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

'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