‘Did you know Roger had left the company to you before he died?’

‘No, no idea. First thing I heard was when Alice spoke to the solicitor to find out what she should do. Apparently he’d filed documents with them years ago.’

‘And he never told you?’

‘No. But then again we didn’t really speak, so there wasn’t the opportunity to.’

‘How did Alice react when she found out?’

Arthur sighed and leaned back in his chair. ‘I think she was probably expecting to inherit the company herself. She didn’t seem too happy about it. Not at first, anyway.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘Oh, she was ranting and raving about it all and threw me out. I think she was just upset and coming to terms with what had happened to Roger. It’s a lot to try and process.’

‘Threw you out? You were in the house?’

Arthur shuffled awkwardly. ‘Yeah. Yeah, I was staying there.’

‘Since when?’ Caroline didn’t recall seeing any sign of Arthur when she’d visited the Clifton residence.

‘Only a few days. Things are alright now, though. We sat down and had a chat yesterday and worked out a few potential options. Enough to keep her quiet for a bit, anyway.’

‘Options? What options?’

‘Oh, we spoke about potentially giving her a share, making her a director. Sorting something out. Like I say, just a bone to keep her happy and quiet for now. No idea what’ll actually happen, if anything. I’ll need to speak to the brief again and find out what my obligations are.’

‘Presumably none if the company’s all yours.’

‘You’d think so.’

‘So are you staying with Alice now?’

‘No, I’m at a hotel in town.’

‘Which one?’

‘Does it matter?’

‘Only if you think it’s worth hiding from us.’

Arthur looked at them for a few moments before speaking. ‘The Wisteria,’ he said.

Caroline and Dexter left the meeting a little over half an hour later, feeling even more confused than before they’d gone in.

‘I don’t buy it,’ Caroline said, starting up the car.

‘How so?’

‘Well, come on. Roger Clifton, who hasn’t seen his brother in years, leaves his successful construction business to him, despite having no interest or experience in construction?’

‘He’s got business experience.’

‘Yeah, running bars in Spain. And why didn’t Alice Clifton mention that he was back in the country and had been staying with her?’

‘It’s a bit odd, but not suspicious in itself.’

‘I dunno. We need to find out when Roger filed those documents leaving the company to Arthur. And we need to know for sure if Arthur knew about it. See what we can find out about his financial situation, too. If it turns out he knew he’d be left the company and was in financial shit of his own, we’ve got a perfect motive.’