Mateo shook his head, denying her words and the implicit blame within them. ‘You’re telling me that this woman kept her past a secret from two generations of her family? As far as I’m concerned, that tells us all we need to know about her: she is a convincing liar.’ It was said as a statement of fact. An utter condemnation of her character.

‘With all due respect, your father lied in keeping her a secret from you all too. You had no idea he was a twin either.’

Mateo Mendoza’s eyes flashed with anger at the assertion but he had no reply to it. He looked at her with hard eyes instead. ‘So then, what does she want exactly? Why does she want to see him? What does she expect to get out of it? More money?’

‘I doubt it; she seemed wholly uninterested in the financial offer. My guess is that she’s after closure of some sort. An apology?’

‘I’ve just said, my father—’

‘I know,’ she interrupted, not wanting to hear another defence of his father. ‘But clearly none of us possess the full facts at the moment. We don’t know what’s gone on between them, only that they’ve both hidden each other from their own families for a very long time.’

He was quiet for a moment, his eyes on the horizon as he took a long sip of his drink. He was thinking, calculating, considering . . . ‘How did she strike you?’

‘Well, I spoke with her at length just now and she appears to be in fine health for a woman of her age, although clearly she tires easily and is physically frail.’

‘How about mentally?’

‘According to her granddaughter, she is not suffering from any mental deterioration, if that’s what you mean. She’s in the home for physical assistance, nothing more.’

Mateo’s face crumpled into a frown, his head dropping forward as though his neck could no longer support the weight of it. ‘None of this makes any sense. For the past week I have been going over and over it: who is this woman? Why is he so fixated upon her, above and beyond us? And now we learn she’s his twin?’ He sighed, looking exhausted and embattled. ‘That makes no sense either; even less than before. If she is his blood, why gift her the estate? Legally, she’s already entitled to a fixed share when he dies. Technically, she should already have a share, after their parents, my grandparents, died.’ He looked at her, baffled.

Charlotte shrugged. ‘From the financial profile the researchers worked up, the apartment is her only asset – but it’s very meagre. If she does already have a fixed share in the estate, it doesn’t look like she’s ever accessed it. Could there be a hidden fund or a trust? Another bank account perhaps that’s been dormant . . . ?’

‘There’s never been any mention of one, but then why would we look for someone we didn’t know existed?’ he muttered. ‘I’ll get Milton and the lawyers to look into it.’