Monday started out cloudy and cool. Keen to beat the forecast rain, I went for a run at daybreak. By eight-thirty I was behind my desk working on my feature when Ciaran pulled up in the driveway. I guessed to prune the lilly pilly. I donned a polar fleece and went out to say hello.
He was unloading his step ladder as I approached.
‘How’s the sleuthing?’ he said with a broad grin.
‘Not so loud.’ I gave the trees across the street a wary glance. Then I added, ‘Not that good. It’s a lot harder than I expected.’
‘Because people don’t always tell the truth,’ he said, reaching for the hedge trimmer. ‘Take my Auntie Mavis. She swore blind she never turned the oven up to full when her sister Marie was baking scones. Claimed she never set foot in the kitchen. She’d been outside feeding the hens
