A Poisonous Plot (Lily Larkin Mysteries #3)

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

While he waited for the barman to pour their drinks at the Old Town Inn, Flynn glanced across at Lily, sitting at the small round table at the side of the room. Her shoulder-length, chestnut hair cast her face in shadow as she peered at her phone.

Spending time with her made island life much more bearable. He only wished he could be more helpful in figuring out who owned the ice cream shop. It was clear how much the subject bothered her, and that, in turn, bothered him.

“Food shouldn’t be too long,” the wiry barman told him as he set the drinks on the bar.

“Thanks,” Flynn said, before crossing the room to return to their table. “You look very intense,” he told Lily when she didn’t look up from her phone.

“It’s weird,” she said, her thumb trailing over the screen. “He really did have a successful restaurant. He had awards and everything.”

Flynn took a long sip of his pint. “Who?”

“Dante. The Italian guy. I looked him up.”

“I thought you weren’t going to look into that.”

“I wasn’t.” Her eyes sparkled when she lifted her gaze. “You know me, though.”

“I do. What did you find?”

“He had a thriving Italian restaurant in central London. The reviews are fantastic.”

“So it’s not that he’s bad at his profession.”

“Definitely not.”

“Surely someone isn’t really trying to sabotage his business?”

“I wouldn’t have thought so.” Lily reached for her drink, but only tapped her nails against the side of the glass. “I suppose I can see why he’d think that. Putting myself in his shoes, I can’t imagine how horrible it must feel to get the reviews he’s been getting. If I got reviews like that for the ice cream shop…” She puffed her cheeks out and didn’t bother to finish the sentence.

Flynn shook his head. “You’re not going to poison anyone. Please don’t start coming up with more reasons to put off opening.”

“I’m not. As soon as I have my menu finalised and everything else finished, I’ll open.”

He could see the doubt in her eyes and wished there was something he could do to reassure her. Her nerves around the opening didn’t even make sense. The shop looked fantastic and the ice cream really was delicious.

“It’s going to be great.” He took another sip of his pint. “You know that, right?”

She glanced around the room, but didn’t seem to take anything in. “I don’t even know why I’m so nervous about it,” she said quietly. “If it doesn’t work out, I won’t really have lost anything. It’s not as though my life will fall apart if the ice cream shop isn’t successful.”

Financially, it wouldn’t be a big deal. At least that was the impression she gave. He wasn’t entirely sure of Lily’s situation but knew that she’d inherited enough money that finances weren’t something she worried about.

“Just because you don’t need the place to be a financial success doesn’t mean you don’t have your heart set on it doing well.”

She nodded, but didn’t meet his gaze. “I guess that’s it. I want to do well at something for once.”

“I’ve only ever seen you succeed,” he said flatly.

He genuinely couldn’t imagine Lily failing at anything. Even if things didn’t go her way, she’d pick herself up and keep going.

“I have something to show you,” he said, changing the subject. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a glossy photograph.

“What’s that?” Lily took it from him and stared at it in awe.

“The original photo of the owner,” he explained. “It’s not much better than the version you found online, but it’s not cropped. I think it’s a little clearer.”

“It is,” she said, then squinted. “It’s still difficult to make out her features properly. And I still don’t recognise her.” She sucked in a breath. “How did you get this?”

“Emailed a few people,” he said casually, not wanting to admit it was a lot of people. “I may have implied I was asking as a matter of official police business.”

“Thank you,” she said, her smile making all the emails worthwhile.

“I’m not sure how helpful it will be.”

“I appreciate the effort,” she said, but clearly she also didn’t think it would help.

“We’ll figure it out, eventually.”

“How?” Lily asked. “Gail Greenway clearly doesn’t want to be found and no one we ask has any information about her. If she’s living on the island, someone would have seen her.”

“Yes, but it’s also plausible that people wouldn’t recognise her after twenty years. She might look completely different now.”

Lily gazed down at the photo. “I don’t think I want to keep looking for her.”

“Really?”

“I want to know because I’m nosey.” Her features softened slightly. “And because I can’t seem to stop wondering. But I also can’t help but think…” She paused and chewed her lip.

“What?” Flynn asked impatiently.

“If the owner was somehow connected to my parents – if she knew them – and she knew me when I was a kid… she doesn’t want to know me now. So while it would be satisfying to figure out who she is, I suspect it would also be really unsatisfying in another way.”

Flynn stretched his leg out under the table so his leg rested against hers. “She wanted you to have the shop,” he pointed out.

Lily smiled sadly as she shrugged. “It doesn’t make sense. And I want it to make sense, but I think it might drive me crazy trying to figure it out.”

“Do you know what might help?” Flynn said, feeling the warmth of her leg against his.

“What?” she asked, with a hint of an eye roll.

“You should open the shop. Being busier will help take your mind off it.” He sat up straighter and immediately regretted it when his leg was no longer touching hers. “You could put the photo of the owner up on the wall, and frame the article about the fire… you never know, that might get people talking. Someone might remember something helpful.”

“Maybe,” Lily said, but he suspected her smile was all for his benefit. She just didn’t like to thwart his enthusiasm. “Tell me about your day,” she said, in that relaxed way of hers.

He smiled in response because they really had this routine perfected now. She asked about work, and he regaled her with overly dramatic stories about rural policing. It was a test of his imagination to put a humorous spin on his uneventful days, but it had the effect of making his working days easier since he often found himself conjuring entertaining interpretations of the most mundane tasks ready for when he spoke to Lily.

He had an anecdote about a dispute over a property border ready for her, but he didn’t even get a word out before they were interrupted.

“Hi, Ted,” Lily said, glancing up as the lobster fisherman wandered over to them. They’d got to know him well when his stepson had gone missing, and he’d subsequently been helpful with renovating Lily’s new place.

“I was just thinking about you,” he told Lily. “Do you have a date for opening the shop yet?”

“We were just discussing it,” Flynn replied for her. “We were thinking of the weekend after next. Saturday would be good, I think.”

“Perfect.” Ted grinned. “I’ll get Rhys to finish the posters, and we can start spreading the word.”

“I didn’t agree to that,” Lily snapped at Flynn. “I need to wait and make sure I’m prepared for the hygiene inspection.”

“No, you don’t. Besides, that could be months away.” Flynn caught Ted’s eye. “Tell Rhys to go ahead with the posters. If he emails them to me, I’ll organise getting them printed.”

He could feel Lily glaring at him.

“I can organise getting them printed,” she said.

“I’m sure you can, ” Flynn agreed. “I’m just not sure you will. ”

“Are you nervous?” Ted asked Lily. “There’s no need – not given how delicious your ice cream is.”

Flynn nodded. “This is what I keep telling her.”

“I’ll make sure I keep the day free so I can help if you need me to…” Ted trailed off as his gaze snagged on the photograph on the table. “Is that another photo of the owner of the ice cream shop?”

“It’s just a slightly better version of the picture we already have.” Lily seemed to hold her breath while Ted picked the photo up to scrutinise it. “What is it?” she finally asked, an edge to her voice that had Ted looking as though he’d been snapped out of a trance.

“Nothing,” he said apologetically. “I was only thinking that it looks as though she didn’t want to have her photo taken. The way she has her head tilted so her face is in shadow.”

“Yeah.” Lily took the photo back. “It would be helpful if we had a clear photo of her. And a recent one.”

Ted gave her a sympathetic smile. “Anyway, should I tell Rhys to finish up the posters? Is it a definite for two weeks from now?”

“It’s a definite,” Flynn said, before Lily could protest.

Ted stepped out of the way when the waitress appeared with their dinner, then told them to enjoy their food and left them alone.

“I didn’t agree to opening on the Saturday,” Lily said sulkily, once the waitress had moved away.

“I’ll be there with you,” he said. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. If anything, you should be excited.”

She blew out a breath. “You’re right.”

“Of course I am,” he quipped, then shifted his leg out of the way when she went to kick him.

“I should be excited,” she agreed reluctantly. “I hate that I’m stressing about this. I’ll open in two weeks.” She took a deep breath. “That means I have some work to do.”