Everyone gathered on the spacious lawn at the front of the manor. Some sought the solace of shade that a smattering of ancient trees offered, their branches and foliage casting long shadows across the grass. Others basked in the mid-morning sun, content to confront the sun’s rays head on in the hope of topping up a tan that would look good in the wedding photos.
If there even was a wedding.
Rumours had started to swirl at the first sighting of the police car. The sirens had barely stopped when ill-advised and ignorant whispers began.
Some concluded that Danny had been battered to death.
Some suggested that he’d died of a drug overdose – he had been known to dabble from time to time, after all.
Tragically, some of Danny’s friends only found out about his untimely death by way of this gossip.
Sam and Emily – possible bride and groom-to-be – emerged from the entrance of the stately home, cutting Adam’s thoughts on Danny short. Emily had arrived not long after the police had departed, and she and Sam had taken residence in the bridal suite, presumably discussing what to do next.
They weaved their way through the assembled groups on the lawn. Emily occasionally touched hands with one of her friends in way of hello while Sam stared straight ahead as he led his fiancée towards the decorative bandstand in the centre of the garden.
If this was on TV, Adam would’ve laughed at how overblown it seemed.
They walked up the steps and took their places in front of the crowd. Conversations hushed, and all eyes turned to the happy couple.
‘Can everyone hear me?’ Sam shouted, sounding like a headmaster at the front of an assembly hall.
Murmurs from all sides of the crowd suggested that yes, everyone could hear him.
‘We’re aware that people have been talking and we wanted to let you know exactly what has happened. I’m really sorry to say it, and it is heart-breaking, but Daniel Costello died in his sleep last night.’
Though most people already knew or had guessed, a gasp clouded Sam’s next words. He paused to let everyone get it out of their systems.
‘We’ve deliberated and, obviously what has happened is a terrible tragedy, but we’ve decided to press ahead with the wedding.’
Adam glanced around the crowd, wondering if this came as unwelcome news to anyone. All he saw was happiness.
He pulled on Colin’s sleeve and signalled for his friend to follow him.
It was time to put a plan in place.
Adam emerged from the bathroom with a flourish and a twirl.
Colin sat on the bed with a look of confusion etched on his face. He tried to focus on Adam but it was sensory overload.
His friend was wearing the clothes he’d been given for the wedding ceremony, given that he was part of the official wedding party - a navy three-piece suit combined with a plain white shirt and a red cravat. Pointed brown shoes completed his look.
‘You’re a day early,’ Colin said.
‘Wrong, old chap,’ Adam replied. ‘This is my detective outfit. Sherlock had a deerstalker and a pipe; I have a fashionable suit. You have to look official.’
‘But what are you going to wear tomorrow? And, if we’re actually going to do a bit of digging, we’re going to be talking to our friends. Our friends who are all dressed super casually. You’re going to get laughed at.’
Adam considered this.
‘They won’t if we are both wearing suits.’
Colin laughed.
‘If you think I’m putting on a suit to go and talk to our friends, you’ve got another think coming. I’m dreading wearing one tomorrow, given the weather. I’m already sweating just thinking about it.’
‘Fine,’ Adam said, knowing that the matter was settled. ‘Let’s make a plan.’
With the beginnings of a plan in place, Adam and Colin walked down the stairs and made their way up the lavish corridor towards Danny’s room.
Step one, they had decided, was to take a good look at the body, just to confirm Adam’s suspicions that foul play was indeed behind his passing. If Colin was unconvinced, they would abandon their folly and simply retire to their room to drown in episodes of Sherlock.
Colin made sure that no one was watching them while Adam pulled the handle, relieved to discover that the door had not been locked after the police’s visit. Adam slinked into the room and Colin followed, easing the door closed with a gentle click.
Inside the room, the air was cloying and the heat held in by the heavy curtains that the police had redrawn before leaving felt oppressive. Adam wouldn’t admit it, but he could feel the sweat gathering at his armpits under the woollen suit. He looks at his friend’s casual get up – a T-shirt and shorts – with envy.
Colin flicked the light on and walked around the bed, getting his first glimpse of Danny’s body. In his line of work, he had seen dead bodies before, but it never became any less shocking. This was different. This body belonged to someone he knew, someone who had their whole life ahead of him.
He scrunched up his nose to block out the smell of the vomit and tried to take in as many details from the body as he could.
‘What do you think?’ Adam asked.
‘I agree with you, there’s something fishy.’
Adam noticed details, as if for the first time. Details he must’ve taken in subconsciously when he discovered the body, enough to form initial suspicions.
A lump and a vivid purple bruise bloomed at the temple on the right side of Danny’s face. A trickle of blood had escaped from a small cut in the same area, pooling on the pillow below his head.
Adam had to look away when he noticed this as he began to feel woozy. Colin pretended not to notice his friend recoil at the sight of the blood.
Another set of bruises, either side of the jaw, seemed to glow like beacons against the white of the face.
They look like finger marks, Colin thought. As if someone had grabbed him roughly.
Aside from that, and the tracks of vomit on his chin, there was nothing else to see.
Adam checked the windows, pleased to find that they were secured from the inside. That meant one thing. Whoever killed Danny came in through the door and left the same way. That meant that Danny had let them in.
‘So, what do we do now?’ Colin asked, taking one last look at the body and moving around the bed.
‘We talk to the last person to see him alive. And thus, we begin our investigation.’