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‘Miss Lili Skye, I am arresting you on suspicion of the theft of antiques.’
Lili stared at him, open-mouthed. ‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Along with a prize orchid from George and Son Antiques.’
‘A prize orchid? Joseph doesn’t keep orchids in his shop.’ She looked at the officer who was reading her rights as though he was off his rocker. ‘There’s been some mistake. This is ridiculous!’
Fifteen minutes later, Lili was shown the inside of a prison cell in the local police station. She sat staring at its four walls as the truth sunk in; she really had been arrested and charged.
‘I want my phone call,’ she yelled. Lili had a silly thought: at least if she went to prison, she wouldn’t have to concern herself about being homeless.
‘Perhaps my day just got better.’
Lili knew she wasn’t in her right mind to have thoughts like that. Sitting on the uncomfortable bed, something occurred to her. Why had they gone to all the trouble of boarding the plane to arrest her? Why such a fanfare over the theft of a few mediocre antiques from a small independent shop in a quaint seaside town in Suffolk? It’s not like they were worth much. Anyone would think she was some sort of master criminal who had intended to go on the run. It made little sense. Did they know she was just a horticulturist from Kew? If someone had broken into Joseph’s shop, why did they assume she was the guilty party?
‘You will get your phone call in due course,’ a male voice said from behind her door.
‘Good!’
Lili had to wait an excruciating hour before she was allowed her call. She dialled Ray’s number. She grasped the receiver so hard her knuckles went white. ‘Please, please answer.’ Someone had made a big mistake. She hadn’t stolen anything. She’d been in Corfu, for god’s sake – Ray knew that. Lili didn’t believe he was involved with her arrest.
‘Ray? Ray – is that you?’ Lili breathed an enormous sigh when she heard him reply, ‘Yes, it’s me.’
‘I’m in a spot of bother, Ray.’
‘I know.’
Lili hoped that his answer didn’t mean he had something to do with her arrest. ‘I’d never steal from Joseph.’
‘I know that too. I’ve already spoken with the desk sergeant. They know that you had nothing to do with it, Lili. You should be free within the hour.’
‘Oh, thank god!’ Lili exhaled in relief. ‘Look, I don’t know what’s going on—’
Before she said anymore, Ray filled her in. ‘It happened just before you left for Corfu.’
‘Oh.’
‘I’m afraid, on paper, it all pointed to you. Reggie thought he saw you, Lili. Then the police discovered you’d booked a plane ticket, last minute, just hours after the theft. It wasn’t looking good. That’s why they arrested you.’
‘But it wasn’t me.’
‘I know, but Reggie swore he spotted you, going back and forward from the shop, loading stuff up in a car. He said he recognised your distinctive coat.’
‘But I don’t even own a—’ Lili stopped abruptly.
‘—car. Precisely!’ There was a pause. ‘They thought you were an accessory.’
‘An accessory?’
At first Lili didn’t understand until a police officer passed her in the corridor while she was still on the phone to Ray. The officer was escorting someone else to her cell. Lili’s eyes went wide when she saw who it was.
