‘Out of interest,’ Florrie said nervously, ‘is there any kind of financial transaction involved with a life interest trust?’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Tom.
‘Well, there’s something I may need to come clean about, especially after you’ve shared all this with me,’ Florrie confessed. ‘Whilst I was sorting through Aunt Ada’s personal documents, I found piles and piles of bank statements that suggest she … never paid rent.’
‘We know,’ chorused Dolores and Tom. Tom pointed to the laptops on the table.
‘I stumbled across that very fact only recently. But Ada didn’t need to pay rent. William had given her the life interest which meant she had a legal right to live there free of charge. That was the point of my grandfather’s gift – it provided Ada and Ewart with financial security and ensured Ada had a roof over her head for as long as she lived.’
Florrie was astonished. ‘That’s one hell of a gift.’
‘It is. Now, let’s fast forward many years to a few weeks back. My father has never fully retired from the company or completely handed over the reins of the foundation and he mentioned to me in passing that he was handling a brand-new development. His take on it was that it was the last job he wanted to do before he retired. I had no involvement in it at all and didn’t think anything about it. At the same time Sophia confided in me that she’d discovered some anomalies within the charity’s finances and that’s when I began to delve discreetly into the workings of the company and the foundation a lot more.’
Sophia took up the story. ‘My mother always told me how good William had been to our family and as a family we would always take part in the fundraisers for his foundation. I wanted to get more involved, which was why I started working for the charity and became familiar with the financial side of things. I then noticed in the charity’s newsletter that the amount we’d raised in the most recent fundraising drive was significantly less than the actual amount I knew we’d brought in. I happened to mention it to Dolores one day when we were catching up and that’s when she shared her suspicions that Edward might be using the foundation’s profits to fund his own lifestyle, and that it had likely been going on for years. For instance, I discovered that he’d built an extension on his estate, claiming it was offices for the charity, when what was actually built was a state-of-the-art gym. Tom has been my friend for many years and I knew he needed to know what was going on so we started to dig around. Edward trusted me because I’d been a friend of the family for years and he was happy to have me come on the board as a trustee, which gave me the perfect opportunity to ensure the charity’s money was used for legitimate charitable purposes … and I discovered it wasn’t.’
Florrie exhaled. ‘Does Edward know you’re on to him?’
‘Not yet,’ Tom replied. ‘But he recently called a meeting with me out of the blue and told me about the planning proposal for the land Rose Cottage sits on. Straightaway, something about it didn’t sit right with me. He told me that there was some opposition in the village and that I needed to smooth the way. The next thing I knew, I was being bombarded by journalists. That’s when I discovered your posts and TV appearance. I couldn’t believe my father had made an application to flatten the land and put in new-builds, destroying such beauty, especially when there are so many other places to build property. I began to do some digging and discovered that Rose Cottage had only appeared on the W. Houston Property Developers’ computer system the day Ada passed away. Sophia and I decided to approach Dolores, knowing she was a lifelong friend of William, to see if she could help us make sense of it all.’
‘I was just happy I could shed some light on the situation,’ Dolores said modestly. ‘I knew about the life interest and everything that had gone on.’
‘It’s been a lot to discover that my father attempted to end my grandfather’s life for his fortune,’ said Tom. ‘I know he was a greedy man but that’s on a different level. It must have been a huge blow to my father to discover my grandfather had given Ada a life interest in the cottage and he couldn’t get his hands on it. The fact he wants to destroy it now – seemingly just for revenge – shows the man he is.’
Florrie wasn’t quite sure what to say. She could see the hurt in Tom’s eyes.
‘I don’t want any more to do with him,’ Tom continued, ‘and I would love to stop him from getting his hands on Rose Cottage and its land, but we need to tread carefully until we have a little more evidence.’
Florrie was confused again. ‘Who actually owns the cottage now?’
‘That’s the question all of us around this table have been trying to answer,’ offered Dolores. ‘There was a document signed between William and Ada – I know this because I was the witness – which William told Ada to keep safe, but we have no clue where it is. To solve this whole thing, and to hopefully save your great-aunt’s legacy, we need to find that piece of paper.’
‘Surely there’s a copy with a solicitor?’
‘That solicitor is no longer living and the firm closed down.’
‘Are we actually saying there’s a small chance that W. Houston Property Developers doesn’t own the cottage?’
‘That’s exactly what we’re saying. It belonged to my grandfather, not the company,’ said Tom.
‘So how can Edward apply for planning permission if he doesn’t own the property?’
‘He can’t. He waited for Ada to pass away and fraudulently prepared whatever paperwork he needed to make money from the cottage. He’s waited a long time to get his hands on that land, but he’s underestimated us all. He clearly doesn’t know about the agreement William and Ada signed.’
‘We need to find that document,’ Dolores repeated. ‘Without it we can’t do anything to stop him.’
Florrie stood up. ‘Then there’s only one thing for it.’
‘Where are you going?’ asked Tom.
‘Back to the cottage. We need to search every nook and cranny until we find that piece of paper!’
ChapterTwenty-Six
As they walked back to Rose Cottage, Tom slipped his hand into Florrie’s. Taking a sideward glance, she caught him watching her with a smile on his face.
‘Why are you smiling at me like that?’ Her heart gave a tiny leap as she bumped her shoulder against his.
‘You know why. I told you to trust me and you’re trusting me.’
