Legacy of Lies Read Online Free PDF

take a couple of books from the extensive library or perhaps a few of the family photographs Rupert had framed and dotted about Fallowfields would have been more than enough. To have been left so much … that shifted the balance of Alec’s world.
    He had never been badly off. His father, as a doctor, and his mother, as a teacher, they had valued education and experience and Alec had acquired the best of both. He had been loved and cherished and grown up perhaps a little too much aware of his own imagined importance. University and then policing had changed his perspective and brought him into contact with a wider variety of people and backgrounds, but on the whole his transition from high achiever in school to high achiever in the workplace had been smooth and seamless and the salary had followed, supplemented by the investments his father had made on his behalf when Alec was a child.
    He owned a house and a car. Both above averagely nice. He did pretty much what he wanted as regards holidays and consumer luxury, but this legacy was something else. A brief look at the paperwork he had been given told him that his assets, even after taxes had been paid, would leave him with something like half a million.
    Pounds.
    Sterling.
    Plus the house.
    Not enough to retire on, maybe, but certainly enough to change his life one way or another.
    But it wasn’t just this that shocked him, Alec realized. Wasn’t just that he now had a rather large house with a very large garden and an extremely comfortable bank account. It was that it had never occurred to him that Rupert might have had money. Not at all. Rupert had bought Fallowfields at a time when such property was cheap. He had furnished it comfortably but never to a particularly luxurious standard. He had always driven ageing and somewhat quirky cars and …
    A thought struck.
    â€˜Marcus, did Rupert still drive?’
    â€˜Yes. He had that old Austin Healey. Why?’
    â€˜Did he keep it at Fallowfields? It isn’t in the garage.’
    Marcus looked curiously at him. ‘What are you thinking?’
    â€˜Did he drive to where they found him?’
    Marcus shook his head. ‘I thought that, but there was no sign of the car.’
    â€˜So …’
    Marcus sighed. ‘Alec, that’s just one of the things I want to talk to you about. Look, here’s the hotel, let’s get our table and order and then I’ll fill you in. Naomi dear, there are three steps, quite narrow but shallow and I’ve checked ahead, our lovely Napoleon will be more than welcome. There’s a bit of an alcove in the main dining room. Napoleon can lie down out of the way and not be trodden on.’
    â€˜Thank you, Marcus.’
    Alec made to take her arm to find that Marcus had beaten him to it and was guiding her up the steps. Completely unnecessary, Alec knew. She and Napoleon could manage just fine, but it was a natural reaction on his behalf and, he supposed, on that of Marcus as well.
    It struck him, not for the first time, that he should have brought her to visit Rupert. His uncle would have loved her and adored the dog.
    He found that he felt a terrible guilt. That this man had evidently thought so much of Alec and Alec done so little in return, though he had cared deeply for Rupert and genuinely grieved at his death.
    He followed Marcus and Naomi into the dining room of the hotel. Noting the plush and rather overblown decor, all dark wood panels and deep red carpet, but the staff seemed friendly and the menu, when he remembered to look at it, was varied if not deeply imaginative.
    Solid, country fare as Rupert might have said.
    Marcus was reading the options to Naomi and discussing the merits of the various dishes he had sampled there. Alec could hear him promoting the merits of the steak and kidney pudding.
    It all felt faintly surreal.
    â€˜Alec, you’ll feel better if you eat,’ Naomi said gently and he nodded, knowing she was right. He