Kingsmere Gardens had a hundred and forty houses, built around a big village green with a play area and a little clubhouse.

Ninety of the houses had been sold to owners. The other fifty were rented out by the company that built the whole place, Larkspur Estates.

Larkspur also owned all the land that didn't belong to individual houses. The roads. The green. The play area. The clubhouse. Everyone, owners and renters, paid Larkspur a monthly charge to look after it all.

Larkspur was run by its founder, an old builder called Hugh Danvers. He was seventy-two and wanted to retire.

And for the last eight months, Hugh had been quietly negotiating to sell his whole company.

To Hearthstone Homes.

To me.

It was strictly confidential. Hugh's staff didn't know. My staff barely knew. Nobody at Kingsmere had the faintest idea.

I hadn't rented there because of the deal. Not really. It was close to the new office, and I liked the green.

But living there turned out to be the best research I've ever done.

Because within six months, I knew exactly how Kingsmere worked.

And exactly who ran it.