Page 76 of Artful Deceit
“I assume you were one of the last people to see him.”
“When?” Lily asked, her heart rate skyrocketing.
“I saw you walking through town with him yesterday afternoon. That can’t have been long before he died.”
“Oh.” Her thoughts felt jumbled, like a tangled ball of wool. “Yes. I’d been investigating the thefts, and he had a few questions for me.” She sounded defensive. Shewasdefensive.
“That’s terrible as well. Len’s been cleaning my windows for years. It’s coming to something, isn’t it, when you can’t even trust the window cleaner? Thankfully, I have nothing worth stealing. The perks of being poor, I suppose.”
Lily frowned at the woman who irritated her even on a good day. Today, she had no patience with her at all. “Did you want an ice cream?”
“No. Just stretching my legs on my break. Take care of yourself,” she said as she left.
“You can go home,” Lily called to Jessica, who was wiping down a table she was certain didn’t need wiping.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I can’t think it’s going to be busy this afternoon. And I’ll probably close early. It feels weird to carry on as normal.”
“I suppose keeping busy is better than sitting around being sad.” Jessica wrung out her cloth and hung it over the tap. She fetched her bag and denim jacket, but lingered by the counter before coming over and giving Lily a big hug.
“It’s probably not a good time to mention it, but Rhys wants to book flights to the mainland. He wants to go in the middle of September, but I said I’d need to check with you. I can tell him we’ll go at the end of September instead if it’s better for you.”
Lily could hardly look at her, and ran her gaze over the ice cream instead. “It’s fine,” she said. “I already told you to do what’s best for you. Just let me know when you’ve booked it.”
“I will,” she said quietly, then told Lily to have a good afternoon.
“Thanks,” she replied, fairly sure there’d be nothing remotely good about it.
It was after eleven in the evening when Flynn arrived at Lily’s door.
“How are you?” she asked, though the answer was obvious from his face. Sad and worn out, and barely holding it together. “Have you eaten?” She reached for his hand. “I made food in case you turned up hungry at some point. I can heat it up.”
“I don’t know when I ate,” he said. “But I’m not hungry.”
“I’ll warm up some chicken pie. Maybe you’ll feel like eating when it’s in front of you.”
He followed her into the kitchen and sat slumped at the table. “I probably should have gone home for a shower at least, but…” He paused, scrubbed a hand over his face. “I just wanted to come here,” he said eventually.
“How’s it been at work?” she asked once she’d pressed start on the microwave.
“Busy. So much paperwork and so many phone calls.”
Nodding, she moved beside him, running her hand through his hair as he rested his head against her hip. They stayed that way until the microwave dinged.
He managed a few mouthfuls of chicken but mostly just pushed the food around the plate.
“I got rid of the fake passport,” Lily said eventually.
“That’s good.”
“Did Len say anything about it?”
“Not since I interviewed him yesterday, but I didn’t know what he was talking about. If he brings it up again, I’ll play dumb. I’ve already made it clear that it was your theory about him sneaking stolen goods onto the ferry that got him caught, so it’ll look as though he has a grudge against you. No one will give any credit to his claims.”
“Thank you,” she said with weight.
He shrugged and pushed his plate away. “Do you mind if I jump in the shower?”
