Lily whispered. “I’m not sure of anything.”

His eyeballs looked as though they might take flight from their sockets. “Then what the hell was all that about?”

“Shh! Just trust me. I have a hunch.” She glanced back at the hospital doors. “Let’s just wait a minute…”

“I have no idea what is going on,” Sergeant Proctor grumbled.

Lily was worrying that she’d got everything wrong when Gordon stepped out of the hospital.

“Wait!” he shouted. “Just wait. I need you to explain this. I can’t for the life of me understand why you’d think Sally was behind any of this.”

“I’m afraid we’ll have to fill you in later,” Lily said, heading to the passenger door of the police car. “We’re in a rush.”

“It wasn’t Sally,” Gordon said firmly. “Why is no one looking into Arthur like I told you to?”

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