The Visitation - scene of the picnic.

extract:
As she continued to study the sculpture, I tiptoed off to one side to retrieve the picnic basket I’d hidden earlier. I’d flapped out the blanket by the foot of a Scot’s pine before Chiara realised what was happening. She came over. I handed her a glass. She accepted it without a word. I patted the space beside me and she sat down.

‘I know you are used to only the best of Champagne, Chiara, but I couldn’t get any this morning: it was too early. And, really, I don’t think I could have forced myself to buy some, not at those prices.’ I popped the cork, the wine fizzed out. ‘This is from New Zealand. The man in the shop assured me it was good. I bought it for my birthday but never got round to drinking it….’

Chiara placed a finger over my lips to stop me talking and gave my face a long, lingering stare. ‘It’ll be perfect,’ she said.

I thought the statue would have an effect on her – and I was right. There was a tear in her eye as I handed her a tomato sandwich.

The best friend of Charlie Menzies is dead.  Soon there is another death and the naked body is wrapped in a kilt.