This proved harder than she expected. There was next to nothing on the internet about Harry Sinclair. There were a few photographs of him and his brothers, sometimes with his mother in shot, standing outside a stately-looking home which would be worthy of Downton Abbey status. The three brothers looked very striking, all sharing their mother’s dark hair; the older two had theirs cut short, while Owen, the youngest brother, wore his a little longer, which reminded Steph of some sort of art-student type. Dominic and Owen were smiling, whereas Harry’s expression was sombre. Steph checked the date of the photograph. It was six months ago, so that also made it a little over eighteen months since his wife had died, in which case he was excused for looking pretty miserable. Although, as she looked at the photograph again, she wasn’t sure if miserable was the right word. He looked more … serious … moody even.

Steph read some of the articles about the resort the family had opened, but there was very little personal information.

Eventually, she came across an online local newspaper which had reported the death of Elizabeth Sinclair. It wasn’t much, but it did give a little more information. It would seem Elizabeth had taken the family dog for a walk which was later found wet and covered in mud. It was assumed that the dog had gone into the water and Elizabeth had taken it upon herself to rescue the much-loved pooch but had become entangled in the weeds just below the surface.

After another half an hour of searching, Steph surveyed her notes.

Harry Sinclair

Middle brother – 35

Widower

Stays out of the limelight

No comments found concerning the death of his wife

Dominic Sinclair – named after GGG

Older brother – 37

Director

Driving force of the company

Attends lots of business and social functions

Divorced – 1 child – 15, boy – with former wife

Another child – 7 – with current partner – Lisa – together 10 years

Property in South of France

Lives in private lodge in the grounds of resort

Comment re death of SIL – Very much missed by us all. We are all in shock.

Owen Sinclair

Youngest of three brothers – 32

Director

Married – Natalie (27)

3 children – twin boys aged 3 and daughter aged 5

Pru Sinclair

Mother

Director – 68 years old

Widow. Husband died 2014

Formidable. Public speaking

Involved with lots of charities and local businesses

Comment re death of DIL – Deeply saddened. Elizabeth the daughter I never had.

It didn’t scream murder to Steph but she knew she wouldn’t be able to leave this alone now. Something was urging her on – journalistic gut instinct? She wasn’t sure, but she wasn’t going to ignore it.

She was about to close the article when the bottom paragraph caught her attention. The air was knocked from her lungs and her heart thudded against her chest wall.

‘Bloody hell.’

She peered closer to the screen as if to make certain she was reading it correctly. She read each word with precision.