Will was slightly disappointed to hear the guttural tones of Emilia Swain. This soon vanished amid her exclamations of delight that his niece had been found safe, and that the man who had been the cause of all her distress had been apprehended. She confessed to missing her home and was planning to return the following day. ‘I will give it another chance, Mr Stonebridge. See how I go, as they say. At least there is no permanent damage, I must be thankful for that, and with those awful men behind bars, maybe I’ll be able to regain my old love for the place.’ She took a long breath. ‘Although I doubt the garden will ever look quite as good again in my lifetime. I don’t know. You nurture it and feed it, and then some animal tears it to shreds.’

Will said nothing of Hemming having denied any involvement in that beastly act.

‘And Mrs Stonebridge? Is she feeling better? I am sure that now your niece has been found, her problems will ease.’

‘She will be away for a bit longer yet, Mrs S. I need to get this place back to rights before she comes home. To be honest, I don’t think Holland House is good for her. I am hoping to convince her to move away from here.’

‘Oh dear. That is not something I would relish tackling! She is very attached to the house, very attached indeed.’

‘Overly, if you ask me,’ he said. ‘Her love for this place is not what I would call healthy.’

‘You are right, of course, but let me just say that you will have to be extremely careful what you say to her. Tread warily, Mr Stonebridge.’

‘What has Kate said to you about this place?’

There was a pause. ‘Everything and nothing. She simply lives and breathes for Whisper Fen. She can speak of nothing else. But as I said before, she had become rather distant over the past few weeks. Before I left, it was all she could do to even wave to me.’

Guilt? It seemed far-fetched but the old lady had frequently spoken of the garden as her “baby.” Could that be the reason for Kate’s act of destruction?

‘I’m sorry, Mrs S. She hasn’t been herself for some time now.’

Emilia clucked in sympathy. She must go, she said, and hoped that he would call in and see her when she returned.

Promising he would, he hung up. Immediately the telephone rang again. This time it was the call he’d been waiting for.

Philip Fauve sounded tired and anxious. ‘Jesus, Will. This is just terrible. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to reach you before, but what with the police and the doctors . . . and there is still nothing to tell you. Sophie has just clammed up. “Gone inside of herself” as they say.’

‘Have you seen her?’ Will asked.