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She returned to St Helier that evening continually repeating his words, as if they were the lyrics of a song she could not get out of her mind

~

It must have been about a week later that she received a phone call froested that she drop into his office and discuss the implications of her late husband’s will She

Ruth had assuus had always led a co would continue us was not the sort of man ould leave his affairs unresolved She recalled how insistent he had been that Mr Craddock should visit him at the hospital

Ruth had never shown any interest in Angus’s business affairs Although he was always careful with his , he had never refused her In any case, Max had just deposited a cheque for over £100,000 in Angus’s account, so she set off for the solicitor’s office the followingconfident that her late husband would have left quite enough for her to live on

She arrived a few minutes early Despite this, the receptionist accoh to the senior partner’s room When she walked in, she found three men seated around the boardroom table They immediately rose from their places, and Mr Craddock introduced them as partners of the firm Ruth assumed they must have come to pay their respects, but they resumed their seats and continued to study the thick files placed in front of theus’s estate was in order?

The senior partner took his seat at the top of the table, untied a bundle of documents and extracted a thick parchment, then looked up at his late client’s wife

‘Firstly, may I express on behalf of the firm the sadness we all felt e learned of Mr Henderson’s death,’ he began

‘Thank you,’ said Ruth, bowing her head

‘We asked you to co so that we could advise you of the details of your late husband’s will Afterwards, we shall be happy to answer any questions you ht have’

Ruth went cold, and began treus warned her that there were likely to be problems?

The solicitor read through the prea to the bequests

‘I leave all oods tobequests:

‘a) £200 each to both of my sons Nicholas and Ben, which I would like the in my memory

‘b) £500 to the Scottish Royal Academy, to be used for the purchase of a picture of their choice, which must be by a Scottish artist