The Secret of Chestnut Hall (A Blooms, Bones and Stones Cozy Mystery - Book One)

by Olivia Swift

  Also from Lirios Publishing

  Click on the title to view in the Amazon Store

  Sea Oak Mysteries

  by Adele M. Cooper

  Book One - Witness in the Park

  Book Two - Tilted Justice

  Book Three - Coming soon

  Blooms, Bones and Stones Cozy Mysteries

  by Olivia Swift

  Book Two - The Secret of the Jewel Shop

  The Sampson’s Quarry Mysteries

  by Sophie Tucker

  Book One - The Road to Sampson’s Quarry

  Book Two - Escape to Sampson’s Quarry

  The Secret of Chestnut Hall

  (A Blooms, Bones and Stones Cozy Mystery - Book One)

  Olivia Swift

  Edited by

  Sandy Chance

  Copyright © 2017 by Olivia Swift

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Afterword

  About the Author

  Also from Lirios Publishing

  Chapter One

  Jasmine Summer---Jazz to her friends---watched her sister start the day in the plant nursery as she wielded a hosepipe. Watering was a never-ending chore.

  “So, are you off to the mystery house and garden?” Kim called over her shoulder as she sprayed water over the first rows of containers. Jazz smiled and rattled the car keys.

  “It looks like a nice old house from the outside, and the garden has just not been managed for so long that it’s a jungle.”

  “Ah. These old rumors often have a tinge of truth somewhere,” Kim called back.

  “I’ll give you a hand when I get back. Not starting on the work until tomorrow,” Jazz replied and climbed aboard the four-wheel drive.

  “He seems a bit solemn but quite reasonable to work for,” She mused and thought about the client who had employed her to restore the garden. The house had stood empty for some years after the elderly owner died. The person who had inherited the property paid someone to cut the grass and a woman to clean the inside, but apart from that, it was untouched. Now it was sold, and she had won the contract to update the garden.

  Jazz drew the huge off-road vehicle behind the old house and climbed out. She looked far too slender and feminine to be driving such a monster, but when you were a garden restorer, it was a necessary tool. Waving an arm to a middle-aged man starting a lawn mower, she walked over to where the view of the gardens sprawled away and smiled. The grass cutting machine purred away in the distance.

  “I do love my job,” She said out loud and jumped when the voice behind her replied.

  “Glad I’m not forcing you to do something you hate.”

  Evan Sutherland smiled at her surprise and apologized for causing alarm. Jazz relaxed. The man was paying for her services, and there was no way she wanted to antagonize a good-paying customer.

  “It has been a beautiful garden, and it will be again,” She told him “I was going to walk around first and decide where to start.”

  “Mind if I tag along?” he asked, and she said it would be a help because the garden would have to be what he wanted in the end. He fell into step as they set off down the slight slope of the lawn. Evan, with long legs and lean hips, had the easy grace of someone used to the outdoors. He wore jeans and a checked shirt. His mop of almost-red hair flopped over his forehead, and he brushed it away with long, slender fingers. He stood just short of six feet tall and told her that the man cutting grass was trying to keep the wildness under control until the place was changed.

  “He worked for the previous owner, and I kept him on for a couple of days a week.”

  Looking back at the house from the path below the lawn, they saw the formal balustrades and steps.

  “These are good as they are but need to be cleaned completely and large pots of plants placed at each side of the steps. I’ll get a firm in to clean the terrace, and you can add furniture,” Jazz said, and he agreed and asked about plants. “That’s the easy part,” she went on as they approached the wilder part of the grounds. The path curved through some trees and suddenly a rock garden of gigantic proportions rolled away in front of them.

  “This is one enormous alpine garden,” she said. “It must have had a rill running down the middle and into a pool at the bottom. It was fed by gravity from the now useless tank at the top.” She paused. “If you can stand the cost, it would be better filled in, but I can seal it off instead.”

  “Mmm,” he answered. “Can we see it?”

  “Bit of a climb, but whoever made the garden left a sort of staircase across the rocks.” Evan smiled to himself as climbing was what he did best in the world. Jazz set off up the steep side but looked for the sloping, zigzagging path and found her way to the top. Evan was close on her heels, and they gazed back at the garden from a vantage point.

  “There is no other way to reach this part unless you climb,” he observed and poked at the rusted corner of what had been a huge tank. “Uggh. That is dangerous. It will have to be filled in.”

  “But how?” Jazz queried, and he looked at the trees blocking the access.

  “Can you recommend tree people to cut down and make a track through?” he asked, and she nodded as they both looked at the problem. Jazz pulled out her phone and took pictures.

  “Rob Manners will do the job. I’ll show him the pictures and see what he says.” She turned, and he saw the light of enthusiasm in her eyes. “We could make it a woodland walk to a lookout platform above the rocks. It would be something different and interesting.” Evan nodded and thought how attractive this girl was. Her eyes, the color of brandy, sparkled and lit an answering interest in the man which surprised him. Women were not on his agenda.

  “Once bitten,” he reflected, but she had long, dark-blonde hair that was tied back out of the way for work and even in clothes suitable for physical work, she was slim and smart. He would have to consider the cost of the extra work, however, and he asked her how much more would be added to the bill. She did a quick calculation in her head and gave him a ballpark figure that was not as bad as he had thought.

  They climbed back down, and he held out a hand for the final jump from the rock formation to flat ground. Jazz was not so independent that she would turn down a gallant gesture, and she took the hand to steady herself.

  “Thanks,” she said and rubbed at the hand. It was done without a thought about the tingle of electricity that trickled up her veins at his touch. “Let’s follow where the rill would have run down to the pond.” Jazz had looked up what she could about the history of the garden and knew that there had been a long, mixed border, pond-side planting, and paths that had wandered through groups of trees and shrubs to give private places and unexpected views. She told him this as they walked down and at one point, she stopped and pulled at some grass revealing a brick rill. “We will have a modern system of water management with electric pumping equipment, clean this
channel, and make a lined pond with bog planting. A few seats everywhere would be useful as well, to take in all of the different views.” They had stopped at the lowest point and looked back. Evan nodded.

  “Can you do this on your own?”

  She smiled at the question. “I am strong but not wonder woman. I have a small team, Carly and Ben, and when we need machinery or manpower, we hire that separately.”

  Sometime later, they had covered most of the enormous site and stood looking back at the house. It was large and quite ornate with a wing to one side that had been added after the main house was built.

  “I might knock that wing down and add a modern extension,” Evan remarked, and she gasped.

  “Oh, please don’t do that,” she answered and then remembered he was the client. “Sorry. It’s none of my business.” He shook his head.

  “Why?” Jazz took a breath.

  “I love the history of these places. I like the history of gardens the most, but the houses are fascinating as well. You could have the walls cleaned properly, replace the guttering and windows with modern versions that still look in keeping, and completely gut the inside. You would maintain the history but make it comfortable.” She paused and grinned. “It would be cheaper as well, and the extra could pay for the decking above the rock garden.” Evan laughed out loud, which was another surprise to his system, and told her that he would reconsider his plans.

  “There were some odd stories about the house. I must try and find out what they were.”

  “I’d love to hear them when you do,” she added and opened the door of the off-roader. “I will make a start tomorrow.” She roared away in the gigantic monster, and Evan Sutherland made a mental note to be around when she was. Then he reminded himself about being hurt before and that this venture was his new start.

  “No women,” he told himself and went to look over the wing he had been about to pull down.

  Jazz drove into the enclosure where Rob Manners kept his machinery and was pleased to see him actually there. She waved as he came over.

  “Hi Rob. Have you space to fit in a tree cutting venture at Chestnut Hall?” He raised his eyebrows.

  “Has someone bought it? That place has been empty for years.” Jazz nodded.

  “Seems quite a decent sort of bloke. In his thirties, I would think. Anyway, we found an old water tank at the top of the rock garden that is dangerous, and the only way to access it is to chop our way through the trees.” She showed him the photos and said she would be there tomorrow if he wanted to take a look.

  “Mmm,” he replied. “Curiosity will get me there. About ten okay for you?” She explained about the woodland walk and new decking, and they parted company.

  Jazz returned to the nursery and joined her sister for a bite to eat. Their father had always grown plants for sale, and the two girls both knew they wanted to carry on the work. Kim had developed the nursery and Jazz had gone into garden landscaping. When she required plants, Kim could supply them, and they both helped each other when needed.

  “What’s he like this Evan?” Kim asked through a mouthful of sandwich.

  “About six feet, dark ginger hair, and doesn’t say much,” Jazz told her. Kim raised an eyebrow and paused in eating her lunch.

  “Must be attractive or you would have said something,” she surmised, and Jazz screwed up her eyes.

  “Something about him. He seems like someone I should recognise but didn’t,” she said. “Anyway, maybe Rob will figure him out tomorrow. Ben and Carly can start on the rill and the firm cleaning the stonework is coming to see what the job entails as well.” She hesitated. “I opened my big mouth again and told him he was wrong to knock the west wing down and rebuild it as modern.” Kim laughed.

  “That’s my girl,” she said.

  “He was actually okay with it and said he wanted to find out about the old stories he’s heard about the place,” Jazz answered and offered to do some potting up in the greenhouses. Kim accepted immediately as it was always so hot you could melt doing work like that. The two sisters went back to work and saw that Gilly, who worked in the little shop they had, was doing a roaring trade. Kim stopped to lend a hand, and Jazz was left to work with plants and let her imagination wander over the old house and garden. Seeing the Cordylines for the middle of planters and the colorful summer flowers to surround them, she stopped long enough to phone the supplier and ask for eight stone urns to be delivered to Chestnut Hall. Her own work the next day was to start on the gigantic rock garden.

  Chapter Two

  Jazz met up with her small team of workers early the next morning and explained the cleaning of the rill leading down the slope.

  “We’ll get a digger to take out the pond and line it,” she told them. “I’ll make a start on this enormous alpine garden.”

  Carly James was her usual colorful and exuberant self. She was in her late twenties, tall, slim, and tanned from working outdoors, but what everyone noticed about Carly was the color. Today the hair was electric blue and the orange, cropped tank top left very little to the imagination. Tight jeans and heavy footwear completed the outfit, and the many layers of necklaces around her neck never seemed to get in the way of the work. Carly was unfailingly cheerful, even when disaster struck. She trundled a wheelbarrow laden with the tools she might need and found the top of the rill.

  “Come on, Ben,” she called and then stopped to ask how anyone got to the top of the rock garden. Jazz showed them the diagonal rocks that led to what would be the new lookout point and explained what she had in mind.

  “Yuk. That tank is disgusting,” Carly said and pretended to push Ben over the edge of the rocks. As the man weighed as much as a small truck, he was unmoved by the joke. Ben was a serious-minded young man. He enjoyed what he learned from Jazz and planned to have his own garden services one day. He asked about the platform and when Rob Manners was coming. Jazz knew full well that he wanted to be in on the plan and said she would give him a shout when Rob arrived.

  The three of them were as unlike in many ways as people could be, but all got on well as both colleagues and friends. Carly had been at school with Jazz and her sister, and their friendship had always been strong.

  “Will we meet this new owner?” Ben asked, and Jazz replied that he would probably come to meet Rob Manners. Jazz spotted a truck pulling in and asked the other two to start work. She explained to the cleaning firm where the terrace and steps were. Then with everyone started, Jazz collected tools and a wheelbarrow and started at one corner of the rock garden. Seen from ground level, it was an enormous task.

  “Got to start somewhere,” she muttered to herself and pulled out the first of the weeds. Once started, she settled to enjoy the work and found several plants that were well worth keeping. The soil was loose and sandy, and the weeds came out fairly easily, and by ten o’clock she had unloaded four barrows full of weeds into what would be the compost heap. She could see an alpine garden starting to emerge. Rob Manners arrived, and she took a drink from her bottle of water and went to meet him. As they walked back to the rock garden, she called to Ben and Carly to have a break as well. They were about to climb down from the rocks when Evan Sutherland could be seen striding down the grass towards them.

  “This is the new owner,” Jazz told them quietly, but Rob Manners bounded forward to meet him.

  “Evan? Evan Sutherland. My Lord. I cannot believe it’s you.” The two men stopped in front of each other.

  “Rob the Wrecker. This is unbelievable.” The two men wrapped arms around each other in one of those man hugs that they all seem to do nowadays. They slapped each other on the shoulder, pushed away, and hugged again. The three onlookers were open mouthed and waited for the exuberance to stop. Rob turned.

  “Jasmine Summer, you never told me it was this Evan Sutherland.”

  “I never said his name. I just said the new owner of Chestnut Hall,” she paused “But you had better explain all this old boy stuff.” Evan stepped forward, but before
he could say anything, Rob burst in again.

  “This is THE Evan Sutherland. He is the best mountain climber we have ever produced.” Jazz gasped.

  “I knew I should know you from somewhere. I am so sorry I never realized. Your books are all best sellers.” Evan waved that aside.

  “I was pleased. I bought this place for peace and quiet. I don’t want publicity.”

  “Our lips are sealed,” Jazz told him and introduced Ben and Carly.

  “You’re the guy on television who swings on ropes from overhanging rocks and then climbs sheer faces,” Ben was awestruck. “You are amazing.” Evan Sutherland shook the man’s hand.

  “Please keep the news to yourself. I really do want to just be one of the locals.” Ben nodded, and Rob Manners broke in.

  “I guess the Colorado mountains are not too far for practice climbs,” He grinned. Evan agreed that it was one of the reasons to be in that area.

  “Are you game for a few easy ones? I need a partner.”

  “Would be great. Like the old days but I am not as fit as I used to be.”

  “What old days are these exactly?” Jazz demanded. It seemed that the two men had been army buddies and climbed together. “Then we lost touch,” Rob said and grinned. “Small world though. Let’s see this tank situation.”

  “I guess you want a winding, artistic pathway through the trees?” he said to Jazz who nodded.

  “You are finally starting to get the hang of this design thing,” she laughed. “But yes. A winding path that suddenly brings you out to a spectacular view. We can cantilever a deck out over the roc, garden, and it will be even more exciting.”