Did Josh know his son had killed Tommy? He might, although if he did, he kept that knowledge somewhere deep inside where he didn’t have to face it.

  Reilly tugged at my arm. “Let’s go.”

  I lost my grip on my phone, and it fell to the bottom of my pocket. I dug my heels in and tried to pull myself free. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I don’t know what you want with me.”

  “I think you do. You’re not as stupid as you look, are you? Not quite the little blond piece of baking fluff I’d taken you for.”

  I was so insulted I almost forgot that this man likely intended to kill me.

  “I saw the way you looked at me this afternoon. You figured it out, didn’t you, with all your nosing around and the questions about things that have nothing to do with you?” He began dragging me toward the cliff edge.

  I screamed.

  He yanked on my arm, throwing me off balance, swung me around, and clapped his hand over my mouth. I struggled to free myself, but he was stronger than me and powered by rage.

  It wasn’t yet eleven o’clock. Surely someone in the house would be up? Someone would come to the window to have a last look at the night sea before turning in?

  Reilly shoved me toward the edge of the bluffs. In the distance I could hear Éclair barking, trying to raise the alarm. Would someone come to see what she was barking at?

  Not until it was too late.

  My feet scrambled for purchase on the damp grass, but the thin ballet flats on my feet couldn’t find a hold. I struggled to breathe. Colorful circles danced in front of my eyes, and through them I could see the edge of the bluffs getting closer, the thin wooden railing, which wouldn’t stop anything crashing through it, the drop into empty darkness beyond.

  “Hey! What’s going on down there?” A light came on above, and a woman’s voice called out.

  Reilly startled, and his grip on my arm relaxed just a fraction, but it was enough that I could jerk forward and put a couple of inches between us. I brought my heel up sharply and got him hard at a tender point. He grunted and staggered away from me, and his grip relaxed further.

  I broke free and ran, yelling, “Police! Call the police. Help. Help!”

  Reilly was between me and my cottage, so I sprinted along the edge of the bluffs behind the house, heading for the safety of the kitchen. I fumbled in my pocket for my key ring and found it. The light over the door was off, and I remembered that it had burned out. Simon hadn’t yet replaced the bulb. I keep a lot of keys on my ring. Keys to both doors of the tearoom, two entrances to the B & B, to Rose’s suite, my cottage. Each key was marked by a colored plastic cover to help me keep track of which was which, but I wouldn’t be able to distinguish the individual colors in the dark. If I went down the three steps to the kitchen door and couldn’t find the needed key fast enough, I’d be trapped. I kept running. Reilly was behind me, so close I imagined I could feel his hot breath on the back of my neck.

  The alarm had been sounded. I hoped it had been sounded, and that whoever had called out hadn’t decided to go back to bed. If I could get to the veranda, to the front door, into the light, I could get into the house. If the police had been called, if people had been alerted, Reilly wouldn’t dare step into the light and kill me.

  At the far end of the house, past the French doors to the dining room, past the steps to the kitchen, a wooden staircase leads down to the rocky beach at the bottom of the bluffs. A few steps beyond the stairs, the house ends at the kitchen garden, where Simon grows herbs and vegetables for use in the B & B and the tearoom.

  Reilly must have realized where I was heading. He veered to his left, intending to intercept me as I rounded the house. Without thinking or hesitating, I went right. I hit the stairs leading down to the rocky beach and the incoming sea.

  It was tricky running in the dark on the narrow, steep staircase, but I’d been this way many times before. My hands slid over the railing as I flew down. Above me, the steps shook as Reilly’s greater weight landed on them. To my infinite relief, lights in the house were coming on and people were shouting.

  “The police have been called,” I yelled over my shoulder.

  He didn’t reply, and the pounding of his footsteps didn’t let up.

  I hit the beach. My right foot skidded on the wet rocks, but I grabbed at the railing and managed to keep myself upright. In the shelter of the looming cliffs, all was dark. The tide was coming in, and white water crashed over rocks, and waves washed the shoreline almost to the edge of the cliff. I’d been raised in Manhattan, so I’m not much of a swimmer, but that didn’t matter. No one could survive for long in the dark in those waves, being thrown against those rocks. Moving as quickly as I dared, I picked my way across the wet boulders and slippery stones. Cold water rushed over my feet. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, but I hesitated to turn the flashlight on. I needed the light, but the light would show Reilly exactly where I was.

  “You can’t get far,” said a calm voice close, too close, behind me. “Tide’s coming in, looks like. I see some rough shoreline up ahead.”

  I said nothing. No point in telling him the police were coming and if he didn’t leave, they’d find him down here, whether I was dead or not. He had a single-minded focus on his mission, and nothing would stop him now.

  I could only hope whoever’d been looking out an upper window had seen us taking the stairs, otherwise my rescuers would arrive too late to do me any good.

  I was heading for a cluster of boulders ahead. I intended to scramble up them and crouch in the shelter of them to hide, and that would also keep me out of the reach of the rising tide.

  So far, the dark night was working to my advantage. I know something of my way around down here, and Reilly didn’t. He hadn’t turned a light on, and I wondered why. Perhaps he’d dropped his phone as he struggled with me. Perhaps he was also aware that a light down here would attract attention he didn’t want.

  “You can’t get far,” he said, his voice so calm he might have been ordering a pot of oolong and the cream tea at Tea by the Sea.

  I didn’t bother to reply. It was slow going, as I carefully felt my way across the wet sand and slippery rocks and loose stones and shells, around the rapidly filling tidal pools. I’d gained my night vision, but that meant Reilly had, as well. High overhead, an airplane passed. A speck of light on the bay marked the passage of a boat. A particularly large wave crashed against the rocks and threw cold, salty spray onto me.

  When I reached the boulders I’d hoped to find shelter in, I realized I’d been far too optimistic. Not much of a decent hiding place here at all. If Reilly walked past me and turned around, he’d see me. Still, it was the only hope I had. If he did pass me, I could slip out and try to make my way back to the stairs.

  I lifted one foot and felt for a place to put it, so I could begin scrambling up. I found a crack in the boulder, fitted my right foot in, braced myself, and pushed off with my left leg. My thin, wet shoe slipped on the damp surface, and I fell, emitting an unwanted cry. I hit the ground hard and lay on my back, looking up into the dark sky.

  “There you are,” Reilly said.

  Praying I hadn’t broken anything, I flipped myself over and leapt to my feet. Thankfully, nothing gave way. I was facing Reilly now, and I could see his dark outline skipping nimbly across the rocks toward me. A light gleamed in his eyes. I stood my ground and tightened my fists. I would not go down without a fight.

  And then, suddenly, he wasn’t there anymore.

  He yelled, and I heard water splashing and a man grunting with a combination of shock, pain, and exertion. I fumbled for my phone with shaking hands and pulled it out. I flicked the flashlight app on and shone it around the beach.

  Reilly sat on the ground as water swirled around his hips. One leg was bent behind him, and the other disappeared beneath him. He tried to stand up, but he couldn’t. He swore and kept on swearing as he flailed about, tugging at his leg. “Help me,” he said. “It’s stuck.”

  His right leg was trapped in a crevasse between two rocks. Waves crashed over him as the tide moved relentlessly in.

  I edged around him, careful to keep myself out of range of his hands, keeping my eyes fixed on his face, hoping he wasn’t playing a trick on me. But the frightened look in his eyes, the twist of pain in his lips, the angle of his leg told me this was no trick.

  “I’ll go for help,” I said.

  “I’m stuck. You have to get me out of here. The tide’s coming in.”

  “I’ll get help,” I repeated.

  “There isn’t time.” He began pushing at the rocks trapping him, but they were large and slick with wet seaweed and didn’t move. The water climbed higher, washing over my lower legs. It was almost up to my calves now.

  Between Reilly’s shouts I could hear voices calling. A strong light swept the stretch of beach at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Help, help!” I leapt up and down, waving my arms. “We’re over here.”

  The light moved toward me. Another joined it.

  I abandoned Reilly and ran toward the stairs. The beam of a powerful Maglite hit me full in the face, blinding me. I stumbled, yelped in pain, and covered my eyes with my hands. The light was lowered.

  “What’s happening there?”

  When I could see again, I recognized Officer LeBlanc in front of me. Behind him Officer Bland jumped off the bottom step onto the ground.

  I pointed down the beach. “It’s Reilly Miller. He killed Tommy Greene. He tried to kill me. His leg’s stuck in a rock pool.”

  A wave rushed between two boulders to wash against the legs of the police officers and threw white-topped spray onto the staircase.

  The wave receded. High tide had been reached.

  Chapter 23

  I scrambled up as fast as I could go, my feet slipping on the slick, wet stairs. Hands reached for me, and I was pulled onto solid, dry land. I bent over, my hands on my knees, gasping for breath. A strong hand rubbed my back.

  When I straightened up, a circle of faces was watching me. Bernie launched herself at me and wrapped her arms around me. She hugged me so hard, I was uncomfortably reminded of Reilly’s strong fingers gripping my arm, but I let my friend hold me. Finally, she let go and stood back. “Looks like you’ll live.”

  “You’d best get some clean clothes on, love,” Rose said. “You’ll catch your death.” She tried to keep that English stiff upper lip in place, but her lip quivered, and her voice threatened to break.

  “Good idea,” I said.

  Police officers passed me, heading down the stairs. Chuck Williams said in a surprisingly kind voice, “You do what your grandmother says, Lily. I’ll have to take a statement from you, but first, I need to find out exactly what’s going on here.”

  “Bernie, you take Lily to get into some dry clothes, and Matt and I’ll put the kettle on,” Simon said, and I realized he’d been the one rubbing my back while I struggled to get control of myself.

  “I can do that.” Matt gave me a bright, encouraging smile.

  “Off you go, love,” Rose said.

  Bernie put her arm around my shoulders and began to lead me away.

  The onlookers stepped back, Claudia and Scarlet among them. Josh stood alone at the railing, watching the activity on the beach. He turned to face me. “Reilly?”

  “I’m afraid so,” I said.

  “Tommy?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry.”

  His face twisted, and he looked away.

  Police radios burst with static as someone shouted for medics and added, “We need a crowbar down here.” Reilly must be well and truly stuck.

  At home, while I calmed a frantic Éclair, fussed over her, and offered her a doggie treat, Bernie ran the shower. When it was steaming, she practically shoved me under it. I stood beneath the hot water for a long time, letting the warmth seep into every pore. Finally, I got out, toweled myself off thoroughly, and dressed in ugly but warm track pants, heavy wool socks, and a thick sweater.

  “What brings you here tonight, anyway?” I asked Bernie. “Not to mention Matt and Simon. How was your date? I hope Simon didn’t go with you?”

  “He did not, and it was very nice. Matt invited me back to his place for a . . . nightcap . . .” She gave me a broad wink. “We arrived to see every light in Victoria-on-Sea on, and people running around the veranda and the front lawn like a pack of chickens with their heads cut off. While we were debating whether or not we should see if we could be of assistance, police cars came screeching down the driveway behind us, and we had to move outa the way mighty quick. Matt called Simon, to let him know something was happening. If you’d rather not talk to Williams or anyone else tonight, I’ll tell them you fell asleep.”

  “No. I’m fine.” I shivered despite the warmth around me. “I want to get it all out.”

  “Reilly Miller. I always suspected it was him.”

  “You did not.”

  * * *

  We found Detective Williams, several police officers, Scarlet and Claudia, and a substantial number of B & B guests gathered in the dining room, along with Rose. Most of the guests were dressed in some assortment of nightwear, with slippers on their feet. Scarlet’s nightgown was a frothy pale green affair with a deep neckline trimmed with lace, the hem sweeping her feet. Claudia wore paisley pajamas that were about two sizes too large for her. With no makeup and hair ready for bed, neither one of them would be taken for TV stars.

  Matt and Simon served coffee and tea and some of my baking they’d found in the freezer and quickly defrosted.

  “Goodness,” I said from the doorway. “A proper tea party.”

  Rose, also in her nightgown, indicated the chair next to her. I took it. Robert the Bruce eyed me as I sat down.

  “First,” I said, “how’s Reilly?”

  “He’s been freed,” Detective Williams said. “His leg’s broken, and he’s on his way to the hospital under escort. He’s been charged with attempted murder of you. Other charges should be forthcoming.”

  “Josh went with him,” Claudia said. “The poor man. I can’t imagine what he must be going through.”

  “Reilly killed Tommy, then?” Scarlet said.

  Williams spoke up. “Okay, ladies and gentlemen. It’s late. Anyone who isn’t directly involved in this matter can return to their beds. Thank you for your attention.”

  One by one the guests got to their feet, muttering some sort of good night. They appeared to be in no hurry to leave, but eventually, a uniformed officer shut the door behind them.

  “Did Reilly specifically tell you he’d killed Tommy?” Chuck Williams asked me.

  I tried to remember exactly what had been said between us. “He said he could tell I’d figured it out. Although he didn’t actually say what I’d apparently figured out. Does that matter? I have absolutely no doubt he intended to kill me. He was going to shove me over the cliff and then run down the stairs to finish me off if the fall didn’t do it.”

  I shuddered. Simon had come to stand behind me. He put his hands on my shoulders, and Rose took one of my hands in hers. I gripped it tightly. Bernie placed a cup of tea on the table next to me. I breathed in the rich, heady scent. “He would have done it, too, if someone hadn’t shouted out an upstairs window.”

  “That was me,” Scarlet said. “You and your grandmother have a nice place here, but I’ve been too jumpy to enjoy it. Unable to sleep, thinking about what happened with Tommy, about problems with Josh, with the show. I heard a woman scream and stuck my head out to see what was going on.”

  “Giving me enough time to make a break for it,” I said. “Thank you.” I sipped my tea. Far too sweet, but I was grateful for the sweetness tonight.

  “It was totally obvious Reilly was trying to take over the show,” Scarlet said. “Using the disruption around Tommy’s death to do what he’d been wanting to do for a long time and shove Josh out. I thought . . . I thought for a while Josh had killed Tommy because he thought Tommy was going over to Reilly’s side. But Tommy wasn’t, was he? He was finished with us and our ridiculous show.”

  “You suspected Josh was responsible,” Williams said, “but you didn’t tell us what you were thinking. Why not?”

  She dipped her head. “I’m not as brave as Lily. I wanted all the trouble to just go away. I’m sorry.”

  Claudia stood up. She cleared her throat and faced Detective Williams. “I have a confession to make, Detective, and I regret not speaking up earlier. Your partner asked me if I was in the garden on Tuesday night. I said no. That was a lie. She asked me if I’d seen Tommy after I’d returned from dinner that evening. I told her no, and that was also a lie.”

  “You can be charged for that.”

  “I know, and I am truly sorry. In my defense, I’m not sure it would have helped with your investigation.”

  “It would have helped an innocent woman not be suspected of murder,” I said, suddenly angry. These people and their secrets. I’d almost been killed. Cheryl had faced arrest and imprisonment. Scarlet hadn’t wanted to get involved in the murder of a man she worked with, and Claudia had her own secrets to keep. “You asked Tommy for money before he died.”

  “Yes. I did,” Claudia said. “My room faces the ocean, and I saw Tommy talking to you that night. You left, and he stood at the edge of the cliff for a long time, leaning on the fence, looking over the water. Obviously deep in thought. When he walked away, I expected that he’d be coming in, so I went downstairs to intercept him. I found him outside, walking in the rose garden. I joined him there. I . . . I asked him for a loan. He turned me down flat.”

  “You were wearing that puffy pink shell over your pajamas, right?” I asked.

  “Yes. How did you know that?”

  “Lily knows things,” Bernie said. “She’s smart that way.”

  “I . . . I’ve run into some financial difficulties,” Claudia said. “Nothing serious, mind, and I’ll be back on my feet in no time.”