‘Kim. Listen. Marion had terminal cancer. She would have died of it very soon. A day or two later, the doctors think.’

‘Would have? She did die of it.’

‘No, she didn’t,’ says Waterhouse. ‘Kim, I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but it’s looking very much as if Marion was murdered.’

11 January 2015

Dear Mrs Halliday

Last time I wrote, I promised I would send you one of the stories from Lane’s collection. Here it is: ‘The Two Sisters’. I’ve also sent you another novel: Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure. Apart from non-natural death, these latest two offerings do not have a lot in common. They are, in some ways, diametrical opposites. You might want to think about that.

Your Secret Detractor

The Two Sisters

from Stories of Enlightenment

An elderly couple was found murdered at home. They’d been shot while asleep in bed in the middle of the night. When the police set about investigating this heinous crime, they found that no one had entered the house by force, so they spoke to the couple’s two daughters, both of whom had keys to the family home.

The elder daughter was a frivolous, party-loving hedonist who spent all her spare time having fun. She spent her money on luxuries like fine wine, perfume and beautiful jewelry. The idea of saving for a rainy day was alien to her.

The younger daughter, by contrast, lived frugally. How, she wondered, could anyone care about jewelry in a world full of poverty and injustice? The younger daughter spent all her time fighting for causes she believed in, she told the police. She battled against those who sought to deprive the needy; she wrote letters condemning politicians who neglected the disabled, or demonized immigrants in pursuit of election success. She lived within her means and never ran up debts of any kind.

‘My older sister must have done this,’ she told the police. ‘She and I are the only ones with keys to the house. She’s been spending money on designer handbags recently, and she took out a loan to buy a yacht she couldn’t afford. She might be my sister, but she’s a totally reprehensible person.’

The police questioned the older daughter, who protested her innocence. Like her sister, she was aware that only the two of them had house keys, and so she said, ‘If I didn’t do it, she must have, or there must be some other explanation.’

‘Like what?’ asked the police.

‘I don’t know!’ The older daughter looked bewildered. She was clearly not enjoying being interviewed. ‘I don’t want to think about it. Can I go now? I’m going to a movie premiere that’s bound to be huge fun.’