Page 52 of Death on the Rocks

“She has a motive,” Lily mused, though she couldn’t really see Katie doing it. “But I think Oscar might be in love with Katie, which also gives him a motive. I also wonder if he has the missing memory card.”

“Any other suspects?”

“Yes.” She tapped on the desk. “I get the impression that Mrs Miller is covering for Mr Miller. I don’t think they were actually together at the time of Vinny’s death. Also, Flora said she’s been worried about her husband’s mental state. She said it was out of character for him to have a go at Vinny the way he did. Plus, they’re making a last-minute trip to the mainland tomorrow. That seems fishy to me.”

“Okay,” PC Grainger said.

“There’s also Alanna Harding to consider. She confided in me that she was relieved Vinny was dead. Apparently, she’d been trying to nudge him out of her business for a while. She called him a liability.” Lily frowned. “I suppose that also makes her boyfriend a suspect since he’d probably be protective of her.”

She paused when she noticed her words were tumbling out in a rush, but there was more she had to say. “Also, I can’t figure out the missing memory card. I don’t know who took it or why?At first I thought it was Oscar, but now I wonder if it was Alanna. She’s concerned about her blog, and it would definitely reflect badly if it comes out that Vinny had been involved in something seedy.”

“You’ve certainly collected a lot of information.” PC Grainger seemed to be taking her more seriously now, but she had the impression he still wasn’t convinced. “People obviously like to talk to you.”

The cryptic statement had her shaking her head. “How do you mean?”

“I mean people keep telling you stuff. I don’t know about you, but if I’d killed someone, I’d be keeping very quiet about it, not offloading on random people.”

“I think people need to get things off their chest,” she said, slowly. “They talk without even really thinking about it.”

He nodded. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Yes. Anything.”

“Why are you so obsessed with this?” The hint of sympathy in his features, coupled with the same question she kept asking herself, had her squirming.

“I just…I… I…” She searched for a reason which wouldn’t make her sound mentally unstable. “I can’t shake the feeling that something is amiss. My gut is telling me that Vinny’s death wasn’t an accident. There was foul play involved.”

“You keep telling me how unpleasant he was, so I can’t figure out why you even care.”

She scrunched her nose up. “Just because he wasn’t a good guy, doesn’t mean that someone should get away with murder…” Although, as she said it, she was struck by an image of Katie. What if she’d tussled with him and killed him by accident? Would Lily really be okay with seeing her in prison because of it? Or if Oscar had flown into a rage because he wanted to protect his friend.

“I think we need to know the truth,” she ventured. “After that it would be up to the courts to decide what happens, right?”

His eyes narrowed and his gaze was intense as he stared at her. “I’ve just thought of something,” he said slowly. “The day before Mr Roth’s death, you also argued with him.”

“What?” She tilted her head, confused.

“You’d been involved in a heated confrontation with the deceased a mere twenty-four hours before his death.”

As that encounter came back to her, Lily tried to speak, but only managed a strangled squeak.

“During that confrontation, you twisted Mr Roth’s arm behind his back and made him whimper like a tortured puppy.”

“I didn’t think you’d seen that,” she said, grimacing.

“I turned a blind eye because I figured the guy probably deserved it.”

“Okay.” She shifted in her seat again. “Surely you’re not accusing me of anything?”

“No.” Wearily, he shook his head. “But you also don’t have an alibi for the time of his death. So I’m pointing out that if you want me to go into detective mode, you’d also be on my list of people to question further.” Again, he eyed her intently. “Where did you learn to defend yourself like that, anyway?”

She gave a dismissive shrug, not wanting to get sidetracked. “I did self-defence classes and martial arts when I was younger. I guess it stuck.”

Her mind wandered and she pictured her uncle lecturing her on the importance of physical fitness, and how important it was to know how to defend herself. He’d been obsessive about it, which hadn’t occurred to Lily as strange until she was older and realised not all little girls were instructed quite so thoroughly on how to kick grown men in the balls with enough force to immobilise them while she ran away. That and a lot of other effective defensive manoeuvres.

“Are you going to look into things more, or not?” Lily demanded, getting the conversation back on track.

PC Grainger’s lips twisted to one side. “The problem is there’s no concrete evidence of anything. Plus, I’ll be honest, it all seems quite far-fetched.”

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