‘Yes. I went through it last night.’ That and the rosé.

He leaned forward in the chair. ‘And from what you read, do you think she will take an offer and go quietly into the night?’

Charlotte didn’t hesitate. ‘No.’

‘No?’ It was not the answer he had wanted to hear. He slumped back again, agitated and displeased.

‘Assuming she is your father’s mistress, or that he’s in love with her at least, then there’s a lot that’s not adding up here. Looking at her current financial situation, place of employment, where she lives . . . all of this would suggest she should be an easy target; she’s in a vulnerable position. And yet the fact that your father has made seemingly no impact on her circumstances suggests to me she is playing a long game and holding out for more.’ She looked directly at him. ‘I assume your father would usually provide an apartment for his lady friends, somewhere discreet they could meet?’

‘Of course.’ Mateo looked pained, as though this was a point of honour when cheating on one’s wife.

‘Well, the fact that Ms Quincy hasn’t accepted that offer would suggest she won’t settle for the usual titbits.’

‘So then you think she does know of my father’s intentions to hand it all over to her?’

‘Quite possibly, yes. She might even have been carefully navigating him to that position herself.’

Mateo pushed himself back into the cushions, muttering something under his breath in Spanish which suggested he assumed she couldn’t understand. Charlotte decided not to dissuade him from that idea. He looked back at her again. ‘You will have to excuse my anger but this is hard to take. Who does she think she is to come in and rob us, his family, of everything that is ours, everything we have all worked for and striven to protect?’

‘I agree. It’s a terrible predicament to be in, but also –’ She wondered how to phrase it delicately – ‘highly unusual in this instance, on account of your father’s age I mean. Do you recall when his health started to decline?’

‘I’m sorry?’ Mateo looked flummoxed by the question.

‘There weren’t any specific medical incidents or concerns before the cancer diagnosis? Was he in generally good health before that?’

‘Why yes, the best! He was as strong as a bull. Nothing could topple him, no one could ever believe he was in his nineties. He swam every morning until he was ninety-two!’

‘Wow.’

‘Yes. He always said we Mendozas are as strong as our bulls.’

Charlotte nodded. ‘And understand you’ve never met Ms Quincy?’

His lip curled. ‘I’d never even heard of her until last week!’

‘And you never had suspicions he was keeping a mistress?’

‘No. Well, not after Carmen—’

Carmen? Charlotte hooked an eyebrow, waiting for more.

‘They were together privately for many years, he was very fond of her; my mother was too.’ Charlotte kept her face neutral. ‘But after she died – several years ago now – even for a man like my papa, I did not think he was still . . . that it would be . . . possible to be . . . active.’ His voice faded out as he struggled and failed to find the right euphemisms.