‘Yes. And we know this because William secretly asked Ada to keep an eye on the charity bank account.’
‘Do you think that was because he didn’t fully trust Edward?’ asked Florrie.
‘He was right not to. Only a quarter of the total money collected went into the charity pot. Edward didn’t know about Ada keeping an eye on the bank account and so Ada was faced with the dilemma of whether to tell William, while he was still in recovery, that his son was a thief.’
‘What did she do?’
‘She told him, because William had enlisted her help for that very reason. But we did give Edward the option to come clean first.’
‘Is that what you were arguing about on the night of the masquerade ball, outside the boathouse?’
Dolores narrowed her eyes. ‘How do you know about that?’
Florrie didn’t want to throw Martha under the bus but she had to be honest. She hoped Dolores would see the funny side of it. ‘Aunt Martha was there. She saw you.’
‘No, Martha wasn’t there. I took Ada as my plus one. I might be a little forgetful these days but I remember that party well because that’s where she first told me that Edward had siphoned off the charity money that I raised. I was livid and confronted him.’
‘She was there. She found your ticket inside a newspaper that you’d left at the pub and took the chance she wouldn’t be recognised.’
Dolores playfully rolled her eyes. ‘All these years she’s kept that from me.’
‘But my father didn’t come clean,’ said Tom, trying to steer them back to the matter at hand. ‘He thought he was above everything and everyone, so he called Ada and Dolores’s bluff.’
‘What happened?’ asked Florrie.
Tom gestured for Dolores to carry on with the story.
‘Ada went to the hospital the next night. It wasn’t her usual shift but she wanted to check in on William. He was getting stronger and it was rumoured he might be allowed out of hospital sometime in the following few days … but all hell broke loose when she got there.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Florrie.
‘William had his own private room, and when Ada arrived there was something wedged behind the door. The light in his room was switched off, too, which was unusual. Ada was just about to leave when she saw movement through the glass window of the door. She gave the door an almighty push and discovered Edward holding a pillow over William’s face.’
Florrie gasped. ‘He was trying to suffocate him.’
‘He was,’ confirmed Dolores. ‘There was some sort of altercation between Ada and Edward, then Edward fled.’
‘He tried to kill William for his money?’ Florrie asked, dumbfounded.
‘It would appear so,’ Dolores said sadly.
‘That’s terrible.’
‘Isn’t it just,’ said Tom. ‘Sadly, my grandfather passed away a few weeks later – his heart stopped when he was sleeping – before he could take my father out of the will, which meant everything was left to him – the company and the foundation.’
‘All except one thing – and this is the part you’re going to be most interested in,’ Dolores shared.
Florrie couldn’t believe there was more to this story.
‘One of the biggest assets in William’s portfolio was Rose Cottage, with its acres of sought-after land. William knew the property’s value would only increase over the years but he didn’t care about the money. What was important to him was that the person who lived there would love it as much as Rose had. So, in the weeks before he passed away, he gave Ada a life interest in the cottage.’
Florrie was puzzled. ‘I don’t understand. What exactly does that mean?’
Sophia chipped in. ‘A life interest trust is an arrangement whereby your assets – or, in this case, one asset, i.e., Rose Cottage – is transferred to someone of your choosing. It means you can provide future security for a particular individual. Ada saved his life, and so, to repay her, William wanted her to never have to worry about financial security. So he gave Ada a life interest in the cottage up until her death, but with one condition.’
‘Which was?’ asked Florrie.
‘Ada had to promise to turn the gardens into something quite spectacular, create the rose garden in memory of Rose and keep The Vintage Flower Van bursting with blooms.’
