A Question of Identity Read Free Page A

photo must be in their seventies.’ Rona reached for the print, still lying on the table, and turned it to face her. ‘Obviously this isn’t of the whole school, and since there’s quite an age range, it can’t be one class. A house photo, perhaps?’
    â€˜You see!’ Lindsey exclaimed triumphantly. ‘You’ve already come up with something!’
    â€˜I can’t see it’s much help. How about the hotel owners? Has William contacted them?’
    â€˜Yes, but without luck. After the school closed, it became a nursing home, and the present owners bought it from them.’
    â€˜Then I’m sorry. He’s already done anything I could do.’ She raised a hand as Lindsey started to speak. ‘Really, Linz, I’m not interested, so can we please change the subject?’
    For a moment Lindsey looked mutinous. Then, with a resigned sigh, she slid the photo back into her bag.
    â€˜Any news of the parents?’ Rona went on. ‘I’ve been so wrapped up working, I haven’t spoken to either of them for a while.’
    â€˜The big news is that Guy’s house has been sold.’
    Guy Lacey, who had previously lived in Stokely, had moved in with their mother earlier in the year, and put his own house on the market.
    â€˜That’s excellent!’ Rona exclaimed. ‘Did he get the asking price?’
    â€˜Very nearly. Mum says they’d been afraid, with the market as it is, that it could have hung on indefinitely.’
    â€˜And Pops?’ Rona asked after a moment.
    â€˜I’ve not spoken to him recently.’
    No surprise there, she thought; Lindsey had always been closer to their mother, particularly during the breakdown of their parents’ marriage. Tom Parish was renting a flat in town, and when the divorce came through, intended to marry Catherine Bishop, a woman Lindsey still resented.
    â€˜And Dominic?’
    Lindsey’s mouth tightened. ‘Nothing new on that front.’
    â€˜Meaning?’
    â€˜That he’s being as bloody un-tie-downable as ever.’
    Rona laughed. ‘That’s the second word you’ve invented in as many minutes!’
    Lindsey picked half-heartedly at her quiche. ‘Damn it, Ro, we’ve known each other for a year now, and we’ve never spent more than a couple of days together – and
that
was on the blasted boat, with his daughter.’
    Rona said carefully, ‘Well, you did know what you were getting into.’
    Dominic Frayne was a high-flying entrepreneur, twice divorced and with three grown-up children, whose name had been linked with several society women. Although Rona liked him, she was privately surprised that his relationship with her sister – on and off though it was – had lasted so long.
    â€˜And talking of his daughter,’ Lindsey went on indignantly, ‘when I suggested we might actually go on holiday together, he calmly announced he’s taking Olivia and the boys to Cyprus for a month in the summer – a
month
! – and can’t spare any more time off. Says it might be the last chance of a family holiday before Olivia gets married.’
    â€˜You’ll have to fall back on Hugh, then,’ Rona said lightly. After an acrimonious divorce some years ago, Lindsey’s ex-husband had tried repeatedly to re-establish their relationship, a fact that, during gaps in her love life, Lindsey had shamelessly exploited.
    â€˜Not so sure he’s available,’ she replied. ‘According to gossip, he’s been seen around town with a woman in tow.’
    â€˜Really? Who?’
    Lindsey shrugged. ‘No idea. Good luck to him.’
    Despite her offhand manner, Rona suspected her sister regarded Hugh as her private property, and would resent any intruder in his affections. For whatever reason, she was quick to change the subject.
    â€˜Doing anything this weekend?’
    â€˜We’re going to the Darcy this