Chloe in Willowmere

Standing at the garden gate with Detective Park and his clipboard of pins and circled addresses, Chloe feels the first real shape of the mystery settle into view. Every house that received a single perfect flower has a history with the Willowmere Community Garden — founding members, seed-drive volunteers, people who donated greenhouse glass or ran the youth programme years ago. The list reads like a quiet roll of honour for people the neighbourhood had half-forgotten to thank. Chloe copies each name into her small blue notebook, her pen moving slowly, as if something about writing them down feels important. Detective Park removes his glasses and cleans them on his blazer, a habit Chloe has come to recognise as his thinking gesture. On a nearby fence post, almost as if placed there while they weren't looking, sits a single small marigold. Neither of them knows who left it. But now, at least, they know why.