“And you’re happy with the accommodation?” Lily said. “Is your room nice?”
“Lovely.” His narrow-set eyes went to Saffron. “Can I speak to you in private for a moment?”
“Of course.” She patted Lily’s arm. “I’ll catch up with you in a second.”
With a tight smile, Lily ignored the urge to barge into the guy’s room and instead walked out the front door.
She lingered on the front step but had no hope of hearing what was being said inside.
A couple of minutes later, she moved aside as the door opened.
“Everything okay?” Lily asked as Saffron stepped outside.
“Yes.” She shook her head. “Roland is a bit twitchy. I don’t know if you heard, but there was a break in a couple of nights ago at a house down the road.”
“Really?” Lily said, feigning ignorance.
“Yes. The police were here asking questions.” She set off around the main house. “Roland thinks I shouldn’t really be showing strangers around, given the circumstances.” She spluttered a laugh. “As though you might be a burglar and you’ve come here in broad daylight to rob us! I told him not to be so silly.”
Lily managed a small laugh. She wasn’t a thief – she only intended to take back what was hers in the first place.
“It’s very suspicious of him,” Lily said. “What did you say his name is?”
“Roland. He’s an interesting man. He worked his whole life in accounting and had his own firm and everything. Then, a couple of years ago, he gave it all up. He sold his house and car and most of his stuff and went travelling. He’s been all over the world. He tells some fascinating stories.”
“Amazing,” Lily muttered.
“Yes. You meet really interesting people when you do stuff like this. We’re all so different, but I feel very close to them. I’m hoping we’ll keep in touch after the retreat.” Her eyes sparkled. “It was a bit of excitement having the police here the other night. How many police officers are there on the islands?”
“Three,” Lily replied. For now, anyway.
“Well…” Saffron lowered her voice. “The one who was here the other night was lovely. A young guy – probably around thirty. Dark hair and a gorgeous deep tan.”
“PC Grainger,” Lily stated.
“Yes. That’s him! Do you know him?”
Lily nodded vaguely.
“Do you know if he’s single?”
“I… umm …” Lily did an uncanny impression of a goldfish as her mouth opened and closed. “I’m not really sure,” she said.
“He’s probably taken,” Saffron said with a shrug. “Not that it matters. I’ll be gone again in a few days. He’s gorgeous, though. It might be a uniform thing too.” Her eyes drifted overhead. “Look at those fluffy clouds. Just beautiful, aren’t they? Maybe I’ll try painting clouds this afternoon. I’ll lie down and get my inspiration.”
“Thanks so much for showing me around,” Lily said. “I’ll just nip inside and see if there’s any sign of Gideon.”
There was no one inside, and further snooping didn’t prove helpful. Not that Lily had expected it to. Stepping back into the fresh air, she considered her options.
The backpack was close, she was sure of it. Roland had seemed shifty, and definitely not keen for anyone to see inside his room. Which could mean he’s hiding something or just that he’s a private person… or it could mean nothing at all.
The locked door up in Gideon’s studio had Lily itching to get inside and look around too. Her eyes went to the tent at the far end of the field. Silas and his rope were nowhere to be seen. Lily’s impression of him didn’t give her any suspicious vibes, but she also hadn’t really spoken to him.
A tent shouldn’t be hard to get access to for a quick root around.
She needed to come back when no one was here. With the place to herself, she could do a thorough search. Briefly, she pondered what lengths she’d go to in order to get her backpack. Would she break the law herself? Breaking in to retrieve what was hers didn’t seem that immoral to her. The problem was knowing exactly where to strike. If she knew for definite who had her stuff, she wouldn’t think twice about breaking in.
Besides, she couldn’t imagine a thief would report the loss of stolen goods.
