‘Oh yes. Not long before he died. And I hope you don’t mind me saying, but the whole thing sounded rum to me. Which is why I wanted to see you. Because it also feels rum to me that my great aunt’s doing the same. So perhaps what I’m asking is, can you reassure me that what my great aunt’s solicitor is doing is ethical?’

‘You mean, drawing up a will to which he’s also a beneficiary?’

‘Yes, that’s it in a nutshell.’

Andy looked at Judith for a few moments, and then he sighed as though he was disappointed in her.

‘I think I know what’s going on here,’ he said. ‘You’re checking up on me, aren’t you?’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘Don’t worry, I get it,’ he said, almost kindly. ‘I take it you live on your own? I’ve been doing this job a long time, I know the type. But you’ve got nothing to occupy you, so you’ve got a bee in your bonnet that there was something not quite right about your friend Ezra’s will.’ Andy got up, went over to the door and opened it. ‘Whereas the far more prosaic truth is, Ezra’s will was entirely above board. Of course it was or it wouldn’t have cleared probate, would it? Now, believe it or not, I do actually have some work to do. So if you don’t mind …?’

Andy stood at the open doorway, a smile on his face, as though he knew that Judith had no comeback. Frustratingly, Judith knew he was right. She couldn’t think of another card to play. Not without revealing her hand. So she got up, thanked Andy for taking the time to see her and left.

But as Judith returned to the reception area, she started chastising herself. Even if it was technically legal, what Andy Bishop had done with Ezra’s will was still sharp practice at the very least, so who was he to start lecturing her? And if everything about Ezra’s will was so above board, how come he’d seen her so quickly without an appointment?

Judith stopped by the front door.

What had he said? She lived on her own and had nothing to occupy her? Well, he couldn’t have been more wrong there. She had a job setting crosswords, which wasn’t bad for a woman who was seventy-seven years old, was it? And as she thought this, Judith realised that no man had the right to speak to her so condescendingly. Especially not some jumped-up local solicitor.

Judith turned on her heel, strode back towards Andy’s office and pushed the door open without knocking.

‘I do have a job, you know,’ she pronounced grandly.

Andy was standing by the window that overlooked the High Street, and he turned in surprise at Judith’s sudden reappearance.