The Windmill Café. Poppy Blake

had loved Harry, but they hadn’t been engaged, nor, now she came to think about it, had they even discussed marriage despite being in the wedding industry. Only now did that strike her as odd, but there would be time later to consider this new realization.

      She held Matt’s gaze as he fought the returning memories of that painful episode in his life before offering her a rueful smile. Unsurprisingly his response was as pragmatic as she had expected.

      ‘Actually, I’ve come to terms with what happened, view it as a positive really. We were clearly not right for each other, but I just wish Victoria had had the balls to tell me before everyone had invested their hard-earned cash in their wedding outfits and taken their seats in the pews! My aunt Florence saved up for months to buy her hat, and my cousin used her precious few days’ annual leave to come down from Scotland for our wedding. However, I’m pleased to report that she’s happy. She’s engaged to a Spanish guy called Raphael who has a yacht in the Mediterranean. It was over a year ago, but I still can’t face going back to the vicarage.’

      ‘Matt, I’m…’

      ‘Right, enough of the emotional interlude. Want to continue with the shoot? I promise to steer clear of the Ultimate Adventures personalized therapy service from now on!’ Matt joked a little unconvincingly. ‘It’s good to talk, and where better than surrounded by members of the woodland community who won’t judge you for your frailties or repeat your words in gossip?’

      Rosie took the hint, but something had shifted in their relationship, something intangible that caused a warm, fuzzy feeling at the base of her stomach to glow like an ember of hope, hope that when the current ordeal was over, perhaps there would be something much more pleasurable they could apply their investigation skills to.

      ‘Agreed. Okay, Legolas, brace yourself. I think archery could just be my new favourite pastime. Where’s the next target?’

      Rosie followed Matt around the archery field course and by the time they had finished she was getting the hang of how to hold the bow and had scored two hits out of the six. Matt had regaled her with several anecdotes about previous groups who had booked the course, one of whom had insisted on having photographs of their board of directors pinned to the targets.

       Chapter 14

      When they arrived back at Ultimate Adventures’ reception area, Matt guided her to one of the leather armchairs and promised her a coffee to thaw her frozen fingers. She tried not to think about the jumble of washing up in the sink she had seen earlier, nor the cleanliness of the mug he offered to her with a smile. She took a sip and sighed. Coffee really did solve a great deal of life’s problems.

      ‘So, now that the fun bit of the day is over, we need to apply all our efforts to finding out who could have put aconitine in Suki’s throat spray. It has to be someone who knows all about the toxicity of wild flowers and their effects, because if it were me and I wanted to poison someone, my first weapon of choice would be rat poison.’

      ‘Surely you don’t think Freddie…’

      ‘No, absolutely not! I believe what he told us in the Drunken Duck about what happened at the lodge. But don’t you think it was curious the way Suki lured Freddie there, sobered up, and evicted him almost immediately. If she just wanted to make Felix jealous it was a despicable thing to do.’

      ‘And anyway, Felix wasn’t even at the party.’

      Rosie bit into one of the chocolate biscuits Matt had put on a plate, holding her hand under her chin to catch the crumbs, then licking them from her palm with the tip of her tongue.

      ‘Little Miss Clean and Tidy strikes again!’ Matt smirked before his features settled into a more serious expression. ‘Felix was bound to find out about Freddie from one of their friends, though – Nadia probably. She’s got envy scrawled across her forehead in capital letters.’

      ‘But why send Freddie away so quickly? Surely she could have let him down gently. Shared a glass of champagne with him as compensation for humiliating him. No wonder he slunk out the back way and decided to hide out here at Ultimate Adventures. My guess is she snagged that bottle of champagne because she was expecting someone. Who though? Do you think it could just have been that Felix called or texted to let her know he was on his way?’

      ‘Possibly.’

      ‘What? You think it could be someone else? Who?’

      ‘Not sure.’

      ‘There’s only William, her best friend’s boyfriend, or Lucas, her sister’s. You’re not seriously suggesting she was having an affair with one of them, are you?’

      ‘I’m not suggesting anything.’

      ‘Well, who else is there?’ Rosie raked her brain until her eyes widened. ‘Not the Rev!’

      Matt spluttered into his coffee, sending a shower of droplets into the air.

      ‘Oh my God! Did you just say that? I suggest you stop right there with your deductions, Rosie, before you give me a heart attack! Anyway, all this is pure speculation.’

      But Rosie couldn’t get the incident out of her mind. The conundrum continued to spin around her brain on an eternal loop until she thought she would go crazy.

      ‘Who would want to hurt Suki? I don’t know her very well, I admit, but she seems lovely. She really looks after her sister, who’s definitely a cupcake short of a topping, if you ask me. Heavens, Suki even paid for everyone to stay in the lodges. It’s not cheap so she’s generous as well. She paid for all the champagne and prosecco for the party and she made a decent contribution to the Windmill Café’s garden party charities.’

      ‘Her parents were quite wealthy, though,’ added Matt, stroking his chin in thought.

      ‘How do you know that?’

      ‘A quick search of the internet threw up all the information. They died in a helicopter crash ten years ago. Their money was put into trust for their two daughters until they reached the age of twenty-five. Suki’s twenty-six so she’s already got control of her half, and she’s one of the trustees for Jess’s share which she can use for her sister’s maintenance, education and welfare. I bet it was also Suki’s money that was paying for their villa rental in Ibiza, but their uncle and aunt are rich, too. Apparently, the cash is from a family business set up by the two Richards brothers – Bill and Ken. Ken Richards has been running things, with his wife Martha as company secretary, since his brother’s and sister-in-law’s deaths. That information I gleaned from Companies House.’

      ‘Oh my God! Step aside Sherlock Holmes, there’s a new kid on the block!’

      Rosie saw Matt flash her a brief look of vacillation as he struggled with whether to utter his next sentence. From his expression, she wondered if he was going to talk about his ex-fiancée again, but was shocked when he inhaled a deep breath and revealed something even more personal.

      ‘Actually, you’ve hit the nail on the head. It was my childhood dream to become a police detective, but unfortunately life had other plans. I used to love solving all kinds of brainteasers and was an avid watcher of all the TV detective series. When I was eleven, my dad let me help him design the obstacle course at Ultimate Adventures. We argued because I wanted it to be not only a physical challenge, but also a test of the participant’s mental agility by using complicated puzzles to unlock each hurdle; it’s still one of our most popular activities.’

      ‘So why didn’t you join the police force?’

      Matt swallowed down the dregs of his coffee and paused, fiddling with the handle of his empty mug, his eyes glazed as his memories scooted back to the reasons for his change of career direction. Their frank conversation during the archery shoot had introduced a carousel of emotions Rosie hadn’t been expecting. Coupled with what was going on with Suki, she thought her head would explode from sensation overload. Eventually,