AUTHOR AND TEAM MEMBER, DAWN TREACHER, SHARES AN EXTRACT FROM HER NOVEL 'THE SEEDS OF MURDER'

It was well past four when the last of the garden visitors drifted away leaving Scarlett and himself alone at last. Cedric may have confessed his thoughts to his daughter, but she wasn’t ready to hear what he’d actually discovered, and he had absolutely no intention of telling her about Tanya as she was bound to get the wrong idea. He shouldn’t have worried, for Scarlett was far too absorbed in planning his YouTube debut to think about Cedric’s investigation.

“Let’s crack on with the audio, shall we, Dad. Keep the momentum going, I’ve taken lots of great video, it just needs editing.”

“Actually, I’m shattered,” said Cedric. “Shall we leave it a couple of days? Who knew having people in your garden could be so draining.”

And it wasn’t just an excuse. Somehow sharing his garden, which up until then had been a deeply personal place, made him feel exposed. He could see it now as he hadn’t seen it before, his attempt here to recreate his life with Carolina. Her influence was everywhere. A petal from the pink rose bush fell, followed by another until one whole rose bloom disintegrated before him. The blooms, so stunning that morning, were that evening losing their perfection.

“I heard you sneaked off to your caravan this afternoon. Having a snooze?” laughed Scarlett.

“Absolutely not,” said Cedric. “I just needed some space to think.”

Scarlett put her arm around his shoulder.

“Well don’t forget, no wriggling out of it now. You’re a YouTube star in the making, just you wait and see. Give me a call when you’re ready.”

After Scarlett had gone and Cedric had rounded up all the chairs and stacked them neatly beside the shed, he headed back to the caravan. He was surprised to find Rubens still there, only now lounging over Cedric's notebooks on the table.

Cedric slumped onto the sofa, moved Rubens gently to the seat beside him and opened the notebook containing his novel. The very act was as soothing as a comfort blanket was for a child after an emotionally exhausting day. He picked up his pen and began to write.

“...Inspector Barnabus assembled his team. The incident board now bore the faces of four murder victims and those of a whole host of witnesses whose stories contradicted each other and opened so many lines of enquiry that his team had quite simply found themselves lost in a maze of dead ends. But the Inspector wasn’t looking at those, he was looking at an artist’s impression of a woman in her early thirties with shoulder length blonde hair. He knew that the key to this investigation somehow lay with her. In every CCTV sighting of her she looked straight at the camera as if she knew exactly where it was. It was as though she was taunting him in plain sight. He was more convinced than ever that the only link between the victims was who she really was, not what she wanted him to believe…”

The cool of the evening made Cedric close the caravan’s windows and pull on a sweater.

“Not distracting you, I hope,” said Tanya, appearing at the open caravan door. 

“No, do come in,” said Cedric.

“It seems Open Gardens was a success,” said Tanya. “They were only just closing up the village hall as I drove past and there were still people buying plants outside. You must be pleased.”

“Well, it was rather eventful, as it happens,” said Cedric. “I finally got to meet the new vicar of Bempton church, and I think he’s going to be rather difficult.”

“Young and dashing, I heard,” said Tanya, settling herself down. “He warned me not to talk to Hebe or Mr Jefferson. It seems someone has been watching me.” 

“Now that does sound interesting. I wonder who it is?”

“I don’t know,” said Cedric. “At first I assumed it was Hebe, but now I’m not so sure.”

“I rather think you need to fill me in on everything first,” said Tanya. “I see you have a laptop, may I?”

Cedric opened his laptop and found the file he’d begun compiling. He explained the latest development at the plant nursery and Tanya typed up the findings.

“So,” said Tanya. “Your wife has been spotted being overly friendly with the church organist and appears to have been having secret assignations with this Tony from the plant nursery, too. Hebe clearly knows more than she’s letting on but has reason to believe Carolina was having some kind of a relationship. Mr Jefferson overheard what sounded like Hebe blackmailing Carolina and you found a business card for a private detective in London, though the detective refuses to comment. And now the new vicar has warned you off after being tipped off about your questions by someone in his parish. How well did you actually know your wife, Cedric?”

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seeds-Murder-Fingered-Sleuth-Mysteries/dp/1739501284

COMING SOON: Monday 21st April - Introducing yours truly, author, Eva Bielby.