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“I hope you don’t mind me discussing your case with George.”
“Why would I mind? He knows everything, already.”
She chews her lip. “And Lord M and Gabriel and Liam. But they’re discreet.”
I don’t care. And when you’re drowning, you don’t care about getting wet.
“And Gabriel wasn’t surprised you couldn’t go the mental incapacity route. He thought it would take anyone at least a year to come to terms with such a step, and you haven’t had time.”
No, I’ve had three days.
“Don’t give up hope.” Pierre rubs a hand down my arm. “You have us in your corner. And Lord M was so angry, he was spitting nails. Says Morris and Sweeny are vile Hyenas who once tried a similar trick to blackmail him.”
“But George didn’t hold up much hope.”
“You don’t know George. He won’t leave a stone unturned. If there is a way out of this, he’ll find it.”
With an effort I drag my mind back to business. “So, why is this meeting next week?”
“To give us time to collect as much evidence as possible.”
I glance up at her, surprised. “What evidence?”
“He’s asked Liam to talk to Hedge.”
Liam? I look at her for explanation.
“Oh, he’s the physiotherapist that works for Lord M. Being a health professional used to working with elderly patients, he’ll be able to assess things and he will get a statement together.”
Pierre and I talked to Grandad, yesterday, and he was adamant that he did not sell Labri Catch. It confirms what we already knew: that Morris and Sweeny played a trick to confuse him. A trick that, according to George, will be very hard to challenge.
“I’m not sure what value a statement is now.”
“Look at it this way, there’s no harm in having it,” she says. “We’re going to try everything. Which is why we’re going down to Ada’s secret house on Tuesday, when the shop is closed.”
“Why?” I manage to ask, hoping my voice is normal, because mention of the secret house twists painfully inside me. It’s the place where Hal first kissed me, where we spent so many lazy hot afternoons by the pond.
“Because there might be an angle we can use,” she says. “Everyone at Du Montfort Hall was very excited about the discovery of the old secret— Oh, I hope you don’t mind, that I discussed it with Lord M. It solves the old Montague secret that no one could work out for ages. Do you mind?”
I did mind. Once. We had wanted to keep the discovery a secret for as long as possible so Hal and I could go there in private, but that ship has long sailed. “How is going down there going to help us?”
“Lord M says it would make an important part of the Island’s heritage.”
Okay, I see where she’s going with this. If it became an official historical site.
I shake my head. “It’s not relevant because the secret house doesn’t fall within the lands Morris and Sweeny bought. It’s on the other side.”
“Are you sure it doesn’t straddle the boundary?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Because George agrees that as a heritage site it would have special status and would require a special kind of land registration. It could make this sales agreement null and void.”
What a lovely idea. But Hal and I talked about it the other night, arguing every single idea to death trying to find other avenues for a challenge.
I pull out the folder from under the shop counter and open the maps. The beautiful diagrams that Hal created with the precision and attention to detail that are his hallmark.
“See?” I show her the position of the hidden pond and cottage. “It’s close but definitely on the wrong side of the boundary.”
