The Ardmore Inheritance by Rob Wyllie (best value ebook reader TXT) 📗

She smiled. 'This dress I'm wearing, it's Dior. I assume you've heard of them? They're very famous. And really back on point at the moment.'

'Vaguely,' he said, suppressing a smile, 'but I'm afraid fashion's not my thing. You can probably tell, looking at me.'

He noted, mildly offended, that she didn't demur.

'This dress is six grand, the pearls the same. The shoes are nearly two grand. You see, that's the market we're working in now. It's not the teenagers spending their pocket money anymore.'

Although he was no marketing expert, he could see the sense in it. The twins were now entering their thirties, their loyal cohort of followers presumably growing older with them, and now they were selling an altogether more lucrative lifestyle centred around luxury designer brands and the essential bling that went with them. Big cars, fancy hotels in Davoz and the Caribbean, watches, jewellery, cosmetic surgery. All the essentials of the jet-set and their wanabees, driving a ton of cash into the coffers of the newly-sophisticated Macallans with every click.

'So I'm now brand Elspeth Macallan,' she said. 'It sounds nice, don't you think?'

'Yes it does,' Jimmy agreed. 'And what about your sister? Is she planning to re-brand too?'

'We do everything together business-wise, so yeah, I expect so,' Elspeth said. 'But of course that was before all of these horrible things came into our life.'

He wasn't sure whether she was referring to the terrible death of her father and brother, or her falling-out with her sister over their inheritance. Or maybe even to that other thing he'd discovered just as he was leaving the office to come to the meeting. But that's why he was here, to find out.

'I'm sorry for your loss,' Jimmy said. 'I know it must have been terrible for you and Kirsty.'

'Do you think so?' she said, her face suddenly hardening. 'I loved my brother of course, but my father was a hateful man. He liked to get his own way you see. He was just so used to being able to order all these men about in the Navy. So he thought he could behave the same with his own family and everyone else around him. To be honest, I don't mourn him one bit.'

Her venom shocked Jimmy, but then he remembered having encountered plenty of guys like her father in his army days. Mostly they were inadequate characters who would have been nobodies without their rank, and he wondered if Commodore Roderick Macallan had been the same.

'And Kirsty? What about her?'

'Kirsty hated them both, more than me I think. She hated Peter for being so useless and she hated our father for letting the estate get so run down and for everything else he'd done. I love my sister of course but she's money-obsessed. That's why she's trying to take my rightful inheritance away from me.'

I love my sister. From where he was sitting, it didn't sound much like it.

Smiling, he said, 'Well of course that's why I'm here Elspeth, to talk about the terms of your father's will. Well, at least to understand if there's any possibility that we could arrive at a settlement that everyone can agree on.'

'Settlement?' she said, her tone sharp. 'Why should there be a settlement? I'm the oldest and that's all there is to it. I get Ardmore House and the estate and half the money. That's what the will says. It couldn't be clearer.'

He'd thought it was going to be a difficult meeting and so far he hadn't been wrong. But the fact was, Elspeth Macallan wasn't seeing things straight, and now it was his job to put that right. Diplomatically, if he could.

'Look Elspeth,' he said softly, 'I can see where you're coming from, honestly I can, but well, I think there's a couple of obstacles that might arise before we can put this thing to bed. Going forward that is.'

He winced inwardly at the sound of the ghastly corporate-speak emanating from his lips, but it did seem to have succeeded in its objective of softening the blow.

'What do you mean, obstacles?' she said in a quieter voice.

He gave a concerned smile. 'You'll know your stepmother is intending to contest the will. We've heard from her solicitor that she will be claiming half the entire estate. And it's not impossible that she might succeed. She was his wife for over twenty years.'

'Alison's a fool,' Elspeth said, spitting out the words. 'Daddy hated her and wanted her to get nothing. That's why he changed his will. It was quite clear.'

'Hated her? Why was that?'

She shrugged. 'Daddy had moved on with his life and she was being simply tiresome.'

He took that as code for daddy had found a new woman and wanted rid of the old one with as little fuss as possible. But he opted against sharing the thought with her.

'Well that may be Elspeth, but if a court were to take her side, that would have a big effect on you and your sister's share. So it might make sense to work out something that would persuade Alison to drop her challenge.'

'No, absolutely not,' she said. 'Never. Daddy wanted her to get nothing and that's what I want too.'

He allowed himself a wry smile. At least he couldn't fault her for her clarity. So with that out of the way, now was the moment to bring up the elephant in the room and see where that ended up. Crushed underfoot would be his forecast.

'Well that's fair enough,' he said, smiling, 'if that's how you feel about her. But the other thing I need to ask is, is there any way you can prove that it's you that was the first-born? Because I'm afraid if this goes to court, they won't just take your word for it.'

It sounded blunt but there was really no other way of saying it. And as predicted, it didn't go down well.

'I love my sister, but she's lying when she says she is