Page 30 of Dead in the Water

“They’ll be okay.” Keith rubbed vigorously at Joyce’s back. “It’s awful, but they’ll be all right in the end. And I’m sure James will take comfort in knowing that his parents are together again. Joseph hasn’t been the same since Lisa died.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Joyce snapped, drawing away from him. “It’s no comfort at all. How does both of them being dead make anything better?”

Keith’s brow wrinkled, and he looked apologetically at Lily. “I was just trying to find something positive…”

“He was our friend, and he’s dead,” Joyce said, dabbing at her eyes with a soggy tissue. “There’s nothing positive about it.”

Lily offered a sympathetic smile. “Is there anything I can do?”

She shook her head. “We just need to get through the next few days, then we can go home.”

“I think we could probably do with a proper holiday,” Keith said wearily.

Joyce frowned. “I just want to be at home.”

“I can imagine.” Lily pressed her lips together then caught Keith’s eye. “If you get fed up with the hotel, come to the shop. Ice cream is on me.”

“Thank you. That’s kind.” He extended his hand. “I’m Keith, by the way. This is my wife, Joyce.”

After shaking his hand, Lily offered her condolences again.

As Joyce moved away, fixed to her husband’s side, Lily couldn’t help but think of Sean’s comment. Itwasquite laughable to think of her killing someone.

That didn’t mean it wasn’t possible.

Chapter Fifteen

Thinking so muchabout Joseph was a little depressing, but it was preferable to the other thoughts which plagued Lily. The situation with Flynn was something she was happy to push into a corner of her mind. The same went for the niggling notion that she should approach Maria and find out if she owned the ice cream shop. And if so, why she was intent on hiding that fact.

When she woke on Wednesday after a fitful sleep and still couldn’t put Joseph out of her mind, she decided chatting everything through might help.

On the way to the police station, it occurred to her that Flynn might be on duty. A jolt of unpleasantness hit deep in her stomach at the thought that she’d rather not see him. Mostly that was because she wanted to focus on making sure Joseph’s death really was an accident. Seeing Flynn would raise other issues – the ones she’d locked in a corner of her mind, to be ignored until a later date.

If it was only the sergeant and PC Hill on duty, that would make things easier. She could chat everything through with them and see what they thought about what she’d found out about Joseph – specifically his dubious relationship with the co-owners of his yacht.

Sadly, Flynn was manning the front desk, which meant all her carefully constructed questions turned into a jumble in her head the moment she walked inside.

“Hey!” He sat up straighter, an uncertain smile pulling at his lips. “How are you?”

“Fine, thanks.”

“I messaged you this morning.”

“I forgot to reply,” she lied. The message had only asked how she was, so it wasn’t as though it warranted a speedy reply. “Is the sergeant around?”

Creases formed across his forehead, but he didn’t have time to reply before Sergeant Proctor walked out from the back room.

He tipped his chin in greeting. “Hi, Lily.”

“Hi, Sarge.”

He grinned and drifted further into the room.

“I wanted to ask you about the man who died at the harbour,” she began.

“Poor man. Terrible tragedy.”

“Yes.” That standard response was grating on her nerves. “I was wondering if you would share what you’ve found so far? Maybe we could exchange information.”

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