Page 29 of A Curious Ending

‘He is either a very loyal husband or a very proud man who does not wish the family to lose face,’ Abby said, and by the expression she pulled, Lara was left in no doubt as to which Abby thought it was.

‘So, it seems both of them would have wanted to get their hands on Lady Porter’s money sooner rather than later,’ Lara suggested. She screwed up her nose. ‘It’s awful rooting through people’s things like this.’ She rather ruined this by adding, ‘But it’s so exciting. And I will say this for Richard, he keeps his files in meticulous order.’

‘I would expect nothing less of a man who has creases ironed into his jeans,’ nodded Abby. ‘I may be from an era when pantaloons were de rigueur, and a nicely pressed cravat marked the ton of a man, but even I know one does not press denim.’

‘Never mind the denim,’ Lara said, ‘wait ’til you hear what else I found.’ She hurried on, ‘There was a later will in the file, dated this July, but it hadn’t been signed.’

‘Now that is extremely interesting. And telling don’t you think?’ Abby enthused. ‘What were the terms of this new will?’

Lara wasn’t sure what the unsigned will was ‘telling’ her, but went on, ‘It’s just as you might expect. She did intend to leave a big donation for the church roof fund.’

‘Go on,’ Abby prompted, sensing Lara’s reluctance.

Lara glanced at her sideways. Abby appeared preoccupied with flicking a speck of dust off her sleeve. ‘The will did mention Joe. She wanted to leave him close to half a million pounds.’

‘Ah,’ Abby sighed.

‘She hadn’t signed it,’ Lara found herself insisting.

‘But did Joe know that?’ Abby mused.

‘It certainly gives Richard and Penny a strong motive.’ Lara knew she sounded desperate. She just didn’t want to see Joe as a man who could plan Lady Porter’s flower garden as he plotted to kill her.

‘Richard and Pinky,’ Abby corrected her.

‘What?’ Lara’s thoughts had wandered.

‘Gives Richard and Pinky, a strong motive,’ Abby repeated.

‘Richard and Penny,’ Lara shot back.

‘Pinky.’

‘Penny,’ Lara insisted, but she found she was now smiling.

Her smile faded to a frown. ‘There were other legal documents in there. One was a copy of the coroner’s report. That was pretty straightforward. There was what we’d heard, “deterioration consistent with a woman of her age”, but it also went into quite a lot of detail of Lady Porter’s last day. She seems to have been on her own in the house. It was Mrs M’s day off and when Richard couldn’t get hold of her, he went around and found her. No note was found. Apart from the coroner’s report there was a document which I couldn’t understand being there at all – it seemed that Lady Porter had signed a document giving Richard power of attorney. Now, why on earth would she do that?’

Abby sat up very straight in the van seat. ‘Well, that does put a completely different complexion upon things. When was it dated?’ she asked.

‘It was this July.’ Lara struggled to understand why such a strong woman as Lady Porter would give her son this power over her. ‘Do you think maybe she thought something was going to happen to her?’

‘I am speculating on a great many things, Miss McGregor, and that is just one of them,’ Abby supplied, unwilling to share all that she was thinking. ‘I am sure from your demeanour that there is more you discovered,’ Abby continued.

Lara wondered how exactly she knew this and was going to ask, but decided she didn’t need to be told, yet again, that Abby had a knack for this kind of thing.

‘Well, there was also a letter in the file from Lady Porter to Richard. It seemed that she had found out that Richard had gone through her bank statements…’ Lara looked outraged. ‘How could he!’

Abby had once heard Doris, the waitress from Betty’s tearooms (who had helped apprehend Tubby Macgillycuddy in ’44) use an expression about a pot calling a kettle black. It was only with great restraint she refrained from repeating it.

Lara went on, ‘From the letter it was obvious Richard had seen some big amounts being withdrawn from her account and I’m guessing he had demanded to know what they were for. There was a handwritten note back from her – it looked like she was really furious when she wrote it as it was dashed off and scribbly – she said it was none of his business and he would not get any more handouts.’ Lara continued uncertainly, ‘Or maybe she had been drinking?’

Abby looked at the windscreen, watching the raindrops run down the glass. ‘It will be very interesting to hear what Sarah has to tell us about Richard Porter when we see her tomorrow,’ she mused.

‘Abby?’ Lara interrupted her reverie. ‘Do you think this lets Joe off the hook?’

‘I beg your pardon?’ Abby said, still distracted by her deliberations.

‘Joe?’ Lara repeated.