Delphiniums and Deception Read online

  The doorbell shook me out of my focused mood, where I had been costing and considering the maximum number of potential subscriptions that my plot of land could sustain. I walked to the door and welcomed a bedraggled Fergus and Barkimedes into my house. The autumnal sunshine had finally turned to a more seasonal wet patch and my guests had been caught in a shower. I gave them both towels and Fergus borrowed my dressing gown. Once we were settled, and I was still getting used to the idea of Fergus in a purple sheep covered dressing gown, I told him about my idea.

  “It sounds great! How are you going to get the word out?” he asked immediately after I’d finished.

  “Well… I was going to use flyers and put the word out at my market stall. It’s more convenient for people. It will be easy to cancel, too. I need to get my website modified so that it can take orders.”

  “What about a newsletter?”

  “A newsletter?” I said, thinking of a piece of printed paper - the kind of thing that was usually shared around a village and contained mostly gossip and the odd lost cat advert.

  “Yes, you send it online,” Fergus said, shooting me a disbelieving look. He’d known exactly what I’d been thinking of. “It makes getting in touch with you easy and people get to know the real you.”

  “You think that’s a good idea?”

  “Sure! It worked for me with The Truth Beneath. My readers love me!”

  “Really?!” I said and received a withering look for my squeak of surprise.

  Fergus threw his hands up and reached for a biscuit. “Good luck selling your bouquets! Just telling you what I know.”

  I grinned. “Stop being a grump. For a man who is tongue in cheek about most of what he does, you can’t take a joke.”

  “Oh yeah? You’re not so great at good humour either. Or gratitude, for that matter. You were hardly grateful for that fancy course we just went on, and yet here you are, using some of the ideas for your business. Tell me I’m wrong!”

  “You’re not wrong,” I conceded. The course had definitely stuck with me, as Sir Gordon had intended when he’d designed it. The only thing I wasn’t certain of was whether the sudden death had been the catalyst for not being able to forget, or the course itself.

  I hoped that Sir Gordon didn’t aim to have a murder every time he ran the course.

  “But Fergus… please… never do anything thoughtful for me again.” I was actually half-serious. Where Fergus was involved, trouble seemed to follow very closely behind.

  My friend nodded like he was actually taking it into consideration. “But it was fun, right? We saw signs of alien life! I count that as a success.”

  “You’re seriously sticking to your story? I gave you a whole number of logical explanations!”

  Fergus grinned. “But you didn’t prove any of them, did you? And you didn’t disprove that it was, in fact, an alien spaceship answering my call.”

  I rolled my eyes so far back I was surprised they didn’t disappear into my head. “You know the difference between proving something and disproving something! I’ve explained this before.”

  “And you’ll have to explain it again. Multiple times. I am on a search for the truth, Diana, and I’m going to find it.” He might have looked dramatic had there not been half a chocolate bourbon biscuit caught in his stubble. “But, just to clarify… you did learn a lot on that course, didn’t you?”

  “Yes,” I repeated.

  “So it was useful. And Fergus is a great friend for taking you,” he said, looking self-satisfied.

  “Fergus needs to quit talking about himself in the third person, but it was useful.” I kept my smile to myself, thrilled that he’d walked into my trap. “So useful, in fact, that I decided to return the favour. I’ve enrolled you on a course I think you’ll like… and I’m coming, too! It’s going to be such fun.”

  “What kind of course?” I was rewarded with Fergus looking every bit as suspicious as I’d been when he’d first announced we were going on the retreat.

  “It’s just a one day course, so no lockdowns,” I hastily told him. I wouldn’t be willingly signing up for anything like that again. “It’s a conspiracy theory course.”

  “That sounds vague.” Fergus wasn’t having the wool pulled over his eyes for a second.

  I let my grin escape. “It really is a conspiracy theory course! It’s run by a man who specialises in scientifically debunking theories. We’ll be learning about conspiracies that have been debunked, and the best methods to investigate and debunk any theory we come across. Sounds pretty fun, right?”

  “That sounds like the opposite of fun. This scientist guy must not be open-minded at all.”

  “Tut, tut! You’re the close-minded one. Ever since we met, I’ve been telling you that you need to find evidence to support your theories. This will be a great chance for you to see how that’s done. And engage in a healthy debate,” I told him primly.

  “But… science is for killjoys!”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Are you telling me that you’re not interested in finding holes in the argument of a scientist whose goal in life is to debunk all conspiracy theories?”

  Fergus looked thoughtful for the first time. “Confronting the enemy! When you put it like that…” He rubbed his chin. I could almost see his brain working. I sincerely hoped that this scientist would be prepared for someone like Fergus.

  To be honest, I wasn’t sure if anyone was prepared for someone like Fergus.

  Diggory reached a paw up for a biscuit, but I neatly pushed it away from the plate. Fergus followed suit and I automatically repeated the action.

  “This guy will have to have answered every angle in his debunking. It’s easier to prove something exists but difficult to prove that it doesn’t. I can be a tricky customer!”

  I turned away so that he wouldn’t see my smile. “I don’t think anyone will argue with you on that point.”

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  Books in the Series

  Gardenias and a Grave Mistake

  Delphiniums and Deception

  Poinsettias and the Perfect Crime

  Peonies and Poison

  The Lord Beneath the Lupins

  Prequel: The Florist and the Funeral

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  Ruby Loren

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