Page 81 of A Poisonous Plot

“Arthur had laid everything out in his blog,” Gordon said as though Arthur were still to blame. “I only wanted to give it a go. It’s not as though I was trying to kill anyone.”

“Where did you get your hands on that sleeping beauty thing?” the sergeant asked.

“I got a couple of them imported ages ago. It’s actually not difficult.”

“Why?” Lily asked.

“Arthur had been going on about them and I was intrigued.”

Words failed Lily.

“And you put evidence in Arthur’s greenhouse,” Sergeant Proctor said. “You tried to set him up.”

“That lad is too stupid to defend himself properly. Everyone would have believed it was him.”

The sergeant glared at him. “You’d have let him take the blame?”

“I wouldn’t have needed to blame anyone if she hadn’t been asking so many questions.” He jabbed a finger in Lily’s direction. “I was only going to make a few people ill and then cause a bit of a stir… make it seem like the islands aren’t such a friendly place… but she just kept asking questions and messing everything up.”

Lily blinked rapidly as she tried to comprehend what she was hearing.

“I’m going to need you to come down to the station,” Sergeant Proctor said, suddenly business-like.

“You weren’t serious about prison, were you?” Gordon asked.

“Very. Food tampering and poisoning are serious offences. You could also be charged with grievous bodily harm.”

Gordon shook his head. “I need to go and explain everything to Sally.”

“I’m afraid the only place you’re going is to the station with me. You can call Sally later.”

“No. I’ll come to the station later, but I really need to explain this to Sally in person.”

“I don’t think you understand,” Sergeant Proctor said. “I’m arresting you.”

Gordon’s eyes bulged. “I thought you’d just need to question me to start with. And surely I need a lawyer.”

“You’ll definitely need a lawyer,” the sergeant said. “But we’ll get to that later…”

Lily hopped out of the car. “Before you read him his rights and all that fun stuff, I think I’ll say goodbye.”

“I’ll need to speak to you later too,” the sergeant said to Lily, while he opened the back door for a dumbfounded Gordon.

Lily pointed at the hospital. “I’ll be with Flynn.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

The rush of adrenaline subsided,turning Lily’s insides jittery as she walked back to Flynn’s room. He stirred when she walked in and she darted to the bedside, but he only groaned before his facial muscles slackened and he slipped back into sleep.

She pulled up the chair and kept hold of his hand while she waited for him to properly wake up.

The nurse came to check on him a couple of times over the next hour or so. When the door opened a third time, Lily looked up to find Sergeant Proctor creeping in.

“Hi,” he whispered. “Has he woken up yet?”

“Not properly.” She tilted her head and caught the sympathetic look the sergeant gave her.

“Here’s what I can’t figure out,” he said quietly. “Did you really suspect Sally had been poisoning people?”

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