Free The Cipher Garden by Martin Edwards

each other, but because I was in the police, she thought I might be able to help.’
    ‘And did you?’
    ‘As best I could. Which meant hardly at all. He left home one morning and never came back. To begin with, she wasn’t worried. They didn’t live in each other’s pockets and it wasn’t unusual for him to disappear every now and then. She put it down to the artistic temperament, whatever that was supposed to mean. Only when he didn’t get in touch after twenty four hours did she start to worry, make a few calls to friends. By the time she spoke to me, panic had set in.’
    ‘No hint as to why he might have upped and left?’
    ‘They didn’t have financial worries. Chris didn’t make a fortune from his music, but there was enough family money to make an impoverished sergeant’s eyes water. Roz’s business was thriving and they didn’t liveextravagantly. There was no suggestion of strife between them. According to Roz, they never quarrelled.’
    ‘Never? What could be more suspicious than that?’
    He grinned. ‘I’m sure you and Marc never quarrel.’
    Hannah refused to be distracted. ‘I know you said he was a sweet guy and all that, but do me a favour.’
    ‘Actually, I found it easy enough to believe her. Chris wasn’t one for confrontation. If he found himself in…an impossible situation…he wouldn’t want to tough it out. He hated any sort of strife, he’d sooner make himself scarce.’
    ‘Did he have a lady friend on the side that Roz wasn’t aware of?’
    Nick wiped a trace of froth from his mouth. ‘I’m sure he didn’t. And before you ask, there was no suggestion his disappearance was involuntary. I could only assume that Roz was on the right lines. Chris’s temperament was always fragile. A small independent label had brought out a CD of his music a few months earlier and he’d had high hopes of it. But there were distribution problems and it sank without trace. He’d been a bit quiet about that and Roz thought maybe he was more depressed than he’d admitted to her. Or to their GP. He wasn’t taking tranquillisers or anything.’
    ‘Suicidal tendencies?’
    ‘No history of attempts at self-harm and I’d never known him give any hint that he might want to take his own life. But people who kill themselves don’t always give any advance warning.’
    ‘No suggestion someone might have wanted to kill him? Bearing in mind what the ACPO manual says?’
    ‘“Every missing person report has the potential to become a homicide investigation”.’ He was quoting from guidelines issued by the crime committee of theAssociation of Chief Police Officers. The Murder Investigation Manual was the closest that serious crime squads had to a Bible, but even the Bible didn’t tell you everything. ‘Sure, but there wasn’t a shred of evidence to suggest foul play. He was a likeable man. Still is.’
    ‘So you couldn’t help?’
    He spread his arms. ‘What could I do? There was no role for the police, nothing to suggest that he was a victim of crime. It’s a free country, people can come and go as they please, however much distress they leave behind. All she could do was wait – and hope.’
    ‘And then…Warren Howe was killed.’
    ‘No connection.’
    ‘You’re sure?’
    ‘Positive.’
    ‘Howe knew your pal?’
    ‘Through Roz, yes. She’d grown up in Old Sawrey and her married home wasn’t far away. Her best friend Bel Jenner had a fling with Warren as a teenager, then Roz had a turn. Long in the past, and all three of them had married other people. For good measure, Warren was having it away with Gail Flint. Roz’s only interest in the man was as a gardener, I’m sure of that. The cottage grounds were a mess, the old lady had let them become over-run with weeds and nettles and neither Chris nor Roz had green fingers. They liked the idea of a wild garden, but even a wild garden needs to be planned. So they signed up Flint Howe to do the job.’
    ‘No evidence of any hostility