Evan had turned a nasty colour. ‘How much does she get?’
The grey man steepled his fingers. ‘There is a portfolio of stocks and shares, the money from the sale of the three branches of her agency, and some housing stock including this house and the one which you, Evan, currently occupy.’ He went on to estimate a sum which caused jaws to drop all round.
Ellie felt dizzy. So much? It was a king’s ransom. No, an emperor’s. Except we didn’t have emperors nowadays, did we? Let’s say it was the amount a corrupt president might have filched from his subjects before he fled, one step ahead of the police, into luxurious exile.
‘What!’ from Evan. ‘As much as that? She can’t be trusted to look after all that! No, you can’t mean that my house is now owned by Ellie! That’s ridiculous!’
Diana gasped. ‘Mother? You own our house?’
Evan said, ‘She wouldn’t dare to turn us out! No, not even she would dare do that!’
Ellie put a hand to her head. She couldn’t take in what Monique had done. It was so unexpected. Except that, knowing Monique, Ellie could see how the woman had been thinking. It did make sense, in a horrid sort of way. But … so much money? She said, ‘I never expected …! No, I don’t want …!’
‘No, I don’t suppose you do,’ said the grey man, understanding how she felt. ‘It’s a huge responsibility but Monique thought you were up to it.’ He turned to the other recipients of money under Monique’s will and handed out some cards. ‘Feel free to contact me at any time, if you have any queries. Freya will see you out.’
Picking up her cue, Freya rose from her seat and ushered the three other legatees out of the door, saying she was so pleased they could come and that she was delighted that Monique had left them a token of her regard.
There was silence in the room until the front door was heard to shut and Freya returned to the room.
This interruption in the proceedings had given Ellie a chance to think. If she took this money, she could do so much to help people who couldn’t get on the housing ladder. The trust had recently been offered a terrace of rundown houses in Southall. Developers had not been keen on the site as they would not be able to sell housing stock in that area for their usual inflated prices.
However, if the trust could afford to purchase them and bring them up to scratch with renewed wiring, plumbing, new kitchens and bathrooms … it would cost a huge amount, but then the houses could be sold as starter homes or rented out at affordable prices. They could house young families or, if some were turned into flats, they could provide single people with a home.
People like Hetty?
And, what about the Pullin house? They could buy it, put it to rights and let it out. It would help the Pullin family out of a hole. It was near enough the university to make good student accommodation for which there was always a need. Or, it could be turned into three flats and rented out for those who, like Hetty, were saving to buy something for themselves.
Yes! I see now why Monique chose to leave her money to me. But, the complications! People will assume, Diana will assume, that I can be tapped for funds. It’s true the trust has a brilliant finance director and general manager, and that they really carry the day-to-day burden, but am I personally up to dealing with such a huge responsibility? Dear Lord, grant me the wisdom to decide how to handle this. Oh, and the strength to stick to my decisions.
Evan reached across to grab Ellie’s arm. He shook it. ‘Wakey, wakey! I asked you a question!’
Ellie tried to free her arm, but he clung on. She decided not to make a scene by trying to free herself. She needed time to think. What did Evan want? He wanted to know he was safe in the house he’d been renting all these years. Monique had allowed Evan to live on in that big house ever since she’d walked out of the marriage. It had been his home and she’d left him to enjoy it. He’d brought up his family there. He’d gone through three wives before he married Diana. Monique hadn’t had a high opinion of Diana, thinking her to be something of a gold-digger, but she had come to realize that Diana was a good mother to her children.
At no time had Monique ever threatened to reclaim the house. Evan had maintained it well enough. Monique had not been a cruel woman, and she had not left instructions for Evan’s house to be sold and the money thrown into the trust fund.
Ellie said, ‘If I’ve understood Monique’s intentions correctly, she wouldn’t have wanted to turn you out or she would have said so, but—’
Evan’s grasp on her arm didn’t relax. ‘You’ll help us out with a loan, won’t you?’
‘That’s different. I have to think about that. At first sight, I can’t see how that would be possible. Monique didn’t leave her estate to me; she left it to the trust fund. It’s not up to me to decide what will happen to your house and to grant or withhold loans. I can’t make promises to you for, well, anything. It’s not what I want, but what the trust wants. Yes, I’m the chair, but the other trustees will have to take everything into consideration.’ She tugged her arm free, and Evan let her go.
Diana joined in the fight. ‘Shame on you! How could you even think of turning your own grandchildren out into the street?’
‘I didn’t say—’
‘No, not even you could be so hard-hearted. No, of course not. You’ll help us out. Of course you will.’
Ellie felt helpless. Part of her wanted to reassure Diana that everything was going to be all right, but the other part told her that she must not be rushed into making decisions which might prove unwise. She looked for help to the grey man.
He was smiling. He was now off the hook. It looked to Ellie as if he were enjoying the sight of someone else having to deal with the complications arising from Monique’s will.
Ellie said, ‘A thought. Who administers the trust fund that’s been set up for Freya?’
The grey man said, ‘It’s a separate trust fund, set up over a year ago. The bank is the administrator. Nobody can get round them.’
‘Good,’ said Ellie, and smiled at Freya, who twitched a smile back. Freya was in a difficult situation, wasn’t she? It was her father who was in financial trouble … not that he’d ever been a good father to her. Freya might have thought it incumbent on her to help her father out, so Monique had left her enough to live on, but not enough to make her the target of her father’s greed.
Diana said, ‘I see what it is, Mother. Monique gave the rest of the money to you so that you could keep us going.’
Ellie shook her head. ‘No, no! I haven’t read the exact wording of the will. I need time to understand her wishes, but I don’t believe she wanted me to bail you out of trouble.’
The grey man stowed paperwork in his briefcase. ‘Correct, Mrs Quicke. The money is for charitable purposes. I will let you have a copy of the will soonest.’
Diana pounced. ‘Mother, I can see this is all going to be too much for you to handle. You don’t want all the aggro at your age. You can decline the legacy and allow other people to handle it.’
The grey man was smooth. ‘In the event that Mrs Quicke’s trust declines the legacy, Monique has made it clear that everything will go into a separate trust fund run by the bank, to cover her son’s future needs.’
Diana thought that over. ‘Is the money an outright gift to my mother, or are there strings attached to it?’
‘It is an outright gift, not to your mother, but to her trust fund, with the proviso that her son will be looked after if he is ever released from Broadmoor. It will, of course, take time for probate to be granted and the money to be handed over.’
‘My mother can borrow against it now?’
Raised eyebrows. ‘If the trust were to apply for a loan, I suppose the banks might agree.’
Diana rounded on Ellie. ‘Then that’s all right. You can borrow against expectations and save us all. If that isn’t charity, I don’t know what is.’
Ellie shook her head. ‘Don’t push me, Diana. I can’t promise anything until I’ve had time to consider exactly what M
onique wanted, and then I have to consult the trustees and … don’t push me!’
‘You are not going to refuse to help us. Not even you could be that evil.’
‘First, I have to consult Stewart and the other trustees.’
Ellie stared at Diana, and Diana stared back, realizing what her mother meant.
The trust’s highly capable general manager was Diana’s first husband, Stewart, from whom she had parted on bad terms. Stewart was an honest, straightforward man and an excellent general manager of the housing side of the trust. He had not been up to Diana’s weight … but then, who would be?
Well, Evan had been up to Diana’s weight in most ways. But Evan was an alpha male of the first order, while Stewart had been too much of a ‘gentleman’ – in old-fashioned terms – to be able to deal with Diana.
Stewart liked to see the best in everyone but in the trust this was balanced by their finance director’s more worldly point of view. They made a good team.
Diana’s expression showed some of the dismay that must be eating into her as she thought that any plea to the trust fund must be run past her despised first husband. She flushed. ‘I suppose you mean Stewart would automatically turn down any request from me.’
In this – as in many other areas – Ellie thought Diana was wrong. Stewart was always very fair.
Diana judged others by herself. If she’d been in Stewart’s shoes, she would have decided against everything he suggested just because, as a husband, he’d not measured up to her expectations.
There was something else to be taken into consideration. Diana had taken as little notice of her and Stewart’s first son as Evan had done of his first, the young man who had ended up in Broadmoor.
Stewart and Diana’s son had gone to live with his father, who had married a lovely woman second time round, and completed their happy family with a pair of delightful small girls. The boy had grown up much loved. He was doing well at school, was a useful football player and, though he had his father’s peace-loving temperament, he had sufficient backbone to stand up to local bullies.
Ellie wondered whether Monique had known all this, and concluded that yes, she had. Monique would have made it her business to find out exactly how Ellie’s trust fund was administered, who the trustees were and what their strengths and weaknesses might be. Therefore, Monique had known that Diana would not get everything her own way if she tried to bully members of the trust.
Ellie could see that Diana was building these inconvenient facts into the equation. Her tone was almost pleading as she said, ‘Mother, you know how to manage the trust. You can sway them any way you want. I know you can.’
Diana was right in thinking that Ellie could probably push through a measure of which Stewart would disapprove. But she would not be able to get it through their finance director … or could she, if she tried hard enough? Well, she might.
And there was the rub. Would Ellie even want to try?
No, she wouldn’t. Which meant there were going to be fireworks in the near future.
‘No,’ said Ellie. ‘I don’t think that bailing you out is what Monique intended. She could have left money to Evan, but she didn’t. She could have left the deeds of the house to him, but she didn’t do that, either. Her purpose in leaving her estate to me was to use it for the common good. She relied on me to carry out her wishes, and that is what I am going to do. So, with reluctance, Diana, I will not be asking the trust to bail you out.’
Diana paled and then flushed an even darker red. ‘Perhaps I haven’t made myself clear. We need that money, or we go under.’
This was going to be difficult. Ellie cleared her throat. ‘I have heard how you’ve been spending your money. You can’t have expected me to approve, and I don’t. The answer is the same. No.’
Diana flamed into fury. ‘You …! You wicked, wicked woman! I can’t think of words bad enough! You sit there and smile at the thought of your family being thrown out on to the street! I’m told some people admire you. Well, I don’t! And I’m going to make sure everyone knows what you are! You are nothing but a leech on society! Oh, sugar wouldn’t melt, would it! But when this gets out …! You and that creep you’ve married, you’re two of a kind. I hear he’s been killing off his parishioners for a few hundred here and there. Do you really think I’m going to sit down and let you both get away with murder? Well, I’m not! If you won’t behave like a mother should, I see no reason why I should keep silent about his career in crime and, if you force my hand, I will have to do so. Help us out, or I inform the police that dear Thomas has been knocking off his old friends for a legacy!’
Ellie blinked. ‘I explained to you that—’
‘As if I believed that garbage! How do I know that you didn’t help Monique into an early grave? If you don’t help us out, I shall ask the police to investigate your movements with regard to her death. They’ll find a link, I’m sure of that. You could have sent her something or met her for lunch and put something in her drink. They’ll have to exhume her body and test it for poison!’
‘If you please,’ said the grey man, ‘Monique died of natural causes, and her body was cremated this morning.’
‘You would say that! But you’ll change your tune when the police start asking questions about your role in this affair!’
‘I can see you are angry,’ said the grey man. ‘Take care that you don’t slander anyone.’
There was a long silence. The grey man clicked his briefcase shut. ‘Mrs Quicke, would you care to ring and make an appointment with me? My card.’ He handed it over.
‘I believe that the sooner we meet, the better.’
Ellie found herself ushered outside into the street without knowing quite how she’d got there. She held the grey man’s card in her hand. She had, for the moment, no idea where she was.
She’d come in a car, hadn’t she? With Rafael? He was supposed to have phoned her, or she to have phoned him? She took her phone out of her bag. She’d failed to switch it on when she left the church. Oh, dear.
Someone called her name. Rafael crossed the street to meet her. ‘I had to move the car. It’s over the road.’ And then, ‘Take my arm. You look as if you’ve been sandbagged.’
Yes, that’s what it felt like. ‘Thank you, Rafael.’
‘You’re shaking. Are you all right?’
‘I’ll be all right in a minute.’
He inserted her into his car, handed the seat belt to her, went round to the driver’s side, and got in beside her. And frowned. ‘What’s up?’
She held the seat belt in one hand and her phone in the other. ‘I’ve missed several calls. Or perhaps they’re old ones that I haven’t deleted?’
He took the phone off her and checked. ‘A missed call from Thomas and one from your police friend, Lesley. Do you want me to listen to them for you?’
She nodded. She couldn’t think straight. All that money …? Rafael played the voicemail. First was Thomas.
‘Ellie, I’m not feeling too good. Stomach cramps. I rang the surgery and they haven’t a slot to see a doctor today, but they said if it was bad I should go straight to A&E. I don’t think I’d be safe to drive, so I’m calling a cab. I’m sure it’s nothing much. I’ll ring you again when I’ve seen someone at the hospital.’
Ellie gasped. ‘Oh, Thomas is sick. He’s gone to hospital!’
Rafael handed the phone back to her and started the car. ‘On our way. It won’t be anything much. He suffers from indigestion sometimes, doesn’t he? Ten to one, it’s wind.
‘Don’t you want to listen to what Lesley has to say?’
Ellie couldn’t care less what Lesley had to say. Thomas was ill! But he was never ill. Well, yes. He did have indigestion, but … No, he was never ill. It couldn’t be anything serious. Dear Lord. Look after him!
‘There was another message on your phone,’ Rafael reminded her. ‘From Lesley. It might be important.’
He was trying to distract her. Well, all right. She’d listen to t
he message.
Lesley sounded tired. ‘Ellie, I’ve had the most extraordinary phone call. I can’t make head nor tail of it. Someone has accused Thomas of stealing from his parishioners. That must be rubbish but it’s landed on the desk of my unbeloved superior so it’ll have to be investigated. I’ll pop round later to have a word.’
ELEVEN
Friday, early afternoon
Ellie dropped the phone in her lap. She told herself not to panic. Thomas was ill! Thomas was on his way to hospital. It must be serious. He wasn’t the sort to complain.
The message from Lesley didn’t make sense. Thomas was being investigated by the police? But … how? Who would have dared to …? Well, Diana did threaten, but … No, it can’t have been Diana! She hadn’t had time to ring the police. Or had she?
It must be some relative of the people who’d left Thomas money and who’d heard that he’d been given money from lots of different sources. No one who knew Thomas would wish him ill, would they?
Thomas is ill. Thomas is in hospital.
She could feel her heart going Thud, Thud, Thud!
She looked at her watch. ‘Rafael, how quickly can we get to the hospital?’
‘Forty-five minutes. Half an hour if the traffic’s light. Do you want to ring Lesley, tell her what’s happened? Otherwise she might turn up at the house, and neither you nor Thomas will be there.’
Ellie couldn’t think straight. Thomas was ill. He was two days off putting the magazine to bed. What would happen to the magazine if …? No, he was not going to die. He had stomach ache. Indigestion. Wind. They’d give him something to relieve the symptoms and he’d be perfectly all right. She had to believe that. How would she cope, if he were to die?
Rafael said, ‘Don’t worry. His guardian angel will be looking after him.’
Ellie tried to follow his lead. ‘I didn’t know you believed in guardian angels.’
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