Martin Edwards - The Cipher Garden

‘You bet I’m bloody well denying it!’ She stood up. ‘You’d better go.’

No one could feign such shock. Her face was reddening, astonishment giving way to anger. And yet he couldn’t imagine that his theory was so wide of the mark.

‘Oliver said that meeting his birth mother changed his life. Until then he’d been a drifter…’

Roz’s hands were on her hips. She nodded towards the path that led around the cottage.

‘Please don’t outstay your welcome, Mr Kind.’

Oh Jesus. He got to his feet. ‘I’m wrong, aren’t I? Oliver isn’t your son.’

She said hoarsely, ‘I’m not able to have children. It’s been a great sadness, but at least I have a marvellous husband. Now — please go.’

Hannah said, ‘You talked to Chris after he came back to the Lakes?’

‘He asked if we could meet. When he heard about the murder, he was overwhelmed by guilt, for having left Roz to endure the trauma on her own. He was afraid Charlie would find some way of pinning the crime on her, but that was never an option. Her alibi was as unbreakable as his. I wanted to know if he had any idea of who was responsible, but if he had, he wasn’t telling. He hadn’t wished Warren dead, but his only concern was to return a semblance of normality to his life.’

‘So he settled for domestic bliss rather than chasing after unsuitable young men?’

Nick gave her a sharp glance. ‘I’ve never asked if he’s strayed since then, and he hasn’t told me. One thing he did make clear, he didn’t care if Warren’s murder was never solved. I said it would only take a single stroke of luck, and he said he hoped we never got it. Whoever had been driven to such violence must have had good reason to kill Warren. We’d never argued until then. I thought he was wrong to side with the murderer, when the crime had put Roz and everyone in Old Sawrey under the microscope.’

‘The ordeal by innocence?’

‘Yes.’ Nick exhaled. ‘I suppose things were never the same between us afterwards. Since then we’ve not spoken more than once or twice a year. But he promised that he’d never told anyone we’d been lovers. Not even Roz.’

‘Did she know he was gay?’

‘Not according to Chris. Until he explained about Jason, she didn’t have the foggiest.’

‘Did you believe him?’

‘Yes.’ He looked her in the eye. ‘If you told Janice I was gay, she’d never believe you.’

Hannah shrugged. ‘You and Chris, it was a long time ago. You were kids, experimenting. He may have played around since, but…’

‘I haven’t?’ Nick’s face was desolate. ‘That doesn’t mean I haven’t been tempted. Which is what I’m afraid of, Hannah, if you really want to know. Janice might not have guessed and you might not have guessed. But I know who I am and what’s in my heart and mind. What keeps me awake at night is the fear that I’m living a lie.’

As Daniel walked back to his car, he felt Roz’s eyes boring into his back. She had retreated into her cottage, only to stand at the window of the front room and keep watch, making sure that he didn’t hang around.

For all his hot embarrassment, he didn’t mean to be hurried. There was too much to think over. He unwound the sunroof. The air was heavy, soon there would be the first drops of rain. As he changed the CD, his brain was racing. How could he have made such a mistake?

In the distance, he heard a car engine. Someone was coming to Keepsake Cottage. The friend Roz had mentioned? He glanced back at the house and caught sight of Roz’s face. It was haggard with fear.

He fastened his seatbelt, taking an age over it, wanting to see who visited Roz. Within a minute, his time-wasting was rewarded as Bel Jenner’s BMW glided to a halt alongside his Audi.

She opened her door and treated him to a guileless smile. ‘Hello again. Small world.’

He unbuckled the seatbelt and got out too. The cottage door opened; in a moment Roz would join them and try to shoo him away. But he only had eyes for Bel.

The dark hair, high cheekbones and beaky nose were clues, of course. The resemblance wasn’t obvious, but it was there if you searched hard.

Small world was right. This time he was sure. Oliver Cox was Bel Jenner’s son.

‘Is everything all right?’ Bel asked.

Daniel shook his head. It was as if he’d been kicked in the solar plexus. Speech was beyond him. He needed to take this in.

She doesn’t know. Jesus. She doesn’t have the faintest idea that for years she’s been sleeping with her son.

Bel was a woman who liked things comfortable about her. Pleasant. Very English. She’d used her money to create a secure little world. And she indulged herself with a passionate devotion to the young man who had sought her out and then fallen in love with her. But he had kept secrets from her. He’d understood that she couldn’t cope with the truth.

Daniel heard the door of the cottage open behind him. He spun round to see Roz advancing towards them. Her gaze was focused on him and he could tell that she realised he’d worked it out. She might have been Eve, contemplating the serpent.

‘I asked you to leave.’ Her voice was a croak.

‘What’s wrong?’ Bel asked.

Roz’s breath was coming in short jerky gasps. When she spoke, her voice was stripped of pride. She was begging.

‘Don’t say another word, Mr Kind! Just go!’

‘Nobody else knows, is that right? Just the two of you?’

Roz and Oliver, he meant. She understood and gave a quick nod.

‘How come?’

Roz stood within an arm’s reach of him. Her mouth was clamped shut.

Bel put her hands on her hips. ‘Will someone please tell me what on earth is going on?’

Daniel ground his teeth, his gaze flicking from one woman to the other.

I can’t do it. I’m not the police, it’s not for me to play games with people’s lives. Much as I want to know everything that is to be known. If I push on, it would be like taking an axe to a doll’s house.

He bent towards Roz and murmured, ‘Did Warren know that Bel had fallen pregnant?’

Her eyes were as hard as pebbles. When she whispered in reply, her lips scarcely moved.

‘She told him the baby had died.’

The door closed behind Nick, leaving Hannah alone with the fan, gasping with mechanical emphysema. So many years of friendship and shared gossip, and yet she hadn’t really known her sergeant after all. This affable, laid-back man was quietly torturing himself and she’d never had a clue.

It had taken courage for him to bare his soul to her, but surely he’d read too much into an intense teenage relationship? Schoolgirl crushes of her own had, thank God, faded into the vaguest memories. Nick needed to liberate himself from the past and look to the future. With Janice.

She checked her mobile for messages. Lauren had called, wanting to know when the latest stats recording the cold case team’s endeavours would be on her desk. And she heard Daniel Kind’s voice, breathless and jerky.

Can you call me? I’ve found out something you need to know.

Hannah’s brain hummed as she turned the last bend and caught a glimpse of The Heights. The restaurant wouldn’t be open for a couple more hours. She took the fork in the drive leading to the house next door. There wasn’t a sign of life at the windows. She hurried up the front path and leaned hard on the bell. No answer.

At the side of the house, a fence separated the back garden from the front. Six feet of willow screen, guarding the privacy of Bel Jenner and Oliver Cox. A gate beneath a wisteria-draped arch barred the way. She tested the handle and found it wasn’t locked. Without a pause, she shoved it open and strode around the side of the house. Daniel was right, she was sure of it. But if they were wrong, it was too late to worry about making a fool of herself.