Adrian guided them all into the garden, Tanya distributed gifts and Gabriel asked questions about their holiday, while Luke interrupted constantly to tell him every last detail of what happened since they had left. Will went inside to make lemonade and fetch biscuits, and for the first time, Luke did not follow.

  Adrian asked about Beatrice’s role, using euphemistic language in front of Luke.

  “It doesn’t look like she and Theo have made any progress,” Tanya said, her expression pessimistic. “So we still don’t know when they’re likely to come home. We’ll take Huggy Bear and Dumpling to our place until they return. But I don’t think they are any closer to finding whoever… I mean, cracking the case.”

  “At least Matthew can enjoy a holiday even if they don’t find out whodunit.” Adrian got up to help Will, whose hands were full with a tray of lemonades.

  Tanya glanced at Luke. “Why don’t you put on your new T-shirt? I want to see if it fits.”

  “Okay!” Luke started to pull his T-shirt over his head.

  “Do it upstairs and put the dirty one in the laundry basket. Maybe you can even take a photo and send it to Beatrice and Granddad. You know how to do that, don’t you?”

  “Course I do!” Luke raced away inside the cottage.

  Adrian could spot a ruse a mile off. “What is it?” he asked, his voice low.

  Without warning, Tanya’s eyes filled with tears. “It’s Dad. I seriously think I can see the signs of dementia, Alzheimer’s or some other degenerative disease. He’s often been scatty and forgetful and academic and eccentric and sometimes all of those things at once, but this is different. What I don’t understand is why Beatrice is missing all the signals. I’ve tried to drop hints but she’s either ignoring them or refusing to face facts. Gabriel thinks I’m overreacting, but even Theo can see it. There’s something wrong, I know it.”

  “Hello! Welcome home, you two.” Marianne came through the garden gate, carrying a bunch of flowers. She embraced her sister and her brother-in-law, and blew a kiss to Will and Adrian. “Tell me everything! The food, the weather, the murder! Where is Luke?”

  Will handed her a glass of lemonade. “Inside, trying on his present from his mum.” He looked at the flowers. “Those for him too?” His tone was bright and his smile friendly but Adrian could sense an undertone of hostility.

  “No, they certainly are not. These are for me. Hand delivered by DS Jago Perowne this very morning. So I think we can say, the first date was a success!” She flashed a smile at them all, waiting for their congratulations.

  Tanya and Gabriel seemed lost for words, but Will managed to speak. “Wow, so we can celebrate a successful first date as well as an exceptional honeymoon. The Bailey sisters are on a roll! Tanya, you look like somebody just emerging from the surf at Bondi Beach. The sun-kissed look suits both of you. Gabriel, how is your godfather? That must have been such a nasty shock for everyone. I’m really sorry.”

  But that particular moment, Adrian loved Will with such ferocity he could not even express it. Without any aggression or dismissiveness, his husband had taken the spotlight from Marianne and turned it back to the returning honeymooners.

  “Thanks, Will. It was pretty nasty, yeah, but Hoagy has now got Beatrice on his side. That helps.” Gabriel put an arm around Tanya’s shoulders. “My amazing wife coped with the whole situation like a trouper. It wasn’t the honeymoon we hoped for, admittedly, but I believe it brought us closer together.”

  Tanya dabbed at her eyes with one hand and stroked Gabriel’s arm with the other. She was spared the obligation of responding by the arrival of Luke, sporting his new T-shirt.

  “It fits! I like it. Can I wear it to school tomorrow?” He addressed the question to Will.

  “You’d better ask your mum.”

  Luke turned to Tanya, opened his mouth and closed it again. “Why are you crying?”

  “Because I’m so happy!” she sniffed. “Best husband, best honeymoon and best son in the world.” She opened her arms and Luke obediently leant into her embrace. “Yes, you can wear it to school if you take it off this minute. Go on then, we want to hear all about Auntie Marianne’s date.”

  And they did, at length, until Will cut the second retelling short by looking at his watch and announcing it was time to leave.

  Saying goodbye hurt far more than Adrian expected. He choked up while stroking Dumpling, hugged Huggy Bear and actually cried when Luke flung his arms around Adrian’s neck. Will handled their departure with far more dignity, but a pulse in his jawline told Adrian he was keeping his emotions in check. The family came to stand in the driveway to wave them off.

  The weather was beautiful, but Will kept the roof up as they began the journey back to London. Motorways and cabriolets were not a great match. Neither man spoke for the first hour, both absorbed in their own thoughts. Recollections of Luke, Huggy Bear and even the tatty old cat threatened to make Adrian tearful, so he focused on the negative. Marianne was such a selfish cow. To crash Gabriel and Tanya’s return, trying to make it all about herself and even showing off a bouquet of flowers was appallingly rude. Worse still, she listened to a few anecdotes of the holiday and then launched into a blow-by-blow retelling of the previous night’s date. Narcissism was a quality Adrian had previously associated more with men than women. But Marianne ticked every box on the list.

  How was it possible that Tanya could have such passion and empathy and sense of honour, while her sister lacked all those qualities? Will took the junction to join the M4 and Adrian settled back for the long boring drive back to London. Then Will spoke.

  “Can we talk?”

  “Sure. Sorry, I wasn’t being sulky or anything. Just feeling a bit sad about leaving them all. And I’m still shaking my head at Marianne’s me-me-me behaviour. You handled her very well, I have to say. Sometimes it’s hard to believe they are sisters, they’re so different in personality.”

  Will overtook a lorry and steered the car into the left-hand lane. “Yeah, that was pretty crass of her to steal their thunder. What did you think about Tanya’s theory?”

  “Matthew, you mean? I can’t say I’ve noticed anything out of the ordinary, but then again, I don’t know him like she does.”

  “I’ve noticed. While Beatrice was away in Finland before the wedding. You remember Tanya asked me to help Matthew write his speech? I spent a couple of hours with him, writing it and rehearsing it, and I could see then his faculties aren’t what they used to be. Whether it’s dementia or not, I can’t say. I did give Beatrice a talking to on the way back from the airport, not mentioning any specifics but telling her she really needed to be more present. I can see what Tanya means about her missing the signs. For a detective, she can be remarkably unobservant about what’s happening right under her nose.”

  “How old is he? I know he’s got a few years on Beatrice but I wouldn’t have said he is dementia age.”

  “Dementia can strike at any time of life, although the incidence increases greatly after the age of sixty-five. When we get home, I’m going to do some research and point Tanya in the direction of some resources. But first things first, somebody needs to talk to Beatrice. It’s possible that she has noticed what’s happening but doesn’t want to acknowledge it. If even Theo has spotted there’s a problem, it must be pretty obvious.”

  Adrian stared out of the window, the sadness at leaving Upton St Nicholas now transformed into a weight of melancholy in his chest. “Poor Matthew. Poor Beatrice. Life can be horribly unfair.”

  Will made a noise of agreement. They drove for several miles without speaking until Adrian remembered that Will had wanted to talk.

  “Is that what you wanted to discuss? Matthew?”

  Will’s eyes flicked to the rear view mirror and he indicated to overtake a caravan. “No. I wanted to talk about something else. This holiday has done me a lot of good. It’s also opened my eyes to something I hadn’t realised before now. I loved looking after Luke. The animals too. I’m glad we decided to get a rescue dog.”

  “Me too. Maybe we can go into Battersea Dogs’ Home next weekend. We really should choose together, even though I’ve got my heart set on a Schnauzer.”

  “Yeah, why not? Give them a call tomorrow and make an appointment. I know having a dog is going to make you happy and I’m willing to give it a go. I just wondered if you would be willing to do something for me.”

  Adrian’s heart seemed to grow heavy and cold. He knew what was coming. “What would you like me to do?”

  “When we first moved in together, even before I proposed to you, we talked about our hopes and plans for the future. We agreed on several things, such as aiming to move to the country once I’ve attained the rank of detective inspector. We also agreed that we didn’t want kids. But that was a few years ago and things have changed. I still want to move to the country after I become a DI. The thing is, I now feel differently about the issue of children. What I would like you to do is think about it. My relationship with you is the most important thing in the world and I would do nothing to jeopardise that. That said, I want to express how I believe having a child would enhance our marriage. We would make wonderful parents. I watched you with Luke and I could have burst with love. You don’t patronise him or exclude him from adult conversation, but treat him like a small person. I love that about you, the way you’re so natural with kids and animals. It’s why my niece and nephew like you so much. I know this is moving the goalposts after we had a full and frank discussion on the subject. So all I’m asking is if you’re prepared to consider it. You don’t need to answer right now.”

  The countryside flashed past, horses grazing in a field, a bird of prey gliding in lazy circles, a farmhouse with a duck pond like something out of Constable painting. Adrian gazed at the bucolic scenes, so carefree and uplifting, which was precisely the opposite of how he felt inside. As he had said about half an hour ago, life can be so horribly unfair. That speech was rehearsed. I want to express how I believe having a child would enhance our marriage. He had put a lot of effort into wording it for maximum effect.

  After years of failed relationships and a growing conviction that he would remain single for the rest of his life, Adrian had met Mr Right. They complemented each other perfectly and when Will popped the question in Portugal, Adrian had accepted joyfully without a second thought. He loved Will to his bones, even when he came home bad-tempered after a shitty day at the Met, even when he blathered on incessantly about this bloody car, even when he micro-managed the simplest of their leisure activities. Everything about their life was perfect. They were both happy in their jobs, they had a lovely flat, tastefully decorated by Adrian himself, they enjoyed good food and decent wine, and had enough interests in common to make their weekends endlessly entertaining. Why would they want to wreck all that by bringing in a child?

  There was no possible way this situation could end positively. Adrian was already hurt that he wasn’t enough to fulfil Will’s life. If he agreed to think it over, only to reiterate his objection to parenthood, Will would be resentful. And if he gave in and they adopted a kid … no. That would never happen. Some people don’t have that nurturing urge and Adrian was one of them. He examined the situation from all angles but couldn’t see a way out.

  Rather than offering false hope by promising to think about it, he would have to point out the practical difficulties and suggest they spend time with other people’s children as a compromise. If Will was desperate to have a child of his own, maybe it would be better if Adrian offered him a divorce so he could find someone else, someone who wanted the same things he did. In a simple either/or scenario, singledom was preferable to fatherhood.

  Traffic grew heavier and they found themselves stopping and starting along the Great West Road. While they waited at some lights in Hammersmith, Will shot him a sideways glance.

  “What shall we do about dinner? Seeing as we’ve been super healthy all week, we could let our hair down tonight and have a takeaway. Do you fancy a Thai curry or even fish and chips from the Polish place?”

  “I’m not hungry right now. Let’s see how we feel when we get home.”

  “Are you sulking?”

  Adrian gave him a cold glare until a horn honking alerted Will to the fact the lights had changed. He raised a hand in apology to the driver behind and drove off.

  “No, Will, I’m not sulking. I’m trying to find a way of handling this depth charge you just threw into our marriage. You’ve asked me to reconsider the one thing I’ve always been adamant about. If I refuse to even think about it, I’m a selfish git. I could tell you that I will give it some serious thought, but that would be a lie. The more serious thought I apply to the question, the more I will convince myself of my original answer. I do not want children in my life and I’ve always been honest about that. Fair enough, you’ve changed your mind. I haven’t. Where does that leave us?”

  The car rolled through Knightsbridge and into Mayfair before Will spoke. “I’m sorry I said you were sulking. That belittles your behaviour and it’s unfair. What I’m asking you to do is look at the situation with an open mind, that’s all. You’ve convinced yourself you don’t want to be a father and locked the door to that particular room. You’ve never re-examined that decision in the light of changed circumstances and that’s what I’m asking you to do. Imagine how much richer our lives would be and maybe your conviction will be less strong. Just think about it, Adrian, but not from ‘these are all the reasons why it’s a bad idea’ perspective. If we want something badly enough, we’ll overcome all the practical difficulties.”

  A white heat swelled from Adrian’s solar plexus to inflame his head. “I’m sorry? ‘We’? There is no ‘we’ who want something badly enough. And I’ll thank you not to patronise me, William Quinn. When Catinca decided to become vegetarian, did you say anything along the lines of ‘you’ve convinced yourself you don’t want to eat meat. Maybe you should rethink your decision with an open mind’? No, you accepted that as a grown adult, she is capable of making her own decisions about what she does and doesn’t want in her life. As for convincing myself I don’t want to be a father, it didn’t take much. I don’t want to be a father, or a mother for that matter. Because that’s what it would mean. You’re ambitious, you want to be a detective inspector, you are committed to your work. So who gets lumped with the lion’s share of childcare? That’s like me saying ‘let’s have a dog, but you can feed it, walk it and pick up all its shit because I’ve got other things to do’. Will, we’ve always been honest with each other. As far as I’m concerned, I’m happy and fulfilled and in love with you. I don’t want a child and no amount of focused, open-minded thinking is going to change that. If you feel there is a hole in your life, perhaps you married the wrong person.”

  Neither spoke the whole way through Clerkenwell until Will pulled up outside the flat on Boot Street. He didn’t turn off the engine.

  “Why don’t you take your bag and go inside? I need some time to think.”

  Adrian got out, removed his suitcase and the bag of tourist trinkets they had assimilated, closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side window to say goodbye. Before he got there, Will drove away.

  He stood there and watched until the Audi turned the corner. Then he unlocked the front door and took his bags inside. His neighbour on the opposite side stuck his head out of his flat, dressed, as always, in grey sweatpants and a Star Wars T-shirt.

  “All right, Adrian? How was your holiday?”

  “Hello, Saul. It was very relaxing, thanks. Everything OK here?”

  “Yeah, nothing to report. I picked up all your post and watered the plants twice a week. One of your African violets is looking very peaky. I moved it into the living room where it’s warmer. Where’s Will?”

  “Gone to get us fish and chips. There is nothing in the fridge. Here, we brought you a present. Some genuine Devon ale and a tub of clotted cream. I wouldn’t recommend having them together.”

  Saul grinned as Adrian handed over the six-pack and the plastic container, his bald patch glowing red. “That’s very decent of you, mate. No need, because neighbours look after each other, right? Talking of which, how is Beatrice?”

  “PI Stubbs is in Mallorca investigating a murder. Old habits die hard.” He pulled out his keys from his pocket. “Thank you for holding the fort while we were gone. Maybe we can go down the road for a pie and a pint next week?”

  “Won’t say no to that. Enjoy your fish and chips, see ya later.”

  The flat smelt musty and stale after their two-week absence. Adrian dumped the suitcase in the hallway, took the perishables into the kitchen and opened a bottle of wine. Then he sat on a stool at the breakfast bar and waited for Will to come home.

  Chapter 21

  The Palliser estate was a huge place with the most astounding views out over the Mediterranean. At the end of the drive, their path was blocked by two solid-looking electronic gates. Theo parked, got out and pressed the buzzer for admittance. There was no reply. Beatrice wandered along the lane, peering through the fence. Not a soul to be seen in the neatly kept garden. It must take a small army to maintain something that size, but the Pallisers could probably afford one.

  She heard voices at the gate and returned to listen to Theo’s conversation.

  “No, we don’t have an appointment. We just wanted a word with Miranda Flynn, if possible. Is she there?”

  The voice from the intercom said nothing for a moment. Theo and Beatrice exchanged a glance.

  “What do you want with Miranda? We’ve told you everything we know.”

  “Oh right, this is Greg? I didn’t recognise your voice. This is Theo Wolfe. I attended your church the other day. We just have a couple more questions for Miranda. It won’t take long.”

  Another long silence stretched out. “Miranda’s not here, I’m afraid, and my parents and I are preparing for tomorrow’s funeral. Your visit is not convenient at the moment, sorry.”