‘Well – a few things, really. If I remember rightly, when my wife and I bought the house, you said that we were the second people to be moving into Cold Hill Park – and I think you mentioned there was a family about to complete on the house directly opposite us?’

‘Number thirty-four?’

‘Yes.’

‘Yes indeed, the Lloyds, very charming people.’

‘Well, my wife and I went for Sunday lunch at the pub in the village, the Crown.’

‘You did?’ Jordan sounded a little strange.

‘Yes.’

‘The Crown?’

‘Yes.’

‘Ah, OK.’

‘We happened to bump into our neighbours there – from the house across from ours – number thirty-six.’

‘Mr and Mrs Penze-Weedell! What a charming couple. I’m so pleased you’ve become acquainted with them.’

‘Yes, well, the thing is, they told us there had been three families who had also bought homes on the estate before us. We didn’t know that.’

Hesitantly, Jordan said, ‘Yes. Yes, they did.’

‘Is it true all three of them have subsequently died in accidents?’

There was a long moment before the estate agent responded. ‘Sadly, yes, I’m afraid. The Bradshaws, Ganeshes and Westermans.’

‘Three families from one small estate, all dead in the space of a couple of months? Isn’t that more than a bit of a coincidence? It feels pretty bloody weird to my wife and I.’

‘Well, yes, I would have to admit that’s how it might look.’

‘Might look?’ Jason said. ‘To us, it smacks of a hex on this place.’

‘Let me put your mind at rest, Mr Danes. Of course, it must seem like a hex or a curse – if you believe in that kind of thing. But the reality, tragic though it certainly might be, is somewhat more prosaic. The Ganeshes, from 7 Copse Walk, were up in Manchester, having a holiday visiting relatives, when the house they were sleeping in caught fire and they were trapped. The Bradshaws, from number thirty-four opposite you, a delightful family with two small children, I understand were poisoned by carbon monoxide from a faulty boiler, in a rented villa in Italy. And the Westermans, from 42 Copse Walk, very unfortunately, were both killed in a boating accident in the Caribbean – they were out snorkelling, and a waterskiing boat apparently didn’t see them and went over them.’

Jason absorbed this, reflecting. He had to admit that the geographical distance between Cold Hill and the accidents did reduce the notion of a curse. But… ‘It’s still a very strange coincidence, wouldn’t you say? That they all lived here?’

‘Coincidences do happen in life, Mr Danes,’ Jordan replied. ‘Sometimes they are good, happy ones and just occasionally, like these, they are terrible. So sad. But to conclude from these that Cold Hill Park is under some kind of dark cloud – well, I couldn’t say that, no. It’s a beautiful development, as I think you and Mrs Danes recognized when you made your decision to buy there. Please don’t let something like this upset you, so soon after you’ve moved in.’