‘There are some questions we have for you.’
‘After we’ve dealt with finding out who my father has given his money to. He was a difficult man, we never got on, although I suppose you know that. And my mother upstairs in the house. I thought he was smarter than that. Did he kill her?’
‘Not that we can prove. Is there any reason he would have?’
‘None that I can think of. I liked him when we were young, but then he became remote, thought that throwing money at our education, paying for overseas trips, was the solution.’
‘Challis Street Police Station after the reading, okay?’
‘As long as he hasn’t given it all to the Battersea Dogs Home, that’ll be fine.’
Ralph Lawrence rushed away, entering through the door into the room where the rest of the family, as well as Molly Dempster, sat. Isaac craned his neck to see the reaction of the others but could see little. The one man who had remained elusive, the one man that his family had not wanted to see, and for whom Wendy had been searching, had walked into the solicitor’s office.
Isaac took his phone out of his pocket. ‘Wendy, Ralph is at Dundas’s. Get down here, take a good look at him, and make sure he doesn’t give us the slip again.’
***
Leonard Dundas rose to speak. The others in the room held their breath, looked nervously around them, all except Molly who sipped her tea. She would have admitted to being baffled as to why she was there, and what was being said. She had an aunt who had left her a teapot once when she had died, but the handle had fallen off long ago, and all she received from her parents, who had been as poor as church mice, was a demand from the council to pay the electricity or it would be cut off.
And there in that room was Ralph, looking much older than the last time she had seen him, vaguely smelling of aftershave and alcohol.
Such an attractive young man, she remembered, always trying to sneak a girl into the house, never getting past his father, but he had charmed Molly as well as the girls, and if the coast was clear, she had turned the occasional blind eye – not that she approved. She was strict Presbyterian, and they didn’t do such things, not before marriage. Not that it stopped a few in the congregation, she knew that.
Caroline sat on the other side of the room. She was clutching her husband’s hand, hard.
I, Gilbert Aloysius Lawrence, presently of 47 Atherton Street, Kensington, London, England, hereby revoke all former testamentary dispositions made by me and declare this to be my last will.
Those present listened as the preliminary declarations were made, and the nomination of Leonard Dundas as the man’s executor. In the event of his being unable to complete his duties, then Jill Dundas was to take the role of executor. Caroline Dickson and Ralph Lawrence waited for the distribution of the estate. The fact that their father’s solicitor had been nominated as the executor concerned Caroline, not so much Ralph, as long as he received his fair share.
To Molly Dempster, a person who has shown great loyalty to the family, I extend my thanks.
The housekeeper looked up when her name was mentioned. Ralph was instantly suspicious that Molly and her father had been involved, but he took a further look, and realised that both of them had been too old, and Molly had always been the eternal spinster, but…
The house that she currently occupies will be signed over to her. The deeds will be made available in her name, and she is to continue to receive her salary until her death. Also, all costs relating to council rates, electricity, gas, and maintenance will be paid out of my estate. A fund will be established to cover this. As well, a one-off payment of one million pounds will be deposited in a savings account for her use.
One house down, over two hundred more properties, Caroline and Ralph thought. Neither of them had any problem with Molly receiving the house and the money. Molly sat stunned, not sure what to make of what had been said. Ralph leaned over and whispered in her ear. ‘He’s given you the house,’ he said.
‘Does that mean I don’t have to go and live with my sister?’
‘You’re rich. You don’t have to go anywhere. Our father has looked after you well.’
‘Oh, good. I am pleased,’ Molly said. Leonard Dundas could see that the woman was confused. He would have a word with her before she left.
Dundas continued.
To my son Ralph, a disappointment, in that he has frittered away an excellent education, a stable upbringing, and chosen not to embrace frugality and sound business practices, I bequeath nothing.
‘What the …?’ Ralph jumped to his feet. ‘He can’t do this, not to me. I have debts to pay, people with demands.’
‘Sit down, Ralph,’ Caroline said. ‘Hear what Mr Dundas has to say.’
‘I can’t leave here with nothing, I can’t.’
‘Mr Lawrence, Ralph, if I could have your forbearance, there is more,’ Dundas said. Jill Dundas sat quietly taking in the interactions of the people. It would be her who would have to deal with them afterwards.
However, he is to be offered redemption. If he can hold down suitable employment for one year, with no cheating, no harebrained get-rich schemes, and no seduction of gullible women, then subject to the recommendation of a group of eminent persons that I have assembled, a sum of five million pounds is to be given to him. That money will be transferred to him over a five-year period in monthly instalments.
‘Who came up with that?’ Ralph said.
‘Your father,’ Dundas said. ‘I believe the term is
