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

come to think about it.' For a moment, she wondered if the work had actually been commissioned by the Overtons themselves, another marketing exercise to further boost the reach of Kirsty's social media channels. But apparently not.

'It's nothing but mindless vandalism,' he said, 'and we're sick of everyone coming round to gawp at it. I've got some people coming to wash it off tomorrow thank god. Anyway, what do you want?'

She smiled, remembering the phrase employed by Alison Macallan. 'There's been a development. Can we come in? It'll only take five minutes, no more than that.'

'All right then,' he said grudgingly. 'But you'd better be quick. We're going out to dinner in a minute.'

Maggie heard Kirsty's shout from down the hallway. 'Is that the sitter darling? We need to watch our time.'

'No, it's that lawyer woman,' he shouted back. 'She says there's been developments. God knows what that means.'

It had been a while since she'd been a lawyer in the practising sense, but she let it pass. Overton led them through to the kitchen, where Kirsty was removing the cling-film from a tray of sandwiches, presumably for the still-to-arrive babysitter. She was wearing a tight-fitting black knitted dress and silvery stiletto sandals, with a string of expensive white pearls adding to the effect of quiet sophistication.

'Hello again,' she said, her manner pleasant in stark contrast to her husband's. 'And this must be your little boy.'

'Yes this is Ollie,' she said, patting him on the head. 'He's eight and growing by the minute. But I must say you look lovely Kirsty, and that dress is absolutely beautiful. And the pearls too, they match so well.'

She smiled. 'Thank you. Rory's arranged for us to meet some friends for drinks and then we're having a late dinner. It's all been a lovely surprise, and I've still no idea where we're going. You won't tell me, will you darling? The dress is by Dior by the way. Rory wanted me to wear it tonight. It's his favourite.'

Why wasn't she surprised that this woman selected what she should wear based on what her husband liked, rather than her own preference? And it seemed he had decided where they should go for a drink and where they should have dinner too. She'd only met Rory Overton once before, but she already decided she didn't like him one bit. There was something controlling about the man, and that was something she hated, having suffered it in her own ill-fated marriage to Philip. But then she remembered that this was the Macallan twin who had made the shameless pass at Jimmy at Dr Angus McLeod's sixtieth birthday party. Perhaps Rory Overton had grounds to believe his wife needed controlling, although it still didn't excuse it.

He handed the child to his wife then gave Maggie a sharp look. 'You can see we're in a rush. So just say what you came to say, and then you can leave.'

'Ok, I will. I wanted to talk to you about Susan Priest. You know she's dead I assume?'

The Overtons looked at one another as if silently deciding how to react. Finally Kirsty said,

'Yes, of course we heard. It was such a tragedy. We were very upset, weren't we darling?'

Her husband nodded, although if he was upset he was doing a good job of disguising the fact.

'You'd been in touch with her not long before that hadn't you?' Maggie said. 'Why was that?'

Kirsty looked as if she was about to answer when her husband cut in.

'Who says we have? And what business of yours is it anyway?' His tone was nakedly aggressive and Maggie didn't much like it.

'Look, I'm just trying to doing my job,' she said, standing her ground. 'Which as you know is to try and sort out the mess of your late father-in-law's will. Because if we can't reach a settlement with all parties, then the only people who are going to benefit from that mess are the lawyers. But that's what you were trying to do too, wasn't it? Come to some arrangement with Susan so that she supported your version of the story?'

'I don't know how many times I've told you,' he growled. 'Kirsty is the elder twin and we are in a position to prove it should we be asked, and we didn't need a deal with Susan Priest or anyone else to do that. So you're wasting your time here I'm afraid.'

Maggie gave him a puzzled look. 'Forgive me if I'm missing something, but I don't see how you can prove it.'

'Let's just say we've done some research in Canada since your last visit and leave it at that. Now as I said, Kirsty and I are going out in a few minutes so if you don't mind we need to wrap this up now.' He pointed towards the hall, wearing a forced smile. 'I'm sure you can find your own way out, and please, don't come back again.'

As Maggie squeezed Ollie's hand and turned to go, she smiled at Kirsty, who was wearing an expression that wasn't difficult to decipher. Incomprehension. If Rory Overton had been conducting research in the twins' birthplace, then he certainly hadn't told his wife about it. And there was something else. When she had brought up the subject of Susan Priest, she had noticed a wave of alarm sweep across Kirsty's face.

But she hadn't just come to talk about the dead nanny. She'd promised Asvina she would do everything in her power to broker a settlement and she owed it to her friend to give it one last attempt. And there was still the matter of Alison Macallan's little deal to be examined. Which twin had she made it with, Kirsty or Elspeth?

'Look Kirsty, I really need you to think about a negotiated settlement, because if you don't, then it will simply come down to whom a judge finds to be the most credible witness on the day. Is that going to be Alison your stepmother, your sister Elspeth, or