Page 38 of Death on the Rocks

“She worded it a bit weirdly,” Lily mused. “The post is all about her… It’s like she’s using his death for her own benefit.”

“I thought that too.” Seren took a swig of her Coke. “There’s something quite insincere about the tone of it, but if you look through her other posts, nothing sounds very genuine. I’m not sure how she has such a massive following.”

“Probably because she’s fit,” Noah said, straightening up.

Seren rolled her eyes. “Can I tell your girlfriend you said that?”

“Probably better if you don’t.” He seemed to mull it over before he gave a subtle shrug. “Although Keira’s pretty cute when she’s jealous.”

“I don’t think Alanna’s that attractive,” Lily said, lifting her eyes from her phone. “Plus, I guess most of her followers are women.”

“The women want to be her,” Noah said. “The men want to…” His lips twitched mischievously. “Bewithher,” he ventured.

Lily really couldn’t see his point of view. “I don’t understand why people are drawn to someone so insincere.”

“It’s all about image,” Noah said. “A lot of people are sucked in by all these perfect photos. They want to believe that Alannahas a perfect life. If she has a perfect life, it gives them something to aspire to.”

“Maybe,” Lily conceded. “But there’s something fishy if you ask me.”

“How do you mean?” Seren asked.

Realising what she’d said, Lily shook her head. “Nothing. Never mind.”

Seren dipped her head and lowered her voice. “Something fishy about Alanna’s social media post?”

“No.” Lily winced. “Ignore me. I shouldn’t say anything.”

“Well, now you have to tell us,” Noah said, leaning in.

She hesitated and instinctively glanced around before speaking. “I had this feeling that maybe Vinny’s death wasn’t an accident. I mentioned it to PC Grainger this morning, and it seemed as though he was going to look into it… but this afternoon he did a complete turnaround and said there was nothing to investigate.”

The pair of them stared at her as though they weren’t comprehending her.

Noah frowned deeply. “But if it wasn’t an accident…” He trailed off and shook his head.

“You think someone killed him?” Seren whispered.

“It sounds ridiculous, I know.” She smiled, hoping they wouldn’t think she was mad. “I’m probably way off the mark, but something just feels off about the whole thing.”

Seren eyed her sympathetically. “It must have been really horrible to be the one to find him.”

“Was there something about the way you found him that made you think it wasn’t an accident?” Noah asked, seeming more willing to believe her than Seren.

“No, it’s not that.” She forced a smile. “You’re probably right – it was just the shock of finding him that has sent my mind racing.”

“I didn’t mean to be dismissive,” Seren said. “If you really think there’s more to it, speak to PC Grainger again. Make him listen to you.”

“I’m sure he’d look into it further if you convinced him there was a reason to,” Noah agreed.

Seren tucked her chin. “Is that why you wanted to speak to Oscar?”

“Kind of. He seems like a sweet kid and I was worried about him when I saw him earlier.” He’d definitely seemed cagey, just as he’d done when he’d found Lily in the shed. There was also the time she’d seen him with his friend outside the B&B when Vinny’s camera had gone missing––

Lily’s eyes felt as though they might fall out of her head as that encounter came back to her. The two of them had been talking secretively. Something about someone being a creep and Oscar talking about going to the police about it.

Of course! It was them who’d taken the camera, and they clearly knew about the seedy photos. But what on earth had they done with the memory card?

She needed to speak to Oscar and find out.

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