Page 68 of Artful Deceit
“You don’t know why she has so much cash?”
“No.” It shed some light on Len’s comments, though. Flynn thought back to how panicked Lily had been earlier. “She said the bag contained things she’d found at her uncle’s house after he died.”
The sergeant flicked a finger towards a couple of passports on the desk, which Flynn hadn’t noticed. “Any idea why she has two passports?”
Flynn shrugged. “She grew up in different countries across Europe, so she probably has dual citizenship.”
“I’d agree with you on that if it weren’t for the fact that there are two different names in these passports.”
“What?” He lifted the passports and opened one and then the other. “This doesn’t make sense.”
“Not unless she has an identical twin we don’t know about, who shares neither her last name nor her nationality.”
“I don’t understand it,” Flynn said, staring at the passports.
“You really knew nothing about it?”
He swallowed hard and shook his head.
“We need to question her.”
“I can go and speak to her. I’m sure there’s some simpleexplanation.” Though he couldn’t imagine what it was. “That’s why she was looking for the thief,” he muttered, sinking into a chair. “She did have a vested interest in finding them. But she didn’t tell me anything about it.” Not only that. She’d outright lied to him.
“Flynn?” Sergeant Proctor said, interrupting his thoughts. “I think it’s probably better if I question Lily.”
“Maybe,” he agreed. “Yeah. That might be better.” He wasn’t sure he could remain professional. While he was keen to know why exactly Lily had a bag full of cash and two passports, he mostly wanted to question her about why she hadn’t spoken to him about it.
Whatever was going on, she should have been able to confide in him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Lily closedthe shop early in the afternoon and sent Jessica home. Pacing the back room of the shop, she kept glancing through for Flynn arriving, while chewing over her plan.
She’d tell him about the money. Lots of people kept large amounts of cash without it being dodgy. Maybe her uncle had been like Silas and didn’t trust banks.
There was no need to mention the passport since she planned on destroying it. Why had she even kept it to start with? All she could think of now was the relief it would bring to be rid of it. Whatever reason her uncle had for it, was nothing to do with her life now. She had a good thing going on St Mary’s and she should look to the future instead of dwelling on the past.
The knock at the front door startled her, and she wandered through, her smile not disguising her confusion that it was the sergeant at the door when she was expecting Flynn.
“Hi,” she said, opening the door.
“Can I come in?” His formal tone put Lily on edge, but she stepped aside and let the door fall shut behind him.
“What’s going on?”
He tugged at his collar and rested a hand on the back of thenearest chair. “I need you to explain the contents of the backpack Len Marrack stole from you.”
Her stomach turned to stone. “My backpack?” she said weakly.
“Yes. The one you neglected to report stolen and which contains large sums of cash and two passports… one of which I assume is a forgery.”
Lily’s jaw hung open.
“You can start by explaining the passports,” the sergeant said.
“I… umm…” Her heart beat so hard that her blood pulsated uncomfortably through her veins.
“You’re not denying that you have two passports with two different names?”
