Chapter 6
Chapter Six
It felt futile to lock the door now – when there was nothing of any value left – but Lily locked both the door to the flat and the front door all the same.
Secondary to the stress of her missing backpack was the uncomfortable thought of someone creeping around her flat. Thinking about it gave her a chill.
Walking purposely along the promenade towards the cafe, she took deep breaths to compose herself. Hopefully, the water she’d splashed on her face before leaving had removed any trace of her earlier tears.
Crying wouldn’t solve anything, and she couldn’t let herself fall apart.
Several tables were occupied in The Cookie Jar, but Lily didn’t pay much attention, other than to do a quick sweep for anyone she knew. As far as she could tell, it was mostly holidaymakers.
“Morning,” Pippa said when Lily approached the counter.
“Hi.” She ordered a black coffee and waited for Pippa to set it on the counter before she spoke again. “I don’t suppose you saw anyone around the ice cream shop this morning, did you?” she asked, trying to sound casual as she handed over the exact money in coins.
“How do you mean?”
“I forgot to lock the door when I went for my run, and I had the feeling that maybe I’d had customers wandering in when the place was empty.”
A crease formed between Pippa’s eyebrows. “Was something missing? You know there have been some burglaries over the last few days? Flynn came in yesterday and told me to be on alert. It was mentioned on the radio this morning too.”
“I know. That’s probably why I got a weird feeling. Most likely it’s only me being paranoid, but I thought the chairs had been moved or something… I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.”
“That’s creepy. I saw you and Len when I was putting the tables outside, but I didn’t particularly notice anyone else.
” Her eyes flicked across the room to where a group was just leaving, laden down with satchels and tote bags.
“That guy was asking about your opening times,” Pippa said quietly.
“The one with the wild hair. Maybe he’d gone into the shop beforehand to see if you were open. ”
“Maybe,” Lily mused, watching the eclectic group move outside and along the promenade.
“An odd bunch,” Pippa mused while her eyes followed them. “They’ve been in a few times over the last week. The scruffy looking one hasn’t bought a thing. Just sits there as though it’s a social club.”
“Who are they?” Lily asked.
“A bunch of amateur artists, on the island for a retreat. Gideon Rowe runs it. He’s a bit of a recluse. Another oddball, if you ask me.”
“I saw them on the beach earlier,” Lily said, thinking back to the start of her run.
“Anyway. Are you okay? Are you worried someone was in the shop when you weren’t there?”
Lily took a slurp of her coffee, then shook her head. “I really think I’m just on high alert and imagining things.”
“That makes sense. I assume the police haven’t caught anyone?”
Again, Lily shook her head. “No.”
“I guess they’d be long gone by the time the police got there.” She bunched her shoulders up and shivered. “You don’t think about things like that happening here.”
“No,” Lily agreed.
“Hopefully, people will be vigilant now and this will be the end of it.”
Lily finished her coffee in a long gulp. “Fingers crossed.”
Stepping back outside, she glanced along the promenade and spotted the group of artists.
It took her a moment to notice Flynn among them, in his uniform.
Directly beside him, a tall, slim woman in a gypsy skirt and vest top laughed loudly at whatever he’d said.
Leaning in, she wedged her breast against his arm and said something close to his ear.
Instantly, he took a step away and directed his words to the rest of the group before leaving them behind and striding in Lily’s direction.
Lost in thought, it took him a moment to spot her, but when he did, his eyes lit up in a way that gave her a momentary respite from the stress of the morning.
“I was just coming to find you!”
She smiled lightly. “Do you know those people?”
He looked over his shoulder to where the group was rounding the corner. “I met them a couple of nights ago. Some artists on a retreat or something.”
“Where did you meet them?”
“They’re staying close to where we were called out to for the first break in. I questioned them to see if anyone had seen anything, but they couldn’t tell me anything.”
Lily’s brain whirred. Was it a coincidence that the group was close to one of the break-ins, and also in the vicinity when Lily had been robbed?
“Do you have any leads?” Lily asked as she ambled back towards the ice cream shop with him.
“No. The first break in was the only place where the culprit was actually seen, and the woman didn’t get a look at them. Couldn’t tell us anything about them, other than the direction they’d fled.”
“Where was this?” Lily asked.
“Some house on its own up past the airport.”
“So you don’t have anything to go on?”
“Not yet. We’ve increased security at the ferry and the airport – keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious and spot-checking people’s baggage.”
Lily nodded slowly as she drew her keys from her pocket. Maybe she should tell him about the theft of her backpack. She wanted to. A problem shared is a problem halved and all that. If it were jewellery and a bit of cash, she’d tell Flynn without a second thought.
How could she explain her fraudulent passport though? And so much cash.
It would look as though she were living some sort of life of crime. Maybe that’s what her childhood had been. Had her uncle been a criminal and dragged her along on whatever he’d been doing?
Blinking, she fought to focus on Flynn, and asked him to repeat what he’d said.
“I said I’m sorry we haven’t been able to get any time together. It’s going to be another busy day today, but do you want to do something if I finish at a reasonable time?” He shifted his weight. “You could stay at my place…”
“Sounds good,” she agreed with a smile.
He squeezed her hand before heading back the way he’d come.
Feeling oddly deceitful for not confiding in him, she let herself into the shop and locked the door behind her. With another hour before Jessica arrived and not a lot to occupy her in the shop before then, Lily headed back up to the flat.
Halfway up the stairs, something crunched underfoot.
Hesitantly, she plucked the pencil from the middle of the step and turned it to read the words on the side.
Rowe Art Residency: Isles of Scilly.
Lily’s heart beat faster. Apparently, it wasn’t a coincidence that the artists had been in the vicinity for both burglaries.
She gritted her teeth at the realisation that one of them had stolen her backpack.