‘Perfect. I knew you’d have a great idea.’ Anthony cracked a smile. ‘Would you like to be involved with the project at all? It’d be fantastic to have you on board.’
She blinked hard at him. ‘Are you offering me a job?’
‘Yes. You’ll have completed Essie’s book soon. You won’t be able to clean for her any longer.’
Liv hadn’t told Anthony she’d finished the manuscript and was polishing it up, or about her serious doubts over its ending. This was a chance for her to try something new, an opportunity she’d never have imagined. The role deviated from her dream of being a writer, but it meant she could be close tootherwriters. ‘Great, thanks,’ she said, then hesitated. ‘Is the job my inheritance?’
‘No, don’t worry. I have that here.’ Anthony took a large brown envelope out of his briefcase. He shook out a brass key and passed it across the table to her.
They both stared at it.
Is that it?Liv wanted to say. A key wasn’t going to pay her bills, help support her kids through university or bail out Paperpress. ‘Do you know what it’s for?’ she said.
‘I was hoping you could tell me.’ He passed her the empty envelope.
Liv turned the key over in her hands. She glanced towards Essie’s writing room. The key looked too large to fit the bottom drawer of her desk. ‘I have no idea.’ She opened the envelope, peered inside and saw a small slip of paper in the corner. ‘We almost missed this,’ she said, taking it out. She read out the address.
‘25b Hollinhall Street.’
Anthony’s face speckled red. He swallowed and shuffled his papers together, avoiding her eyes. ‘Well, I think that’s everything,’ he said, clearing his throat. He took hold of his briefcase and made to stand up.
Liv narrowed her eyes. ‘Hey, wait up,’ she said. ‘There’s still things I want to know.’
He scratched his neck and settled back down. ‘What things?’
Something had been rankling Liv about her parents’ theatre tickets, and also Essie’s will. ‘You said Essie left a proviso in her will. If I didn’t complete her last wish I wouldn’t get my inheritance.’ She stared at the key in her hand. ‘But that doesn’t make sense. Essie didn’t know she was going to die when she went in hospital. She wrote an impromptu wish in her yellow notebook when she got an infection. So, how could she add a proviso for me in her will, a document she set up months previously?’
Anthony’s cheeks were now scarlet. ‘Ah…’ he said.
Liv felt something inside her thawing like ice on the surface of a pond, revealing the water and fish beneath it. ‘There was never a clause in Essie’s will, was there?’ she said. ‘You made it up?’
Anthony’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He fidgeted with the handle on his briefcase. ‘When you mentioned the journalist snooping around, I had to keep you focused and on track. I was away in Italy and under pressure. Essie wanted her death to be kept a secret for six months. She wanted you to finish her book. I had to make sure they both happened as per her last request.’
‘I told you I was committed to the task.’ Liv glared at him.
‘I’m sorry.’
She folded her arms. ‘What else have you lied to me about?’
‘Nothing.’ His eyes sought out the door.
‘If there’s anything you need to spill…’
Anthony’s breath grew coarser. He swallowed audibly. ‘You asked if I knew anything about the cufflinks—’
‘So, theyareyours?’ Liv said triumphantly.
He shook his head. ‘No,’ he hesitated. ‘I told you Essie and I were together through university…’
‘Go on,’ she demanded.
‘One day, I found some cufflinks in Essie’s room. They were shaped like bees and looked expensive. I thought she’d bought them for my birthday.’ He looked at his shirt cuffs. ‘Except she didn’t give them to me… They were for someone else.’
‘Who?’
‘I didn’t know at the time. I think I now know.’
Liv gave him an exaggerated shrug. All the pieces of Essie’s mystery looked to be in place. The cufflinks must be superfluous.
