The first glimpse at a new character.
I do love a fish out of water. Almost as much as I love a fish on a plate (with chips and mushy peas, 😋). Andorra Pett, my current favourite character, is definitely one. She’s a dress designer, running a café on a space station as well as roaming around the Solar System, solving crime.
If that isn’t fish out of water material, I don’t know what is.
When my wife (and assistant cover designer), Yvonne, suggested a new addition to the amateur detective category, I was intrigued to see what she had thought of.
Meet Laetitia. Her friends call her Tish.
She’s a florist and newly certified wedding celebrant. Her pride and joy is her old Camper Van, which has been converted into a market stall and outdoor wedding venue, complete with a pull-out stage, awning and sound system. We meet her as she prepares to officiate at her first wedding. However, the gig is marred by the murder of the groom, which means that she doesn’t actually get to perform. This annoys her, to say the least.
And that’s when things get really interesting.
Here’s a little taste.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” I said, my voice booming out, startling the birds in the trees. “We’re nearly ready to begin. Can you all please be seated?”
The seats filled, the bride and her father took their places at the rear, and the best man arrived. People at the outer ends of the rows took their phones out and started recording the ceremony. It was like watching a machine start up, they had clearly practised.
Except for one thing. I was about to ask the best man for the rings when I spotted the missing detail.
“Where’s the groom, Laurence?” I asked the best man.
“He was having a vape, in the trees by the river,” he said. “He asked me to leave him alone for a minute. I think he wanted to calm his nerves.”
We waited, but Liam didn’t show. People started to shuffle around in their seats.
“Can you go and get him, please,” I said. Laurence nodded and walked off. His wife glared at me again. I smiled right back at her.
There was a buzz of conversation as people fidgeted. I decided to introduce myself.
“Good morning, everyone,” I said, “I’m Laetitia, your celebrant today. Welcome to this beautiful location, where we’re gathered to witness the…,”
There was a shout from the trees, “Help, someone.” Everyone ignored me and turned to see what was happening.
“That’s Laurence,” said his wife. “What’s going on?”
Laurence appeared from the trees, running towards us. He stopped, dropped to his knees and vomited into the grass.
I ran towards him. We all did. “What’s happened?” said one of the men. I recognised the voice. It was one of the two I’d overheard but I couldn’t pick him out in the group that was running towards Laurence.
“It’s Liam,” Laurence panted, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. I caught the acrid smell of vomit on his breath. “He’s down by the river. I think he’s dead.”
A cloud covered the sun. There was silence.
“Somebody call the police,” I shouted. People reached for their phones.
“We can do better than that,” said an older man, one of the guests. “I am the police.”
This story is developing nicely, whether Tish ends up solving as much crime as Andorra is anyone’s guess. It’s early days in her journey, at the start, I never thought Andorra would do what she’s done.
To make Tish as realistic as possible, I’ve been doing a lot of research into floristry. It’s a fascinating subject, with plenty of scope for stories. There’s no sci-fi in what I’m writing, but a bit of variety never hurt anyone.
As ever, there’s no timescale for completion of this story. Now it’s begun, the voices will give it to me when they’re ready.
If you’d like to know more, please drop me a comment. Until next time,
Happy reading.
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Darlene Foster
I’m intrigued! I like this idea.
Richard Dee
Thank you. I think it has potential, we’ll have to see.