A Plot in Germany

"A Plot in Germany"

A novella, by Paul Bristow

The city of Köllburg in Germany is staging an International Garden Festival, incorporating gardens created by designers from a range of different countries.

The British Garden, the work of Cal Camborne, showcases traditional elements, with paths winding through bowers of roses.

Its neighbour, the American Garden, could hardly be more different. Technology, rather than horticulture dominates, with exotic glass sculptures glittering among laser light displayers. Lew Fiorentino, the designer, has all the arrogance avquired after a 30-year career providing innovative landscapes for the giants of Silicon Valley.

Camborne's assistant is Daniel Beeding, still in his twenties, and with a family connection to Germany. Daniel becomes involved with one of Fiorentino's assistants, Marie Talbeck, only to switch his affections to his long-lost German cousin, Uschi Brundt.

The Garden Festival has attracted controversy, because it adjoins a much-loved nature reserve. There has been criticism from some in Köllburg, including the "Last Chance" movement that campaigns against human degradation of the natural environment.

As the Festival opens, there is an attack on the American Garden, and the threat of more to come. Detective Superintendent Bernd Dieckmann is brought in to investigate, and has to overcome his visceral dislike of all things American to try and find out who and what lies behind the attack.

Before his investigation has progressed very far, a drone is brought crashing down on to the pavilion in the American Garden, injuring Fiorentino. Fortune favours Dieckmann, and now he is able rapidly to discover the identity of the likely perpetrator.

But the threat to Fiorentino has not ended. The perpetrator of the drone strike was not acting alone...