Bliss’s nose crinkled. ‘We had a big win. That tends to make you ache less and your cuts and bruises heal quicker. But like you said from the outset, these kids need to see our commitment in order to give theirs.’
‘They’d be even more impressed if they knew how much effort we put in at the day job, too. It was a rough couple of weeks, but you must be delighted at how things have gone since.’
‘Yeah, there’s been some good progress. Knowles and Youngs are on remand locally, four other men were arrested and charged with murder last week. Yeva Savchuk and Troy Parkinson are both out on bail while the CPS decide on their eventual prosecution. We have a long way to go, but I’d say we’re on course for a full sweep.’
‘Pity you couldn’t tie Lewis Drake into any of it.’
‘That’s the way it goes. But he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.’
Bliss felt good as he watched Griffin amble away to put the group through their paces. Things were starting to come together again. He had used his enforced time off to good effect, and mentally was in a better place than he had been in quite some time. He’d even given further thought to following up on the paramedic’s flirtations, and decided it was something worth pursuing. Kelly was younger, seemingly enthusiastic about life, and he’d enjoyed their banter on the couple of occasions they’d met. Passing up even a slim opportunity to find happiness was not an additional regret he wanted for his collection.
His sick leave was mandatory and likely to be over within a week or so; in a few months’ time he’d be back in his office. Having overcome some major difficulties and changes since his return to the city, the team were functioning well. There was still some daylight between his current circumstances and the date at which compulsory retirement kicked in. Penny was enjoying life to the full and making the most of it. He missed Molly, but had plans to visit her in Torquay over the Christmas break.
The thought reminded him of something. This was the first time in a long while that he had not volunteered to be on the roster over the holidays. In addition to seeing Molly, he was due to spend Christmas Day and Boxing Day in Ireland with his mother. His previous trip over with Chandler had ended up with the pair of them involved in a bizarre investigation, but perhaps on this occasion he’d be enjoying someone else’s company.
Time would tell.
A curious sensation crept over Jimmy Bliss.
A feeling of warmth, a kind of energy drawn from it.
He couldn’t tell for sure, but he thought it might just be hope.
Acknowledgements
First up this time around, I doff my cap in tribute to my four beta readers – Lynda Checkley, Maggie James, Dorothy Laney, and Kath Middleton. Each of you made a valuable contribution and helped to make this a better book than it otherwise would have been. I am truly grateful to you.
The same can be said of my editor, Alison Birch at ‘rewritten’, who once again did a great job with the edit and made some terrific suggestions and observations while keeping things light.
As ever I am grateful to my Facebook group and ARC readers, and to the bloggers who were generous with their time in agreeing to be part of the online tour for The Autumn Tree.
To Nicola Parkinson, who some time ago won the right to have a character named after her: I trust you approve.
Finally, a ‘thank you’ of course to my readers – your support is always greatly appreciated.
I hope you all like what I did with this one. Some of the scenes made me laugh out loud, some made me sad, some simply made me yearn for more Bliss and company in the future. Not all of you will agree, but as the author, I believe this represents my best work to date. At the very least, I hope you enjoyed the read as much as I enjoyed the write.
Tony
April 2021
Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Nine
Forty
Forty-One
Forty-Two
Forty-Three
Forty-Four
Forty-Five
Forty-Six
Forty-Seven
Forty-Eight
Forty-Nine
Fifty
Fifty-One
Fifty-Two
Acknowledgements
Landmarks
Cover
Copyright Page
Dedication
