What Breaks A Detective.

All's Well That Ends Well.

Allie's secret was, by everyone in Smart's office on that day, kept to the grave.

Ex-D.I. Carmen returned to his retirement, and his firework making. He fared well, and lived to the ripe old age of ninety-seven, although had a couple of close shaves through his firework experiments at the ages of eighty and seventy-four.

Dr. Archibald Scott moved into a new practice in the South, and lived out the rest of his days tending to the needs of a small village, and his door was always open to any of the 'wild youths' as he called them, that happened to be passing on by him.

Tarquin Smart never married, but had a fruitful career as allegedly one of the greatest barristers in court history. Upon retirement, he turned to another of his skills, reclaiming the bakery he had lived and worked in as a child.

Chief Inspector Benjamin Barnes married late, to a woman he met on a holiday cruise. They had a daughter, a bubbly girl with her father's shocking hair color, who was named Bridget Annabel Barnes after countless long arguments between her parents.

Lieutenant Robert Newham quit the Army in favor of a move to America, where with his new buisness partner Henry Arthman, he became quite the famous face in the Pinkerton's Agency, the two of them becoming heavily in demand.

Isabel Winter became Isabel Fisher rather too quickly for her younger sister's liking, and became a mother far too quickly for her younger sister's liking, also. She and Inspector Fisher moved to the country, with their two children, Pansy and Percy, the elder being Pansy by two years.

Alianna Winter and Toby Smart eventually moved together into Praed Street. They continued to solve mysteries for at least the following twenty-five years, while somehow along the way managing to bring up a beautiful daughter,who they named Caitlin Rose, and finally tie the knot (with some encouragement from Isabel). When London became too much for them, they retired to the village where they had grown up together, buying a house very near to the bakery they had lived in.

Hettie Broker didn't remarry, and used her freedom as an experience to to travel the world. She touched down on every single continent on Earth (except Antarctica) and had many wonderful experiences, telling Allie about them through letter every step of the way. When she was too old to travel, she became Allie and Smart's next-door-neighbour, and was the best godmother to Caitlin any young woman could want. She and Allie also decided, at that time, to write up the adventures of their youth in a similar format to the books that had brought them together. They wrote ten in total, and, with a little help from Allie's husband, wrote two more, in order to fully explain their whole amazing adventure.

And they published them under the pen-name of Rachel Short.

This amazing journey has finally reached an end. Well, sort of. The short story book 'Winter's Tales' will pick up any loose ends that pop up over the years to come. Thank you very much for reading.

All our love,

Alianna Winter & Hettie Broker.

(Rachel Short)