Chapter 16
Lara drove for a few minutes until she found a secluded layby to pull over. The van sploshed through a puddle as it drew to a halt, the rain still hammering on the roof.
‘Did you manage to find the will?’ Abby asked before the van had stopped.
Abby put her fingertips together and pressed her forefingers to her lips. ‘We were right, though,’ Lara continued, ‘the Porters have serious money problems. I found bank statements and everything. Luckily the Hon Richard is still into paper statements.’
‘Fortunate indeed,’ Abby commented, wondering what other type there were.
‘It’s not just Richard who’s struggling, but Penny is as well. I saw her statements and notes Richard had made. It looks like the main paintings that have sold recently have been bought by Richard.’
‘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.
Abby turned to her. ‘I do not believe Joe has a murderous disposition, but I do think it would be good to find out if he believed the will had been changed.’
Lara looked uncomfortable.
‘You can see that this could be important,’ Abby insisted.
‘I suppose I could find a way to ask,’ Lara said reluctantly.
‘I would also like to look at the paintings that Dr Patil is to inherit, on the basis one should always be thorough… it might explain why he was meeting Mr Honeybourne, to gain his advice about the paintings…’ she added doubtfully.
‘… and the vicar?’ Lara muttered sarcastically under her breath.
Abby prided herself on her exceptional hearing.
‘I think currently we can discount him on the basis of opportunity.’
‘Hmmm… so not the vicar,’ Lara said, suppressing a smile, ‘but we’re not ruling out Dr Patil?’
‘I think it would be foolhardy to do so at this stage. You have to remember that in addition to his legacy he lied to us and also that Lady Porter did not confide in him about her time in India.’
‘What about Mrs M, she had an inheritance too?’ Lara suggested reluctantly. She thought the list of suspects could end up being as long as ever. And that was without finding out why Jason Honeybourne had been sneaking around Gillmore House and meeting up with Dr Patil. She sighed.
‘Oh, do not get disheartened,’ Abby reassured her. ‘I agree that the vicar and Mrs M are extremely unlikely suspects.’
‘But it’s always the unlikely ones…’
Lara whispered this even more quietly to herself in a small, worried voice.
‘Nonsense! That is the stuff of fiction.’
There really was not much that Abigail Rossmore ever missed.
(That is, apart from the sound of her murderer preparing a trap for her.) ‘In my experience you should always look at the family first and in particular I have found husbands have a strong proclivity for murder. But let us return to the doctor. What exactly did he inherit?’
Lara brought out her phone. ‘I thought you might ask that, so I took a photo of most of the documents I found and I got an image of the list detailing the paintings.’ She showed it to Abby.
‘We must get back to the shop now, but I’ll google them later.
’ Lara put her phone back in her pocket and started the van.
She then spent the next few minutes explaining to the ever-curious Abby what Google was.
‘Now, tell me about the other photograph you took in the bathroom?’ Abby eventually enquired.
‘I think I know what that was. And it’s interesting too.
’ Lara smiled quickly at Abby as she turned the van into the lane leading to the Market Square.
‘I’m not a doctor’s daughter for nothing.
’ She drove into a convenient parking spot in front of the shop, and added, ‘But I might just ring Dad to check first.’
There was no time to say more before they hurried through the rain into the warmth of the shop.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully and it was not until later that evening that Lara had the opportunity to talk to Abby about what they should do next.
By then Lara was curled up on the sofa in front of the wood burner.
After work Abby had disappeared and Lara spent a productive few hours sorting washing, changing her bed and had found time to phone her father, plus, send Penny Porter the quote for her flowers.
Having eaten a solitary late supper of pasta she settled down with a coffee and ten minutes with her book.
She was just wondering whether she needed some chocolate to go with her coffee when Abby appeared.
Abby settled in the armchair opposite. ‘What book are you reading?’ she enquired.
‘Oh, it’s an old favourite; Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. When I’m really busy or stressed I re-read something I love. You can’t beat spending time with Gabriel Oak.’
‘Gabriel Oak?’ Abby asked. ‘Ah, is that a variety of the species Quercus? Uncle Henry was a very keen arborist.’
‘No,’ Lara grinned. ‘He’s the unlikely hero of the story. A solid, dependable farmer. I have a big soft spot for him.’ She reflected that Julian Armstrong was about as different to Gabriel Oak as it was possible to be. No, Julian was much more like a Sergeant Troy.