Read Online Fatal Legacy by Elizabeth Corley - Free Book Online Page B

few times I’ve met her I have seen her wrap men around her little finger, but that’s hardly grounds to suspect her of murdering his father!’
    ‘Is that what he thinks?’
    ‘He’s never said so directly, but he can’t get over the fact that his father died so conveniently after changing his will and only a few months after meeting Sally.’
    ‘I see. This is all conjecture, isn’t it?’
    ‘Of course it is! But you don’t understand Graham. He doesn’t work, he jumps from hobby to hobby, desperately trying to find something meaningful, and he’s eaten up with guilt over his father. He’s not a playboy, he’s just a caring, deeply sensitive, unfulfilled man.’
    ‘You’re fond of him, aren’t you?’
    ‘Yes, very.’
    Nightingale left to rejoin Fenwick and Cooper where they sat enduring Graham’s chain-smoking. Although he was unshaven and scruffily dressed, he exuded a certain charm that was about more than money. After he left Fenwick turned to her with quizzically raised eyebrows.
    ‘Anything?’
    ‘Not really, sir. Jenny thinks it’s guilt, and she seems to know Graham quite well. She’s very worried about him, though. Since his father’s death he’s become obsessed, and he blames his cousin’s wife Sally in some way. He’s even hired a private detective.’
    ‘I know, he told us, but so far all the man’s found out is that Sally Wainwright-Smith changed her maiden name years agoand that there are rumours she somehow manipulated Alan Wainwright into dividing his estate into two so that she and her new husband would inherit.’
    ‘Fifteen million pounds is a powerful motive.’ Cooper was studying his notebook carefully. ‘We’ve known murders for much less.’
    ‘True, but the problem here is that all we have is conjecture. No one can understand why Alan killed himself; they’re unhappy with the will so they look for a suspect. Sally’s new, and an unexpected beneficiary, so suspicion falls on her. It would be different if the coroner hadn’t already recorded a verdict, and Inspector Blite should have probed more, but he was under enormous pressure to close the case at the time.
    ‘Now, though, in order to reopen the case, we will need much more than this, and even Graham admits that his private investigator has found nothing. I’ll talk to the deceased’s sister, Julia; Cooper, you call Alexander Wainwright-Smith, see what he has to say, then speak to Alan’s friends at his clubs; and Nightingale, here’s the number of the investigator Graham’s hired. Call him and do a PCN check for any mention of anybody associated with this case. You’d best leave Councillor Ward to me. He’s a tricky bastard and not a great fan of the police.
    ‘Nightingale, this will be a lesson in discretion for you. You must stick to the script. We are tidying up loose ends, that’s all; no ad-libbing or becoming carried away. I’ll see you both back at the station at three, and make sure that you have enough information by then for me to call the ACC.’
     
    They arrived in his office at the end of the afternoon foot-sore and despondent. Cooper was still clutching his now empty sandwich box under his arm.
    Fenwick looked as bright and fresh as he had done seven hours before.
    ‘Any progress?’ he asked.
    ‘Nothing, sir.’ Cooper shook his head wearily. He’d endured five hours of spite and rumour without finding a trace of any real substance. ‘As soon as the people we interviewed realised that the police were taking their suspicions seriously they clammed up, didn’t want to be pointing any fingers. And you?’
    ‘No hint of anything out of the ordinary, although there is a lot of resentment about the will. I spoke to about a dozen people and only one other, Julia Wainwright-McAdam, the old man’s sister, was suspicious. She hates Sally Wainwright-Smith and alleges she had an affair with her brother, but there’s no evidence, and even she admitted it was all hearsay. Councillor Ward was