Silver Glass

Chapter I: A Funny Thing Happened by the River

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered. -- G. K. Chesterton

Patton House
Enniskillen
1 March, 19—

It had been an eventful year. First that forgery case in Busan, then an abduction in Hong Kong, then the suicide-that-wasn't in Sapporo, then a trip to Rome to catch a money-launderer, all in the space of a month and a half. The minute he had handed the money-launderer over to the authorities, Seo Yo-han had promised himself that he wouldn't take on a single case until August.

He was going on holiday, and if he heard so much as a whisper of another mystery he would run a mile in the opposite direction.

So he got on a train to France, and then on a boat to England, and then spent a week taking photos in the Lake District. While there he remembered Miss Patton, who he'd cleared of a murder charge almost two years ago, and her invitation to visit if he was ever in Ulster. He wrote to her and quickly got a reply saying she would be glad to see him. So he got on another boat, then on a train, and finally ended up in Enniskillen.

It amused him that he had gone from one Lake District to another.

Miss Patton had sold her aunt's house and bought a new one on the outskirts of the town. Her sister and brother-in-law (and their son, and two dogs) shared the house with her. When Yo-han arrived he was promptly pounced on by Mrs. Király, formerly known as Octavia Patton, who had endless questions about the circumstances of her aunt's death and how her sister had become a suspect.

Yo-han couldn't help thinking Mrs. Király was rather like his half-brother Hyeon-su.

Ophelia Patton was much more cheerful than he remembered, and Máté Király was downright friendly. He had a sneaking suspicion that life with Rachael Patton-Langdale had made their personalities much more abrasive than they naturally were. Mr. Király Jr. was a paragon of tranquillity by one-year-old standards, meaning he generally cried no more than five times a day, and the dogs showed their approval of the visitor by jumping into Yo-han's lap and licking his face.

Miss Patton's house was right beside the river. On the right was a park and a collection of piers. On the left was a large house on a hill, surrounded by a wall and a forest. At the bottom of the garden was a path running beside the river. This started in the park, continued past Miss Patton's and the house on the hill, and disappeared around a corner further downstream. It was agreed that this path was open for anyone to use, and a fence divided it from the garden.

Across the river was a large field with cows wandering across it. An old empty house stood in the field. Off to the side was a small house, and beyond it one of the bridges connecting the main town with its outskirts.

A less likely setting for a mystery would be hard to find.

One evening Yo-han took his camera and went down to the path. He took photos of everything, but he couldn't get a good view of the bridge. Since the path was open to the public he thought nothing of going further down.

This part was technically on the grounds of the house on the hill, but there were no gates and no signs warning people away. The trees cast a shadow over it.

The sunlight fell on the field and the empty house. It cast a golden sheen on them. Light glinted off glass in one of the windows. The house beyond it was hidden by a hedge with only its roof visible. A small boat was moored near it. The bridge still wasn't properly visible.

Yo-han moved further along the path and set up his camera again. Finally! He took the photo and turned to go back. Then he stopped at a strange sound. Branches snapped. Footsteps approached. At first he thought a group of people were chasing each other through the forest. Then he realised there was only one set of footsteps. Someone was running like their life depended on it.