Chapter 12
‘Briony, have you looked for a will? If you found one, and discovered you are the sole beneficiary, it might clear up why she summoned you here.’
Briony looked at Joss with interest. She hadn’t thought of that. ‘No, but I have been looking for the deeds, and haven’t come across anything like that while I was looking.’
‘All right, so we’ve established that it’s most likely not in the house. That’s probably quite sensible anyway. That means if she has made one, it’s probably lodged with a solicitor.’
Briony had a sudden eureka moment. ‘And the deeds might be with the will?’ she said excitedly.
Joss nodded. ‘They could be. Or they could be stored with the courts and tribunal service, or the probate office. I can do a search and find out if your grandmother has lodged a will.’
Briony stared at him. She wasn’t sure she wanted him to do that. She’d rather speak to her grandmother. ‘Can’t we just see if we can find the missing deeds first? I think I’d rather speak to my grandmother before I find her will. It’s not what I’m here for.’
At least, I hope not. My grandmother is safe and sound somewhere, I just know it.
‘All right. I’ll start with an electronic search at the Land Registry, and see what turns up. But this is good …’ He tapped the photo album with his finger. ‘If it turns out the deeds are lost, and unregistered, then if all else fails at least we have some proof that your great-grandparents built this property.’
Briony glanced at the old photo album on his lap and nodded. Her eyes roved to the outbuilding through the large window in the double-aspect room. Perhaps it was fortuitous that she’d given Troy the go-ahead to renovate the outbuilding in her grandmother’s absence. If it wasn’t for that, she would not have ventured in there, with all the cobwebs and spiders. While sorting it out, she’d rescued precious family heirlooms, like the old bureau, but was also glad she’d found the photo albums. And she was especially glad she’d found the unread love letters that she suspected Blythe knew nothing about.
‘As well as these photos, there will be evidence of who has possession of the property right now – your grandmother – through utility bills. Of course, her parents might have had a will showing that your grandmother inherited the property, which in turn explains why she should be in possession of the deeds. But that’s assuming there were some originally. Sometimes a property is just passed down the generations with no deeds.’
Joss caught the look on Briony’s face. ‘But let’s assume, for simplicity’s sake, that there was an original paper copy of the deeds. Then it just comes down to explaining the circumstances around how they came to be lost, and the lengths she has gone to in order to find them. This is called reconstitution of the title. That means we provide the Land Registry with as much information as we can about the property and its background, and they decide whether they are happy that enough information has been provided in order to register the property.’
Briony nodded. It could be reasonably straightforward – if Blythe, when she was found, had the missing information.
‘Now, not to get you worried or anything, but if in those circumstances they do register the property, it will be called a possessory title, as opposed to an absolute title. Basically, you haven’t got the same legal protection that an absolute title gives you, so it’s still possible for someone to dispute your right to the property or the land it sits on.’
Briony gaped at him. ‘That means we might be back to square one, after all that.’
Joss sighed. ‘Quite possibly.’ He glanced at the solicitor’s letters. ‘It depends on what lengths someone is prepared to go to in order to get their hands on this place.’
Briony didn’t know what to say.
‘And to rub salt into the wound, when you’ve provided all the evidence, the Land Registry will write to any interested parties who may dispute your grandmother’s right to the property or the land it sits on.’
Briony sighed heavily. She knew Joss was doing his best, but she just felt she was going around in circles.
‘Or you can find the bast … er, I mean the person hiding behind their solicitor, and take them out.’
‘I’m sorry – what did you just say?’
Joss looked at her, wide-eyed. ‘I’ve got a terrible sense of humour. Emily will vouch for that. I can come out with unbelievably bad jokes.’ He looked at her apologetically. ‘Sorry. Not very professional of me.’
Briony managed a smile. ‘Actually, that’s not a bad idea.’
‘I thought so.’ He smiled too. ‘But seriously, what I should have said was that you could find out who this person is and see what their game is. Blythe’s lived here for decades without any issues.’ He glanced at the letters. ‘I’m not sure why all this has suddenly reared its head.’
Briony didn’t have a clue either. She stared at Joss. ‘Can you do that? Find out who this solicitor’s client is?’
‘It’s tricky. You see, they’re not legally obliged to divulge who it is. So as a solicitor, there’s nothing I can do. But I might know someone who—’
‘Clarissa!’
Joss smiled. ‘Ah, you’ve met Emily’s friend. She’s a very good budding investigative journalist.’
Briony guessed he meant she was particularly good at finding out other people’s business.
‘I’ll have a word with her and see what she can dig up for you, Briony.’
Briony had a thought. ‘About the deeds. How do you turn a possessory title into an absolute one?’
‘That’s a good question. Obviously, let’s hope the real deeds, along with your grandmother, resurface soon, but in answer to your question – it might be done pretty quickly if we can prove she’s lived in the property for twelve years uncontested, which I assume she has.’
Briony thought that this was the first piece of good news she’d heard during the conversation.
‘But—’
‘Seriously!’ Briony blurted. ‘There’s another but?’
‘I’m afraid so. Say we sorted the possessory title, and an absolute title was granted by the Land Registry. If the deeds were to subsequently surface, and there are rights or covenants on the original deeds that we weren’t aware of, or your grandmother wasn’t, for that matter …’
Briony stared at him. ‘Then they could still contest it.’ Briony rubbed her temples with her fingertips. She realised she’d just entered a minefield.
‘It’s a minefield,’ Joss said, as if reading her thoughts.
‘Do you think that this person, whoever they are, knows something?’ Briony asked.
Joss furrowed his brow. ‘How do you mean?’
‘Oh, I don’t know. I’ve just got this feeling that there’s more to this, but I can’t put my finger on it.’
‘You know, I have the same feeling.’
They sat there, staring at each other.
‘Well, you two are getting mighty cosy in here. Should I be worried?’
Briony turned to look at Emily, standing in the lounge doorway, holding two cups of coffee. She could smell the coffee from where she was sitting. Briony quickly got up from where she was sitting, right beside Joss, and moved back to the sofa chair across from him.
Joss rolled his eyes. ‘Ignore her, she’s just pulling your leg. And what are you doing, interrupting my client’s appointment?’ he said light-heartedly.
‘Sorry, was I interrupting?’
‘Nah, we’d just finished, actually.’ His tone changed. ‘Where were you? I thought you were making a coffee. That was, like, half an hour ago. Surely, it doesn’t take that long to boil a kettle!’
Emily looked at Briony. ‘He gets irritable if you don’t top him up with coffee frequently.’
‘I do not!’
‘There you go.’ Emily smiled affectionately at her fiancé. ‘Sorry, sweetheart, I got a bit sidetracked.’
‘Looking out of the window at the good-looking, bare-chested guy, no doubt,’ Joss said miserably.
‘Not at all. The kittens woke up.’
Briony smiled. Of course. Who wouldn’t get sidetracked by the cute kittens? She imagined Emily had spent the last half an hour cross-legged on the floor, playing with them.
‘Here you go, sweetie.’ Emily handed Briony a cup of decaf coffee.
Briony took the mug and suddenly felt terribly homesick. Despite the company of her new friends, she was missing home dreadfully. She missed her mum calling upstairs and asking her if she wanted a cuppa.
‘Can I join you guys?’ Emily asked.
Briony smiled. ‘Of course.’
‘I’ll just fetch my drink.’ Emily walked out of the lounge. Briony watched her go, wondering when she was going to tell Joss that she was pregnant. Perhaps she already had.
‘Oh, my goodness!’ exclaimed Joss. ‘I’ve seen this car!’
‘Well, yes,’ said Briony. ‘It’s Blythe’s car, so you will have seen it around Aldeburgh or even at home when Blythe has been to see Emily.’
‘Yes, I’ve seen Blythe driving it to ours. I’ve even helped her with some of her foster cats, carrying the crates over to her car. But that’s not what I meant.’
‘Then what did you mean?’
‘That I’ve seen it recently.’
‘Recently? As in, just-the-other-day recently?’
Joss nodded his head vigorously.
‘Where?’
Joss fell silent.
‘Joss?’
He closed the photo album. ‘I’m just trying to rack my brain and remember exactly where it was.’
Briony fell silent, not wanting to interrupt his thoughts – if only he could remember.
‘I was visiting Nate – yes, that was it. We had a coffee around the corner from where he works at Aldeburgh Hospital. I swear I saw it in the hospital car park. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it when you and Emily were talking about your grandmother’s car.’
Briony stared at him. It meant one of two things. Either Blythe had driven herself to the hospital and whoever had picked her up had done so in their own car. Or—
Joss said, ‘What if your grandmother isn’t missing at all?’
Briony swallowed. ‘You mean she’s been in the hospital the whole time?’