The Coniston Case Read Free

– here it is. “Good luck in your new job.” No name or anything. The order came in the post, with cash. I assumed he would know who they were from without being told.’
    Moxon waited a few seconds. ‘Did you gain any particular impressions of him? His frame of mind, for instance?’
    ‘Preoccupied. He hardly looked at me. But I thought he quite liked the flowers. He grabbed them off me and gave them a sniff before he shut the door in my face.’
    ‘He’s been reported missing, you see. And his landlord appears to be away, too. His daughter let us into the house earlier today and we had a quick look round. We found the flowers still in their wrapping and your tape round them, but no card.’ Simmy’s tape had been an inspired innovation a few weeks before.
Persimmon Petals
was endlessly repeated along its length.
    ‘What a waste.’ It pained her to think of the blooms left to die unloved after her careful work in assembling them, not to mention the time-consuming drive to deliver them. ‘They weren’t cheap.’
    Melanie came out of the back room, clearly having heard the conversation, and interrupted. ‘Wonder what happenedto the card.’ Simmy and the detective both looked at her blankly. ‘Why do you say that?’ asked Moxon.
    ‘No reason, really,’ she shrugged. ‘You’d think it would still be with the flowers, that’s all. Probably he liked the thought after all and kept it for sentimental reasons. It might be under his pillow.’
    ‘I doubt that,’ frowned Moxon. Simmy became aware that the detective inspector was watching her closely, waiting for a more relevant reaction. ‘It looks a bit worrying,’ he prompted.
    She put up her hands defensively and took a step back. ‘Oh no,’ she said loudly. ‘No, no,
no
. Don’t you go involving me in another of your beastly murders. Don’t even
think
about it. I’m exempt. Immune. I’ve done more than my bit for society in the past few months.’
    Movement on the pavement outside the shop drew the attention of all three. They watched as Ben Harkness tried to push the shop door open, finding DI Moxon to be an obstruction.
    Moxon himself sighed, shook his head and muttered an apology, before getting out of Ben’s way.

Chapter Two
    ‘Nobody said anything about murder,’ Moxon objected. ‘There’s no sign of violence in his house.’
    ‘Murder?’ echoed Ben, with seventeen-year-old enthusiasm. ‘Where? When? Who?’
    ‘Aye-aye,’ said Melanie with a grin.
    ‘Go away, all of you,’ ordered Simmy. ‘I’ve got work to do. If the Hayter man isn’t dead, then why are we wasting time like this?’
    Moxon summoned every scrap of available dignity. ‘He has been reported
missing
,’ he emphasised. ‘And after a brief search of his home, we found recently delivered flowers from this establishment, and as part of normal investigations, I came to ask if you knew anything that might help us.’
    ‘Establishment,’ muttered Ben, with a quick roll of his eyes. ‘Is that what this is? I thought it was just a shop.’
    Melanie poked him and hissed, ‘Shut up, you fool.’ Shelooked at Moxon. ‘So who’s his daughter? When did she last see him?’
    ‘She’s a Miss Daisy Hayter. She’s getting married next week and arranged a dinner party last night for her parents and her prospective in-laws to have a pre-wedding get-together. Her dad never showed up, which she finds extremely worrying. Apparently it’s totally out of character.’
    ‘So much so that a detective inspector gets put on the case?’ Ben queried.
    Before Moxon could reply, Simmy said loudly, ‘Well, I don’t know anything. I hardly saw him. He hardly even
looked
at me.’
    ‘This is a grown man we’re talking about,’ Ben persisted. ‘I didn’t think the cops were interested in people like that going missing. If he’s not suspected of a crime, then he’s free to go where he likes, surely?’
    Moxon did not reply, which gave Ben all the information he needed. ‘He
is
a