Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
With the shop busier than it had been for a while, Lily waited until they’d closed before setting off to Len’s house. She didn’t have much of a plan. Other than crossing her fingers he was out and had conveniently left his door open and a bunch of stolen goods lying out.
That seemed overly optimistic.
Not that she needed him to have left all the stolen goods lying out. Just her backpack would do. That was all she really needed. She’d let this case go if she could just get her hands on that passport.
Maybe she would anyway. She couldn’t swear to that.
It was almost seven when she walked onto Church Street. The smell of barbecue coals wafted, making her mouth water. She’d have to drop some hints for a barbecue dinner the next time she saw Seren or Kit.
Standing outside Len’s house, she looked through the open garage door to the small garden at the back where the smoke was wafting from.
“The next guest is here,” a wobbly guy who Lily vaguely recognised as a regular at the Mermaid Inn called across the garden.
Len stepped into view, wearing a blue and white striped apron and holding a pair of tongs in his hand.
“Oh, no! I’ve been caught out. Someone else I forgot to invite.” He handed the tongs to the inebriated guy and set off towards Lily. “How are you?”
“Fine, thank you.”
“Every time I invite people over, I end up feeling guilty about the people I didn’t invite. It’s just a little shindig with a few friends, but you’re welcome to join.”
“No, it’s fine. I wasn’t worried about not getting an invitation.”
“Some people around here would actually get annoyed with me, you know? As though I can fit everyone I know in my tiny little garden.” He smiled brightly. “Anyway, what can I do for you?”
“How do you mean?”
“I assume you weren’t just passing?”
“No. I… umm…” She glanced around, stalling for time and grasping for inspiration. “I’ve actually been a bit worried since our conversation the other day…”
“What conversation?”
“The one about Gideon not paying you enough for cleaning the windows. I wondered afterwards if that was you hinting that I don’t pay you enough. Because if the price has gone up, you only need to say. I’d hate to think I was underpaying you.”
He rested a hand on her arm. “That’s very sweet of you, but not an issue.
My problem is some longstanding customers who get shirty with me for raising my prices from time to time.
Some people think they should pay me the same as they were paying me fifteen years ago, but the world doesn’t work like that. ”
“I see,” Lily said. “I just wanted to check there was no problem between us.”
“Not at all.” He tilted his head. “You’re one of my favourite customers, you are!”
“I’ll bet you say that to everyone,” she joked.
Or maybe he was saying it because he was now thirty grand better off because of her.
He leaned close and whispered. “Just the ones who give me free ice cream.”
The warmth in his voice made her laugh, and for a moment she forgot he was her number one suspect. She really didn’t want it to be him who’d been stealing from people.
“I should let you get back to your friends,” she said, tipping her chin. “That smells delicious, by the way. It’s making my stomach rumble.”
He tipped his head back as he laughed. “I can’t send you away now, can I?”
“I wasn’t hinting…” She had been, actually. And hadn’t even tried to be subtle.
As he led her through the garage, she checked her watch. In half an hour she was supposed to be at Flynn’s place for dinner. She could probably scout the place out quickly and still make it over there. Otherwise, she’d just tell him she’d be late.
It took twenty minutes of small talk with the group of older men before Lily found a break in the chatter to ask to use the bathroom.
Len directed her upstairs without hesitation. She didn’t bother listening to the rest of the directions since she planned on having a good snoop around, anyway.
With the chatter from the garden letting her know she was safe to search, she got straight to work. After rummaging through every cupboard and drawer in his bedroom, she went to the small box room and did the same there.
Nothing unusual to be found. Like Gideon’s place, there was a lot of clutter and what seemed to be an excess of vacuum cleaners. A few moving boxes were flattened and leaning against the wall in the box room, so she assumed he hadn’t lived there too long.
Frustrated by her fruitless search, she made a quick stop at the bathroom and ventured back downstairs.
“Lovely little house,” she said to Len.
He rolled his eyes. “That’s very polite of you. It’s a pokey house, which is a complete mess, but I appreciate your tact. Can I tempt you with another burger?”
“I’d love one, but I’m actually supposed to meet Flynn.”
“PC Grainger?” He grinned. “He’s a good guy. Shame he’s leaving.”
“Yeah.” Lily was about to make a break for it before realising she was missing an opportunity. Anyone with stolen goods in their house probably wouldn’t be keen to have a police officer around. Even an off-duty one.
“Would you mind if I tell him to meet me here instead?” she asked innocently. “I don’t want to cancel on him, but I’m not sure I can bring myself to pass up another of your burgers. They’re the best I’ve tasted in a long time.”
“The more the merrier,” he said without missing a beat. “This lot might behave better with a copper around the place too.”
“Don’t count on it,” one of them called. “PC Grainger’s in the pub all the time and none of us behave there.”
Suddenly, inviting Flynn felt like a bad idea. She’d only wanted to see how Len would react. His lack of reaction made her question whether she might yet again be on entirely the wrong track.