Anyway, I said to Doug, ‘Why didn’t you tell me any of this before? For that matter, why didn’t Dad tell me any of this before?’

Doug said, ‘You mean about the land? He didn’t trust that partner of yours, Snow.’

I said, ‘That’s offensive, Doug. Do you know what me and Mark do in Bondi? We run a home for disabled children.’

Doug said, ‘I know about that but your dad didn’t trust him.’

I said, ‘That’s a bit of bad luck,’ because really, the idea that I would be handing any of my dad’s estate, let alone half of it, to a woman I’d never met before was ridiculous.

Doug said, ‘It’s not that easy. Once we’ve nailed down exactly what’s in the estate and what it’s worth, we’ll need to make sure that your sister is offered half.’

I said, ‘Are you sure you’re being straight with me, Doug? Because how can it be that a so-called sister pops up just when Dad dies, and then gets half of his estate? That can’t be legal.’

And think of it from my side, Jack, it didn’t sound legal. I was trying to deal with the fact that firstly Dad had money, and secondly he had a past I didn’t know anything about, and thirdly he didn’t like Mark . . . Well, I knew that last bit because yes, he was always at me, saying, ‘Why doesn’t he work?’ And, ‘He doesn’t seem to make you happy.’ But this was all a bit much.

Doug said, ‘Let’s face it, Snow, there’s going to be a lot of money – far more than you knew about – so it’s not actually a blow to you. It leaves you with roughly what you thought you’d get and maybe more!’

I don’t mind telling you, Jack, I was thinking to myself, ‘Is this bloke an idiot?’ I didn’t care that it was more money, or less money, or whatever amount of money. The point is it was my money. I was an only child. That was just a fact, and no way was some stranger going to waltz into my life and walk off with half of my father’s estate. So I said, ‘You better tell me where this woman, this so-called sister, fits into the picture.’

Doug said, ‘Well, she’s older than you, Snow, a good deal older. She was born in London in 1940.’

Do you know what I thought when I heard that? I thought, ‘Bingo! She’s a fraud.’ Because my parents weren’t even married until 1947. But Doug said no, that was right, apparently she’d been born before my parents got married. He said, ‘Your mum was sixteen when your sister was born, Snow. Jim – your dad – had already gone away to fight. The hospital where your sister was born got bombed. This was during the Blitz. The nuns told your mum, ‘Leave the baby with us, and we’ll send her into the countryside, out of harm’s way. And according to Jim, they always intended to go back to get the little girl. But when they returned, she was gone.’