A Poisonous Plot (Lily Larkin Mysteries #3)

Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

A few customers were strolling between the rows of plants when Lily arrived at the garden centre.

“Hello!” Arthur said, pausing his conversation with an older couple and raising a hand to wave at Lily. If he felt any animosity towards Lily after her questioning him, he was keeping it well hidden.

“Is Gordon around?” she called.

“He’s not here,” Arthur replied. “Sally’s in the cafe, though.”

“I’ll say a quick hello to her.” Hopefully, Gordon would be back soon.

Sally’s face lit up when Lily walked into the cafe area. “I was just thinking about you,” she said, with a sympathetic tilt of the head. “How are you?”

“Good, thanks.”

So far, anyway. With any luck, the slight discomfort in her stomach was merely unease at the thought that she might just have eaten poisoned ice cream and not actually the first twinge of food poisoning.

Sally scurried out from behind the counter to place a hand on Lily’s shoulder. “How are you feeling about the opening of the ice cream shop?”

“A bit nervous,” Lily confessed while her hand automatically went to her stomach.

Sally’s smile was all sympathy. “Dad and I were talking about you last night. Saying how nerve-wracking it must be for you. Especially with all this talk about these poisonings.” She shook her head. “Although, I have to say, I’m inclined to think it’s all been blown out of proportion. It probably was just someone trying to do something kind and making an honest mistake.”

“I’m afraid not,” Lily said automatically. “The lab results show that there were compounds from garden plants in the products in the welcome baskets. The kind of plants which shouldn’t be ingested.”

Sally’s eyebrows twitched. “It still could have been an honest mistake.”

“I suppose if it was only the welcome baskets, that could be the case.”

Sally frowned, then looked across the room as the only customers in the cafe got up to leave. She thanked them for coming and called out a cheerful goodbye.

“What do you mean?” she asked Lily, moving away from her and plucking a tray from behind the counter.

“Someone is trying to run Dante Accardi out of town.” She caught the air of puzzlement in Sally’s features as she went to the vacated table. “The Italian restaurant,” Lily explained. “Dante believes someone has been sabotaging his food.”

“Oh, that.” Sally busied herself with loading mugs and plates onto the tray. “I’m sorry but I find it hard to believe someone has such a grudge against newcomers to the islands. How would someone even go about sabotaging his restaurant?”

“He doesn’t know,” Lily said. “He asked me to look into it.”

“Did you find anything?”

Lily chewed on the inside of her cheek, debating how much to say. “I found out that he gets some of his food supplies from here,” she said quietly.

Sally stopped loading the tray and lifted her gaze to Lily. “So?”

“So it would be a convenient way for someone to sabotage his business.”

“You think someone here has been poisoning people?” She huffed out a humourless laugh and picked up the tray.

“I’m looking into that theory, yes.” Lily had to move quickly to keep up with Sally as she went back to the counter.

“I thought you were questioning Arthur because of his blog, not because you were suspicious of everyone who works here.”

“Like I said, I’m just looking into the theory.”

“You can look all you want,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But it’s ridiculous. Nobody here would do that.”

“Can I ask you a question?” Lily said, trying to pin Sally with her gaze as she cleared the items from the tray into the dishwasher.

“What?” she asked impatiently.

“Were you upset when you couldn’t find a job on the island?”

A muscle twitched in her jaw and Lily wasn’t convinced she was going to answer. Finally, she stopped with her cleaning and turned to face Lily.

“No,” she said evenly. “I wasn’t.”

“You must have been a bit disappointed.”

She shook her head. “If I wanted a job here, I’d have found one.”

“How do you mean?” Lily asked.

“I mean, I have a degree in accounting. If I wanted to stay on St Mary’s, I could set up my own business. I’d find a few clients locally, and some more who I could work for remotely.” She threw her hands up. “I could also work here, if it was just about earning enough to live on the island.”

“I don’t understand,” Lily said. “I thought you’d been job hunting.”

“I had a half-hearted job hunt,” she said with a sigh. “But it was only really for my dad’s benefit. I want to live on the mainland. I went to university in Bristol and I loved it. My heart is there, not here. But I know that’s hard for my dad to accept, so for a while I pretended to be checking out my options. Just to give him time to get used to the idea of me living in Bristol permanently.”

Lily’s mouth hung open as she considered the new information. “So you were never upset about the job situation here?”

“No.” She wrinkled her nose. “What did you think, that I might be poisoning newcomers to keep the Scillies strictly a place for true Scillonians?”

“I think it’s a reasonable motive.”

“It’s crazy, and it doesn’t even make sense. Most of the businesses here rely on visitors.”

“Visitors, yes. But people who move here and set up home, and open businesses or take jobs?”

“Everyone is welcome,” Sally said. “I know there can be some banter between born and bred Scillonians and people who move here, but it’s only fun. No one means anything by it.”

“Your dad must have been upset about you not finding a job over here,” Lily said.

Sally slapped a hand on her forehead. “Now you’re going to accuse Dad!” She rolled her eyes. “I can certainly see why Denzel was upset with all your questions. Your crazy accusations are quite offensive.”

“People have been poisoned,” Lily pointed out. “Glynis Ward is still in hospital. I only want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“My dad is one of the most caring people I know,” Sally said fiercely. “Did you hear him on the radio this morning? He’s concerned about the residents, and doing everything he can to make sure people stay safe.”

“Is he?” Lily asked. “Or is he creating a panic which will deter people from moving to the Scillies?”

“You sound insane,” Sally said, eyes flashing with anger. “I think it would be better if you leave. And given what you’re insinuating, I’m not sure it’s going to work out for us to continue to supply you with produce for your ice cream.”

“Okay,” Lily said, backing up. She might have gone too far, but she also knew that her investigations would always make people ill at ease.

She suspected that the more uneasy people were with her questions, the closer she was getting to the truth.