Page 36 of Death on the Rocks

His fingers drummed against his thigh when he turned, and it took a moment for recognition to hit his eyes. “Oh, hi.”

“I had lunch in the restaurant,” she told him.

“Nice,” he muttered and turned away again.

Lily moved to stand beside him. “I heard you found Vinny’s camera.”

“Yeah.” He paused before saying more. “Do you think that sometimes things work out as they’re supposed to?” His voice had a faraway quality, as though he was thinking out loud.

“Maybe,” she whispered, but he didn’t seem to be waiting for a reply.

“Like sometimes when people die, it’s for the best…”

Unsure how to respond, Lily merely gave a quiet hum of acknowledgement.

He shook his head and looked at her. “I’m not saying he deserved to die or anything… but…” He cleared his throat. “Some people… well, some people aren’t very nice. Maybe Vinny wasn’t very nice?” It came out as a question and he was suddenly staring at Lily as though she might have all the answers.

“Maybe.” She smiled sadly. “I only encountered him a couple of times, but I didn’t find him at all pleasant.”

“I think he hated women,” Oscar said, looking towards the horizon again. “And I think he was a bully.”

Lily nodded. “I saw your girlfriend earlier,” she told him.

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” he said, surprise wrinkling his forehead.

“The girl I saw you with the other day…”

“Katie?” His eyes bored into Lily’s. “Where was she?”

“At the B&B. She looked upset.”

He swore under his breath. “When was this? Where is she now?”

“I don’t know. She was leaving when I saw her.”

“And she was upset?”

“She was crying. I think she’d been talking to Alanna.”

He swore again and pressed a button on his phone before holding it to his ear. “She won’t answer my calls,” he muttered.

Lily had a whole bunch of questions, but what she really wanted to know was if he’d been the one to steal the camera and if he knew about the missing memory card. Before she could ask a question, a tall woman stalked out of the hotel entrance and called out to Oscar.

“The room service won’t deliver itself,” she bellowed. “Are you working today or not? Because I’d appreciate it if you could get your head out of the clouds.”

Oscar moved the phone from his ear but continued to stare at it in his hand. “No. I can’t work today.” His gaze flicked up to the woman. “I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well. I have to go.”

The woman shouted after him, but he didn’t look back as he rushed away down the steep street.

Lily followed him, but he broke into a run. By the time she reached the lane at the bottom of the slope, she’d lost sight of him entirely.

Chapter Twenty-Four

The walkfrom the hotel to the Mermaid Inn only took a few minutes. Lily pushed the door open and her eyes did a quick sweep of the nautical themed decorations before landing on the exact person she’d been looking for.

“I was hoping to find you here,” Lily said, sliding onto the stool beside Seren.

“It’s kind of sad how easy I am to track down.” She smiled widely and gave Lily an affectionate pat on the shoulder in greeting. “I’m not even working and I’m still here. But in my defence, I just finished a shift. I was waiting to see if Kit might appear, but I guess he’s already at home.” Her features turned serious. “How are you doing? Are you managing to enjoy your holiday?”

---