Lost in Paradise

Chapter 4

"So," Yasmine began, "What do we know?" 

Yasmine, Emma, Dylan and James were all sat around Yasmine's glass dinner table, a large piece of paper covering the centre. A ceiling bulb allowed very little light over the table, casting a very peculiar orange glow.

"Not much really. Gina's dead." Dylan began.

"We know that Leela and Rob must have something to do with it," Yasmine added, "or else they wouldn't have been arrested." 

"We need to ask Rob about that," Emma said, "We need to find him. Isn't there anyone else we can ask where he lives?"

"Nope, I only moved back here recently so I don't know anything that went on in the town whilst I've been gone," Yasmine said. 

"Do you want to know what's weird," Emma began, "the day that me and Dylan left, you wrote a note in one of the books in the woods at Joe's den didn't you?" Dylan nodded. "It was a suicide note. Except, Joe didn't look very shocked to see you alive." 

The room fell silent once more, Dylan remembered clearly about the suicide letter. The letter he'd left so people didn't get suspicious about his whereabouts. But Emma was coming onto something.

"Strange," Yasmine said.

"Has Leela been let out on bail too?" Emma asked.

"I think so," James added.

"We could go to the pub that she worked at and find her, she might know where Robert is," Emma said.

"Guys, don't you think we should leave it to the police, they know what they're doing." Yasmine's statement was correct, the Police had a better insight into the story than they did, but all Emma could think about is how the Police didn't help them when they had needed it the most; the Police had let people down. They couldn't do it again. Someone had killed Gina brutally - they deserved to be locked away. 

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James drove Emma and Dylan to the Lion's head, the car was engulfed by an immeadete silence. Dylan and Emma had still not spoken properly since meeting again, and James distanced himself quite a bit from the pair. 

Emma had a recent news article up on her phone about Gina's death, she was reading it mentally, trying to piece together every bit of information she could.

'Georgina Falcon's gambling addictions have now come to light in a recent search of her home. Investigators found several receipts for the local casino, Lucky Star, and hundreds of scratch cards and lottery tickets. Whether or not the gambling addictions have anything to do with Gina's death is uncertain.

Furthermore, Post Mortem results show that Gina had suffered a blow to the head and had been strangled to death. The investigation found bruising around her neck, and an open wound from a blow on her head. However, several more post mortem sessions are required at this moment.'

"She was strangled," Emma told Dylan and James, "how scary must that have been?"

Emma thought about back on the boat in Spain, the blood oozing from her leg as she was dying, her leg going green with infection. She knew how Gina had felt. She had also been on the brink of death.

"This is it," James said.

On the left was a three storey building, the words The Lion's Head were placed in golden letters upon a plaque on the bricks. Two bronze structures sat either side of the plaque, both in the shape of Lion heads.

"You coming in?" Dylan asked James.

"No, I'll stay in the car in case Yasmine calls."

Inside, a strange darkness was lay across the floor, there weren't many punters but an array of colourful flowers had been propped up against the bar. Emma strode over and took a look at the heartfelt messages customers had left about Gina;

'so sad to see you gone xx'

'I will miss your gleaming smile x'

'gone too young xxxxxx'

Alongside the flowers was a photo of Gina, gleaming happily with a cocktail in her hand.

"She shouldn't have died. Yasmine lied to the Police to protect her that night. She was forced into doing terrible things," Emma pondered.

"And to protect you," Dylan added.

"What?"

"Remember? She kept your name out to protect you too," Dylan said.

Suddenly, a woman appeared behind the bar, her hair a chestnut-brown that bounced above her shoulders, a septum piercing gleaming on her face.

"What can I get for the both of you?" She asked.

"I'll have a cider please," Dylan said.

"I'll have a coke please."

"Coming right up," she said, taking two glasses from behind the bar and filling them with brownish liquids.

"About Gina," Dylan began, "how long had she worked here for?" 

"What are you, the Police?" The woman asked.

"I'm just a friend," and with that, the woman stared straight at Dylan and Emma; concentration swept across her face.

"I recognise you," she said, "you're two of them people who were kidnapped weren't you?" 

"Yeah," Emma sighed.

"It was your friend who's been arrested for her murder isn't it? Robert what's his face..."

"Yeah, yeah, he was arrested. But so was Leela. What was she like?" Emma asked the woman.

"She was.." suddenly, the woman was interrupted. Another woman had just appeared from around the bar, with long dark brown hair and glazed eyes.

"Are you asking about Leela?"

"Yeah," Emma nodded.

"I'm her sister Joanne," Joanne said, moving from behind the bar and over to Dylan and Emma.

"And I believe that my sister killed Gina."