They had become close friends over the years, so Matt and Liz were among the very few people who knew the Stonebridges’ true story. Kate Stonebridge was a very successful children’s book illustrator. She had been working on a series of books called Fairy Dreams, featuring fairies and elves, and other magical beings. They had been so popular that now the accompanying merchandise was outselling the books. Kids all over the globe were wearing T-shirts, using pencil cases and sleeping under duvets that featured Kate’s creations. She and the author had cleverly introduced a new character into each latest publication, which had kept sales of the books and merchandise at record levels. Along with Will’s glittering career in the force, they seemed to be living a charmed existence. However, beneath the surface, there was little magical about their life.

Will and Kate had lost their baby. Kate had almost died in labour. She survived only after a life-saving hysterectomy robbed her of the chance of giving birth again. Naturally, Will had been devastated but he held on to the fact that he still had his beautiful wife. Kate, on the other hand, had been terribly affected, needing countless months of counselling. Depression had followed, culminating in a short period in a psychiatric unit, and then a regime of drugs whose side effect was a debilitating ennui that made doing the work she loved impossible. Just as Kate was starting to improve, reduce the medication and begin painting again, Will had been attacked by a crackhead and his arm had been badly broken in two places.

As soon as he had recovered enough to drive again, they had decided it was time to move away from their old home and all its bad memories. They hoped, in new surroundings, they could move forward. They could hardly believe their luck when they found Holland House, an old property on Whisper Fen. They had now lived there for almost six months.

‘I’m not sure fen life is suiting our Will, are you?’ said Liz thoughtfully. ‘He’s alone so much when Kate is working. Perhaps it’s getting to him.’

Matt agreed. ‘Will has always been active and, let’s face it, suddenly having to leave the career you’d been expecting to follow until you were pensioned off is very hard to swallow.’ He looked at her. ‘Well, you know all about that, don’t you, my love?’

‘It’s certainly a shock, but you can’t go back and change the past, so you just have to move forward.’ Liz winked at him. ‘And sometimes things turn out better than you ever expected — huh, Mr Ballard?’