The Ardmore Inheritance, Rob Wyllie [best novels for students TXT] 📗

She smiled, then remembered what she was calling her Emma project. 'No, I completely understand that. But you know, I thought you wanted to try and get back with Flora? Are you planning to see her when we're up in Lochmorehead?' It was a question she'd been meaning to ask him for the last few days, but somehow the right moment had failed to arise.

'I don't know. I might. It depends.' On what it depended, he either didn't want to share with her or didn't himself know. She suspected the latter.

'You might just bump into her,' Maggie said, smiling. 'It's a small place after all.'

'That's what I'm worried about,' he said, a look of concern spreading across his face. 'I've no idea what I'd say to her.'

She shrugged. 'Why not try hello Flora? Just start from there and see where it leads.'

He laughed. 'Yeah, you're probably right. But I'm planning to only go out at night and in full camouflage gear so I can't be spotted. But come on, enough about me. What's the plan when we're up there?'

She noted the change of subject and decided she wouldn't push it any further for now.

'Well, three things I think. So first off is a final attempt to see if we can broker a backstop agreement. I've been having a think about it and I've drawn up a proposal that gets Alison the gate-house and a small annual allowance, gives Kirsty and her caveman husband two-thirds of the house and the grounds, and Elspeth the unmarried twin gets a third of the house and the grounds but gets two-thirds of the cash and other assets.'

Jimmy shook his head. 'Sorry boss, but I think there's two-thirds of bugger-all chance that any of them will accept that. You must know that, given you've met two-thirds of them yourself.' He gave a quiet chuckle at his own joke.

'That's why it's called a backstop. I don't expect any of them to accept it now, but it's an insurance policy if the lawsuits start flying around and lawyers’ fees threaten to devour the assets. Gives them something they can dust down if it all starts getting out of hand. They can then put it in front of the court and say they'll accept binding arbitration.'

'I love it when you do all that dirty legal talk,' Jimmy laughed, 'but it's not an if as far as the lawsuits are concerned, it's a when, surely?'

'Exactly. So I think we should start with Alison the ex-wife first, because she seems the most rational of the three of them, although that's not saying much.'

Two flight attendants were struggling down the aisle with the drinks and snacks trolley.

'Teas, coffees, snacks anyone? Contactless payment only please.' A heavily made up attendant of matronly appearance placed a hand on Jimmy's shoulder as they drew up alongside them. 'Can I get you anything sir? Tea, Coffee? Anything else?' Maggie laughed as a comic vision of what anything else might comprise of came to mind.

'Coffee for me please,' she said quickly. 'Same for you Jimmy?'

'Tea please.' The attendant smiled and leaned across to fold down their back-of-seat tables before setting down their drinks. 'Careful, they're hot,' she warned, although in Maggie's experience that rarely turned out to be true, and so it proved on this occasion. She made a face as she took the first sip.

'It's wet at least,' Jimmy said, returning the grimace. 'So, yes that's the first thing, this backstop agreement as you call it. And I assume we need that to be put in front of the twins too?'

'Exactly. I thought you could do that, particularly in the light of Elspeth taking a shine to you. Have you done anything about that by the way? Because something gives me the feeling you might be trying to put it off.'

He shrugged. 'Not exactly, but I can't say I'm very enthusiastic but I can see how it might help with the case.'

'Good boy,' Maggie said, laughing. 'Take one for the team. So the second thing we need to do up there is I think the most critical task of the whole investigation so far.'

'Which is why I'm really glad you're doing it,' he said, giving her a thumbs-up.

'It's a pleasure. Dr McLeod's been the Macallan's family doctor for more than thirty years, so if anyone knows anything about which of the twins was the first-born, then it'll be him.'

She said it confidently, but deep down she couldn't help harbouring doubts. Because surely if that was actually the case, one or other of the twins would have already called him in as a witness. But at the very least Dr McLeod would almost certainly know something about the events surrounding their birth, even a birth which had happened thousands of miles away and was far from routine. Maybe he would remember something, maybe he wouldn't, but they had to start somewhere. And of course he might have some titbit of information that might at least give them a clue where else to look. She hoped so, otherwise they were dead in the water.  Which, when she thought about it was an apt phrase, given their impending proximity to beautiful Loch More..

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It had been a bit of a no-brainer to allocate the driving duties to PC Lexy McDonald, the first leg an easy twenty-five miles or so down to Helensburgh, the second the thirty-five-mile onward trip to Loch More. First of all, it would mean he could have a few beers at that dinner date he'd planned with Maggie Bainbridge and his brother, and secondly, he'd been left with no choice anyway because the civilian jobsworth who ran the police garage on Helen Street was adamant that pool cars could only be signed out to serving Police Scotland officers, due to some crap to do with insurance or something like it. They'd been allocated a big Volvo SUV for the day, one