Chapters (78)
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Remarkable Praise for Nicci French
- Also by Nicci French
- About the Publisher
“A bit. It all goes to Danny, and I guess even if he hadn’t made a will that’s what would have happened, since she’s his long-term partner and the mother of Alfie. No surprises there.” He shrugged. “Maybe there won’t be much to do. Maybe Liam just had to put down a name or two because it’s asked for on the form, and so he put down us, but it’ll turn out to be easy.”
Jude thought of the powers given to executors, the stuff about assets and debts and things being maintained or sold or liquidated.
“Did he have much except the house?”
“I’d be surprised. This is Liam we’re talking about—he always treated money as if it was something dirty. I was amazed he ever bought a property, and I bet there’s a socking great loan to pay off.”
“Why did he?”
“He was always making sudden decisions, changing his plans in a split second. You never knew what was going to happen next. Have you seen the place?”
“I was there on Thursday.”
“Did you meet Danny?”
“She invited me.”
“Then you know it’s not like any other house. It’s a wreck for a start. Did you go upstairs?”
Jude shook her head.
“I wouldn’t want to sleep in one of those rooms. Liam never minded things like that, but the others . . .”
“So: a house that’s a wreck and no savings.”
“Not that I know of.”
“Debts?”
Dermot shrugged.
“Then there are the bequests,” continued Jude.
“Yeah. So many of them! Some of those things are pretty niche. Did you see he’s given his harmonica to someone—harmonicas only cost a few quid to buy new. It’s like he just wrote down all the objects he owned that he could think of.”
“Do you know many of the people he’s named?”
“A few, not all. But presumably Danny can hand most of the things out, and Vin as well. I can make sure Al gets the weights and Benny gets the cards.”
“Is that the Benny he went to school with?”
And the Benny, she thought, who was in the back of the car when we crashed.
“That’s the one. He still lives round here. I don’t know how much he and Liam kept in touch. Did you know him?”
Jude thought of the boy passed out in the back of the crashed car that long-ago night.
“A little,” she said.
“God, what was Liam up to?”
“It shows he trusted you,” said Jude, as Tara had said to her the day before.
A grimace of distress tightened Dermot’s face. “I guess he did. But look, one thing’s for sure—you shouldn’t have to get involved in this. I’d already decided that.”
“What do you mean?”