He made himself a coffee, putting the milk in the mug first and then the coffee before adding the water, something Sandy had taught him, insisting it tasted better that way – and she was right. He used the time it took for the kettle to boil to start focusing back on the investigation.

Carrying the mug through to his office, he sat at his desk, glanced through his emails, then called Glenn Branson and Jack Alexander, in turn, asking them to come to see him right away.

When both detectives were seated in front of him, he told them of the developments following his meeting with Pewe. Neither of them, nor any other members of his team, had any inkling about the ACC’s impending fate.

‘What planet is he on?’ Branson retorted. ‘So we have to take over from Surveillance ourselves?’

‘Yes, as best we can.’ Grace tapped his screen. ‘I have the tracker on Niall Paternoster’s rented Fiesta showing – currently stationary outside their home in Nevill Road. Aiden Gilbert’s doing some wizardry and it should appear on all the team’s laptops and phones. Glenn, I’m giving you the action of organizing a rota for this weekend of three team members to man the observation post, as discreetly as possible, to confirm when he drives away from the house. We will have his whereabouts on our screens.’

‘Will do, boss.’

Grace turned to Alexander. ‘Jack, I need you—’

He was interrupted by his job phone ringing again. Raising an apologetic hand to the two detectives, he answered. It was Emily Denyer.

‘Sir,’ she said, ‘I’ve been going through the documents seized from the Paternosters’ house by the Search Team. There’s a solicitor’s letter regarding a will made by Eden Paternoster. It was hidden under the paper lining of a drawer in an antique bureau which appears to be her writing desk and where she keeps all her private papers along with a life insurance document.’

‘How recent was this document?’

‘It’s dated March seventeenth of this year.’

‘What’s the gist of it?’

‘It’s pretty simple really. I think you’ll find this interesting, sir – any death benefit was to be paid out to Rebecca Watkins.’

94

Saturday 7 September

Glenn Branson and Jack Alexander both sat in silence for some moments, absorbing what Roy Grace had just told them. Trying to make sense of it.

Then Grace called Aiden Gilbert, whose team was working on recovering documents from the hard drive of Eden Paternoster’s laptop. He told Gilbert what he needed very urgently, and he promised to take a look immediately.

True to his word, less than five minutes later, a document labelled New Will as well as the life insurance policy taken out by Eden Paternoster in favour of Rebecca Watkins came through on Grace’s email.

The three detectives immediately studied the documents. The will was a short and simple document, properly signed and witnessed by two people, one called Jo Cabot, Legal Executive, and the other, Miro Afonso, Assistant Solicitor. Attached to it was a covering letter, signed off by a woman called Jill Riddle, Head of Wills and Probate, Cardwell Scott LLP.