Page 71 of Death on the Rocks

“I reckon I can stretch to that.”

“Were you coming to find me for something specific?” she asked as he took her case for her. Since he had a week off work, she assumed he wasn’t coming for an official reason.

“I thought I’d give you a police escort off the island.” A dimple puckered his cheek as he smiled. “Make sure we get rid of you.”

She snorted a laugh. “Because you’re worried about me stealing your job? I reckon I’m the best detective this island has ever seen.”

“You might be right.” He beamed before his features turned serious. “I do feel a little guilty. You did all the work and I’ll get all the credit. Not from my boss, obviously, but I felt like a minor celebrity in the pub last night.”

“To be fair, you made the arrest, and I think you did that quite adequately.”

“Quite adequately?” He slid his gaze to her. “Careful with the compliments. You’ll make me blush.”

“You don’t seem like the blushing type,” she said, smiling at him but feeling that heaviness in her chest again. Her time on the Isles of Scilly had gone by far too fast. “You were impressive, though, yesterday. That whole bluffing thing was genius. I don’t know how you stayed so calm and confident the whole time.”

“There was at least one moment when I didn’t dare look at you because I was sure I’d start laughing.”

“Me too!” Lily chuckled. “When you said something about a murder investigation and Flora asked if you were serious… all I could think was––”

“Deadly,” they both said at once, then grinned at each other and burst into laughter.

They were still laughing when Lily’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She retrieved it, then shook her head at the screen. “Unknown number. No chance.”

PC Grainger gave her a sidelong glance. “I’m surprised. I didn’t think you could cope with leaving a mystery unsolved.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m okay with not knowing which company is trying to sell me something today.”

They continued in silence for a moment and Lily racked her brain for something to fill it. She enjoyed chatting with Flynn and wanted to take the opportunity to do so while she still could. Apparently, her brain and mouth had lost the connection.

“Sorry you didn’t get much of a holiday,” he said eventually.

“As weird as it sounds, I actually enjoyed myself.”

“Not quite what you planned, though.” He gave her one of his playful looks. “Or so I hope.”

“No,” she said. “Not what I planned at all.”

“Whatwasyour plan?” he asked with a curious twitch of his eyebrow. “Why did you choose Scilly as a holiday destination?”

She slowed her pace as they bypassed the harbour and made for the promenade by Porthcressa Beach.

“I’d been here when I was a kid,” she told him, not wanting to get into the details. “I wanted to see what had changed.”

“I’ll go out on a limb and saynot much.”

“Actually, I think the introduction of the murder mystery holiday is a new concept.”

He laughed gently. “I’m not actually sure we should joke about that.”

“Police humour, right? It’s a coping mechanism.”

“Yeah, but you’re just a civilian.”

“Thanks!”

At the cafe on the promenade, he held the door for her. It seemed to be a popular spot and the window displays showed off beautiful handmade pottery. Inside, shelves displayed more bespoke pottery, and the air was thick with the sweet scent of freshly baked biscuits.

A familiar face smiled at them from a table just inside the door. “Hi,” Kit said warmly.

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