Liv shuffled a few things around in the boot so that Stan wasn’t quite as obvious. ‘Robbie, I literally have no idea what you’re talking about. I mean really not got a clue.’
He raised an eyebrow, old James Bond style, and it quite suited him. He whipped out and pulled on a single blue latex glove with a snap, leaned past her and moved Plastic Stan to one side. He reached in the box underneath and held up a spray can. He pulled a plastic bag from his pocket and dropped in the can – the whole time not taking his eyes off Liv.
‘Hang on, that’s my sister’s property. What do you want with a spray can anyway?’
‘Evidence.’
‘Of what? That my sister is a forward-planning freak who has touch-up paint in every colour of car she’s ever owned?’
Robbie was sealing the evidence bag. ‘I’m arresting you for criminal damage. Anything you—’
‘What now?’ But Robbie carried on with the full statement while Liv continued to ask him what she was meant to have done.
‘You’ll need to accompany me to the station,’ said Robbie, removing his blue glove with a snap, which made an unpleasant shiver go down Liv’s spine.
‘Robbie, this is bonkers. I don’t know what you’re arresting me for.’
‘The graffiti on the hotel sign.’
Liv’s blank expression must have matched her brain. ‘Nope. Not got a scooby-doo what you’re going on about, but I am not going to the cop shop. I need to get home. It’s nearly Christmas.’
She closed the boot and went to get in the car but Robbie put a hand firmly on her shoulder, making her turn around. He unclipped something from his belt. ‘Have you been in handcuffs before?’ he asked.
She stared at him. ‘Sexually or criminally?’
Robbie blinked a few times. ‘I’ll take that as a no. Please put your hands out in front of you.’
‘Seriously?’
‘I can call for backup,’ he said, his face stern.
Liv let out the deepest sigh as she did as he asked, and he slapped on a pair of handcuffs. This really was the day from hell.
30
Effie didn’t have long to wallow, because they sent Winnie to find her and bring her back, and that in itself must have taken quite a while given Winnie’s lack of speed. Effie was both upset about John and about Liv – she’d made a real mess of things. By the time she had dried her eyes and got back to the kitchen, the starters were ready to go out and from then on the kitchen was busier than a hive in summer and the evening flew by in a whirl of plates. Dolly did a great job of directing the mish-mash of waiting staff from her scooter and keeping everything on track, and whilst it wasn’t as slick as Fraser would have wanted it to be, it hopefully seemed good enough from the diners’ point of view. Fraser had set Winnie up in the kitchen doing a final quality check before the dishes left the service counter, and while she was slow on her feet she had an eagle eye and made sure everything looked exactly like the example dishes Fraser had shown her.
The atmosphere in the dining room was infectious as everyone tucked into the food. The diners were making the right noises and gestures and some were taking photos on their phones. There was lots of happy chatter too, which Effie took as a good sign. The foliage was doing its job.
As they cleared away dessert dishes and brought out trays of coffee and Scottish tablet, Fraser came into the dining room to speak to the guests and potential investors and was met by a round of applause. Effie was puffed up with love and pride for her cousin. Dolly wiped a tear from her eye and Effie turned to say something to Liv but found Sheena next to her instead. The events of earlier came rushing back and threatened to overwhelm her. Liv had gone and, despite everything, she missed her.
‘Are you okay, Hen?’ asked Sheena.
‘Head rush,’ lied Effie.
‘You can probably duck out and have a sit-down. There’ll only be the clearing away to do now.’
‘Okay, thanks. I’ll come back for that,’ said Effie and she slipped from the room.
In the library she checked her phone. Another desperate message from John. She bit her lip. She had a decision to make.
About ten minutes later Fraser put his head around the door. ‘Here you are.’
Effie stood up. ‘Do you need me to help tidy up?’ she asked.
‘Nah, I think the guests are going to linger a while longer. That’s positive right?’ He looked unsure.
‘I think so. You did brilliantly tonight. If you don’t find investors then they’re nincompoops.’
