A spring and summer lacking in moisture, but plentiful in heat, had caused autumn to come early, and leaves of orange, red, yellow, and brown filled the maples and oaks within view. On both sides of the road, meadows were covered in golden barley ready for harvesting, and the breeze, although slight, made it appear as if the fields were undulating toward the conifers dotting the hills in the distance.

The scenery changed like the fencing lining the road. As the wire mesh protecting the crops was replaced by wooden pickets, homes could be seen just off the lane. Tucked behind trees and shrubs, if it weren’t for their white façades and the cobblestone driveways leading to their front doors, they would have been swallowed up by the landscape surrounding them.

It seemed to Joanna as they casually followed the twists and turns of the road, the further they went, the narrower the asphalt was becoming. With no more fencing to block their path, shrubs littered with dead leaves and twigs encroached as much as they dared, and old, crooked trees near the edge of the road were losing their lives to the ivy encasing their trunks in green, leafy cocoons.

Joanna felt the car slow, and as David smoothly guided it around a sharp turn, the overgrown foliage and scrub ended and pastures of grass, green and thick, appeared on the right. Intuition told her they were nearing their destination, and holding her breath, Joanna watched as another fence came into view. Unlike the ones before it, this one was intimidating. Columns of stone sprang from the earth, rising at least seven feet in the air before they were capped with pyramids made of concrete. Between each was lengths of vertical wrought-iron fence, and the Fleur de Lis finials that topped the spires came to sharpened points waiting to pierce.

Just inside the fence line, pine and firs holding their emerald firmly in their needles blocked Joanna’s view of the estate until an opening appeared. Through the stands of white-barked birch the expanse of the property could be seen, but unable to see a house, disappointment showed on Joanna’s face.

“Christ, I’m sorry,” Fran said, slipping her mobile into her handbag. “I didn’t think I’d be on the phone that long.”

“No worries. I’m just enjoying the scenery,” Joanna said, glancing at Fran.

“Well, I was hoping to tell you something about the house before we got there.”

“We’re there?” Joanna said, sitting up straight.

“Close,” Fran said, pointing out the window. “Just up ahead is the drive.”

Turning her attention to the road, Joanna squinted. Straining to see through the shadows of the oaks near the road, she felt the car slow again as David maneuvered the car down a rutted dirt path before coming to a stop in front of a pair of bow-topped iron gates.