The Ardmore Inheritance

by Rob Wyllie

  'Well yes ma'am, except we don't think he ever did make that specific threat,' Frank said. 'Remember, the whole conversation was being concocted by Clarkson. It was pure fiction. Both ways, to and fro. But what it did succeed in doing was to make sure that as soon as Azure docked in Ardmore base, James McKay would rush straight home to try and sort things out with his wife.'

  Jill gave a rueful look. 'Where he was snared by that elaborate frame-up. I just can't imagine what it must have been like for him, walking into that scene of utter carnage.'

  'Yes, it's impossible to imagine,' Maggie said. 'But of course, then he's apprehended at the scene and arrested, and when the police subsequently produce the email trail as evidence of clear motive, he of course denies having ever seen any of it before. Which naturally sounds ridiculous, even before Daniel Clarkson pops up at the trial as an expert witness and says it's impossible. Impossible that it was faked I mean.'

  'Aye, the whole thing was brilliantly conceived by Macallan,' Jimmy said. 'Even down to him testifying that Lieutenant McKay had been suffering from mental health issues. The poor guy was stitched up good and proper.'

  'But surely there was a chance that Macallan would be caught out by the forensic evidence?' Jill said, looking puzzled. 'Because the actual time of death was several hours' earlier, wasn't it?'

  'Aye, that was a risk,' Jimmy said, 'but his reasoning was that since all the other evidence was so utterly convincing, it would over-rule anything that might point the other way. And that was before a pissed-up forensic examiner and a corner-cutting cop put the rubber stamp on the whole thing.'

  'And so he got away with it,' Maggie said, 'although it didn't do him much good in the end, did it? Just four years before he got murdered too. In some ways, it's sweet justice, don't you think?'

  Frank gave her an uncertain look. 'Aye, except his son Peter was killed too don't forget, and he was an innocent victim by all accounts. So I'm not sure about justice being served.'

  'But were they connected?' Jill asked. 'The two cases?'

  'One hundred percent,' Maggie said, smiling. 'And the connection was Daniel Clarkson, wasn't it Frank?'

  He nodded. 'Too right. As you might expect, Clarkson had hacked Roderick Macallan's computer and that's how he got to know about him planning to change his will. It turns out Peter his son was doing such a cracking job of running the estate that the Commodore decided to hand it over to the boy before he died. At the same time, the twins were to be left only a small sum each. I guess he thought they were already well off enough and didn't need it.'

  'Interesting that,' Jimmy mused, 'because when we met the twins, they both made a big thing about how badly the estate was doing and how angry the Commodore was with Peter.'

  'They were lying of course,' Maggie said. 'To divert us from the truth.'

  'So what really happened that night at Ardmore House?' Jill asked quietly.

  'More drinks first,' Frank grinned, 'and maybe have a wee look at the pudding menu? Jimmy, see if you can catch the attention of that wee waitress.'

  Maggie smiled at that. One thing Jimmy Stewart had no problem doing was catching the attention of wee waitresses and any other woman for that matter. Exhibit A being DCI Jill Smart, who she had just observed running an extended index finger down the back of his hand, an action that he had not seemed to notice. She knew why of course. Something had happened in the hospital, between him and Flora, when they'd gone to visit her. She hadn't meant to overhear, but she had, and now she feared what it might do to him.

  The waitress appeared in response to Jimmy's beckoning, taking down their order with noteworthy efficiency before gliding off to the kitchen.

  'Right then,' Frank said, 'on you go Maggie.'

  'Ok. So what we think triggered the whole thing was when Geordie revealed to the twins that their father was planning to hand over the estate to Peter and to do them out of their inheritance.'

  'So why did Clarkson do that?' Jill asked. 'What was his motive?'

  'It was just the way he was,' Maggie said. 'A combination of power and mischief. He did it just because he could.'

  'Aye, he was a right egotistical bastard,' Frank said. 'Really up himself. So it would be the sort of thing he would do just for fun. But I don't think he ever expected it would lead to murder.'

  'Maybe not,' Maggie agreed, 'but by doing it, he set off the chain of events that resulted in these terrible killings. You see, Rory Overton was having an affair with his wife's sister, and when they discovered the terms of the will, they decided they had to act.'

  'That affair was just so weird,' Jimmy said, shaking his head, 'with them being identical twins. Made me puke to be honest.'

  'Yes it was seriously weird,' she agreed, 'but remember, Rory had been going out with Elspeth before they split. Before he married Kirsty and had their little girl.'

  Jimmy nodded. 'So maybe at some point he realises that his new wife has an eye for other men and doesn't like it.'

  'And you're speaking from experience,' Maggie said, giving Jill a pointed look. 'She had you in her sights didn't she?'

  'Well maybe,' he said, evidently anxious to skirt round the subject, 'but whatever the circumstances, I'm guessing that Overton decided he'd made a mistake in marrying Kirsty and that's when he came up with his crazy plan.'

  'That's right,' Maggie said. 'Rory Overton wanted so desperately to be the laird of Ardmore estate, and for that to happen, Roderick and Peter had to be got rid of. The plan was to stage the murder to look as if the Commodore had shot his son and then turned the gun on himself. And as far as they knew, they had got away with it, because the police investigation never challenged that narrative.'

  Jill frowned. 'You say they?'

  'Oh yes,' Maggie nodded, 'Elspeth was there that night too, we're pretty sure of that. Remember that Daniel Clarkson heard two car doors being slammed when they drove off. We learned that from the blackmailing messages he sent them.'

  'So it was Overton's phone that was left behind at the scene,' Jimmy said. 'They must have been shitting themselves when they realised that.'

  Maggie nodded. 'They would have been, but of course with Clarkson stealing it, it wasn't there for the scene-of-crime team to find. So in that regard, they were lucky. Except of course, it made them susceptible to Clarkson's blackmail demands. But Geordie-boy over-reached himself big-time when he decided to tangle with Rory Overton. A big mistake that ended up with him bleeding out in that cupboard.'

  'So how did they find out who he was?' Jill asked.

  Maggie shrugged. 'He was greedy Jill. He was asking for a hundred grand and more, and nobody hands over that sort of money to someone they haven't met. So we assume they insisted on a meeting, and then they forced him back to his flat, where Overton stabbed him to death.'

  'Aye, in exactly the same way he had murdered his wife that terrible night in Fulham,' Frank said. 'Three stab wounds to the abdomen. See, that's the thing with murderers. When you find a method that works, you're going to repeat it, aren't you?'

  'But what I don't get is why Kirsty had to be murdered at all,' Jill said. 'Why didn't Rory Overton just bring the relationship into the open and ask Kirsty for a divorce?'

  'Don't you see?' Maggie said. 'It was because Kirsty Macallan actually was the elder twin. It was that which complicated the whole plan. Their original idea was to pay the twins' stepmother to testify that Elspeth was the elder and take their chance in court, but that was all thrown into disarray when Susan Priest entered the scene. Mrs Priest had read in the paper about the twins disagreement and got in touch with Kirsty to say that she would of course support her case, by simply telling the truth.'

  Jimmy nodded. 'So that screwed it up for them good and proper. If they'd gone down the divorce route, then in any court case it would come down to Alison's word against Susan's. Meaning there was at least a fifty-fifty chance that Kirsty would inherit Ardmore House, and that just wasn't part of Rory Overton's life plan.'

  'And so crazily, they d
ecided that Elspeth would take her sister's place,' Frank said. 'So they arranged to have Kirsty killed that night Jimmy had dinner with Elspeth.'

  'Aye, I see what was happening now,' Jimmy said. 'That phone she had on the table was a burner, and she was just waiting for that one text that told her Overton and Kirsty were outside.'

  Maggie nodded. 'Yes, exactly. Remember I told you that Overton had arranged a secret dinner for Kirsty? I'm sure that's how it was done. He tells her they're going to La Garrigue and when they arrive outside the restaurant, Kirsty is bundled up the adjacent alleyway where Overton stabs her to death. He's made sure his wife is wearing the little black Dior dress, just like her sister. So then Elspeth becomes Kirsty and five minutes later they're in Chelsea having dinner with friends, having paid the Uber driver to conveniently forget about the five-minute stop-off en-route.'

  Jill shook her head. 'But how mental was this whole thing? Did Elspeth really expect to be able to keep up the pretence for the rest of her life?'

  Maggie shrugged. 'She was seriously nuts, a jealous woman who'd already been complicit in the murder of her father and her brother. And Overton was a cold manipulative bastard. They were made for one another really. So yes, I think in her warped mind she did think she could get away with it.'

  'But surely they didn't have to do it?' Jill said, looking puzzled, 'Not after the hit and run on Susan Priest?'

  'Yes, but remember it was Alison Macallan who was responsible for that killing,' Maggie said. 'She didn't know anything about Elspeth and Overton's crazy plan. All she saw was that if Susan vouched for Kirsty in court, then her agreement with Elspeth and the money that came with it would be blown out of the water.'

  'God what a tangled mess,' Jill said. 'So I assume Elspeth and Overton didn't know that Alison had killed Mrs Priest?'

  'I don't think so,' Jimmy said, 'and I'm certain Alison wouldn't have confessed. But of course now that they had decided that Elspeth would be faced with a lifetime of pretending to be her sister, they needed to get Alison out of the way,' Jimmy said, 'in case she eventually saw through the pretence.'

  'She was lucky they didn't decide to kill her too, wasn't she?' Jill said.

  'Aye, and I bet they considered it,' Frank said, 'but that would have got us police thinking about connections, and they didn't want that.'

  'Yeah, but my Flora did see through it, right away,' Jimmy said. 'She and Kirsty and Morag had their pet names and their secret language when they were kids, remember? Flora was Flopsy and Kirsty was Mopsy, you know, like from Peter Rabbit. But when Flora addressed Elspeth at the funeral by her pet name, she got no response. Remember Maggie, we saw Flora's reaction?'

  'Yes, but Elspeth realised it too and that's why they decided they needed to kill Flora,' Maggie said. 'To silence her. And if she had been drowned as they intended, they might very well have got away with it. Because her body would have been swept away to sea and never found.'

  'Aye, and without a body it would have been another bloody Ardmore mystery,' Frank said ruefully. 'But thank god it didn't come to that, thanks to you Jimmy.'

  'Yes, you were so brave,' Jill Smart said, squeezing Jimmy's hand and this time making no attempt to hide her action.

  'Well, at least they confessed,' Frank said, grinning. 'Saved me a lot of time and trouble that did. Seven murders I've solved in total ma'am. Will I get a bonus do you think?'

  To Maggie, it was lovely to witness his boyish enthusiasm, quite untainted by self-regard. 'Yes, go on Jill,' she said laughing, 'give the boy a bonus, he deserves it.'

  Jill smiled. 'He's a public servant, which means that job satisfaction is meant to be its own reward. But I'll happily buy him a drink.'

  'Now you're talking ma'am,' Frank said. 'Mine's a pint. Anybody else?'

  But it seemed the lovely evening was drawing to a natural close.

  'Naw, I think I'll give it a miss mate,' Jimmy said quietly. 'Been quite a couple of days and I'm bushed. I need an early night.'

  But Maggie had heard the words that Flora Stewart had spoken during their hospital visit, and knew the real reason. As she recalled them again, it sent a searing pain through her whole being. I'll always be grateful to you Jimmy for saving my life, of course I will. But it doesn't change anything. I've moved on you see. I'm sorry. She'd watched as he'd kissed her gently on the forehead, and she'd watched as he'd walked away, his hopes dashed and his spirit crushed. And now she feared for him.

  Looking across the table, she thought Jill Smart was about to remonstrate, but then almost imperceptibly, changed her mind. She who fights and runs away will live to fight another day. Maggie wondered if Jill had worked out what had happened with Flora and was silently pleased.

  'Yes, that's a good idea,' Jill said simply. 'It's an early start in the morning. Good night all.'

  ◆◆◆

  And now it was just her and Frank in the cosy restaurant, the clock barely past nine-thirty. By any measure the night was still young, and from nowhere, another of Jimmy's stupid ringtones filled her mind, one that he insisted meant nothing other than he loved the tune. From Frank she'd learnt it was co-written by Bruce Springsteen and performed by the Patty Smith Band, and was one of his favourites.

  Take me now baby, here as I am

  Pull me close, try and understand

  Desire is hunger, is the fire I breathe

  Love is a banquet on which we feed

  Because the night belongs to lovers.

  Because the night belongs to us.

  A THANK YOU FROM AUTHOR ROB WYLLIE

  Dear Reader,

  A huge thank you for reading The Ardmore Inheritance and I do hope you enjoyed it! For indie authors like myself, reviews are our lifeblood so it would be great if you could take the trouble to post a review on Amazon.

  If you did enjoy this book, I'm sure you would also like the other books in the series, A Matter of Disclosure, The Leonardo Murders, and the Aphrodite Suicides, all available on Amazon. Search 'Maggie Bainbridge'- or click here

  Thank you for your support.

  Regards

  Rob