Page 86 of A Poisonous Plot

“I don’t know why I’m surprised to see you here,” she told Ted. “Flynn called you, I guess?”

“Yes. He said you needed help.”

“Thank you,” she said, sagging into his hug. “Did he tell you everything that happened?”

“I got the broad strokes.” He kept a reassuring hand on her shoulder when he took a step back. “Is he doing okay? He said he was fine, but he has to stay in hospital?”

“Just for another night and mostly as a precaution, I think. He looks rough, but he’s all right.”

“Glad to hear it. No offence, but you look pretty rough yourself.”

“I stayed at the hospital overnight,” she told him, slipping the key into the lock. “I didn’t sleep too well.”

“You’ve got a few hours to sleep before the shop opening.”

“I don’t think I’m going to open today,” she said, stepping inside.

“Flynn thought you might say that. I’m supposed to convince you otherwise.”

“It’s not because of Flynn,” she said, flopping into the nearest chair. “It’s because I now know for a fact that Gordon was sabotaging businesses and I don’t know if he’s contaminated the ice cream somehow. I’ve tasted most of the batches with ingredients from the garden centre, but I can’t be sure.” She ran her hands through her hair. “How can I serve it to children without being certain I’m not poisoning them?”

Ted’s grimace wasn’t exactly reassuring.

“I can’t, can I?” she asked, needing guidance from someone who wasn’t sleep deprived and stressed.

“Where’s Gordon now?” Ted asked after a thoughtful silence.

“At the police station.” She checked her watch. “PC Hill’s taking him to the mainland today, but the ferry doesn’t leave for a while.”

“Okay,” Ted said, returning to the door. “I’ll head to the station.”

“What are you doing?”

“If he tampered with your ice cream, he might admit to it now. It’ll be in his best interests to confess before anyone else gets ill.”

“That’s a good idea.” She sighed. “Should I come?”

He shook his head. “I’ll figure it out.”

Upstairs, she resisted the temptation to get into bed. She needed to wait and see what Ted found out, and then either get to work finishing her preparations for opening the shop, or – more likely – get to work spreading the word that she was postponing.

Sinking into the armchair in the living room, she stared out of the window at the sandy beach and the hypnotic waveswashing onto the shore. When her phone rang, she grabbed at it, thinking it would be either Ted or Seren.

An unknown number flashed on the screen. She answered it with a questioning lilt.

“Hi,” the familiar voice said. “It’s Sally.”

“Hi,” Lily said, sitting upright. “How are you?”

“Honestly, I don’t know how I am, but I wanted to call and apologise.”

“What for?”

“For my dad,” she said, as though it was obvious. “I can’t believe what he’s done. This all feels completely surreal, but I’m so sorry. I know he tried to poison you as well as the others.”

“You don’t need to apologise. It was your dad, not you.”

“I know, but I feel as though I should have realised what he was up to. I honestly didn’t have a clue. Even now, I can’t comprehend that he deliberately set out to hurt people. I would never have thought him capable of it.”

---