Fatal Legacy Read Free

could have no realistic expectations of an inheritance, given the unpopularity of his mother’s elopement with a travelling salesman thirty-two years before. Even though she had once been his uncle’s favourite sister, she had never been forgiven, and now that she was dead, even old memories would count for nothing.
    ‘ To Colin Wainwright-McAdam, my brother-in-law, an income of ten thousand pounds whilst he lives, together with a lifetime interest in Manor Cottage, in recognition of his fondness for my Sussex estate .’
    Colin turned purple and Julia bone white. Her dreams of local patronage and committee chairmanships finally withered. At the very least they had expected the Sussex estate; enough hints had been dropped over the years. Julia couldn’t even remember what Manor Cottage looked like. Colin could, and recognised it for the insult it was.
    All eyes turned to Graham, who was lounging back casually, stroking Jenny’s left thigh as she sat behind him. Jenny grinned at Alexander sitting next to her but otherwise appeared completely unaffected by it all.
    ‘ To my son Graham, I leave half of the remainder of my estate as detailed in Annex I dated the thirty-first of December, and including the lodge in Scotland, half of the valuation of the Wainwright Family Trust and the works of art he chooses from Wainwright Hall to the value of thirty thousand pounds .’
    Graham scowled. He had expected the lot, however much it was, and he waited with barely contained anger to learn the name of whatever charity it was that he assumed would receive the rest of his father’s legacy.
    ‘How much is the Wainwright Family Trust worth?’ he cut across Kemp. The solicitor merely pulled a computer printout from a file by his side.
    ‘The valuation of half of the trust at the end of the last quarter was £7,567,308. I have estimated the total value of your portion of the estate to be just over fifteen million.’
    The atmosphere in the room became frigid as Alan’s brother-in -law and sister finally realised the enormity of the insult that had been handed down to them. There was silence for a moment,then a verbal storm erupted from Colin, Julia and their children.
    ‘How could he do this?’
    ‘He must have been mad.’
    ‘The gall of the man!’
    ‘This is just bloody stupid.’
    ‘Don’t swear, Colin, please. The least we can do is behave in a civilised manner. Anyway, we will need to consider contesting the will.’ Julia’s cool, carefully structured tones cut through the raised voices and there was a moment’s calm as eight very angry people considered the potential revenge of a court battle.
    Kemp spoke into the silence. ‘There are further bequests, for the Wainwright-McAdam children.’
    ‘You mean he’s given the other half of his estate to them?’ Colin sounded appalled, but his daughters were silent at once. ‘Get on with it then, let’s hear the worst.’
    ‘Your brother-in-law left specific instructions as to the order in which the will was to be read.’ Kemp cleared his throat and continued. ‘ For my nieces, the children of my sister Julia Wainwright-McAdam, thirty thousand pounds each and their choice of jewellery or furniture to the value of two thousand five hundred pounds each from Wainwright Hall .’
    ‘Then where’s the other fifteen million gone?’ Julia asked indignantly. ‘Oh God, he hasn’t gone and given it all to charity, has he? If he has, I tell you, he was not of sound mind! He never gave to charity in his life.’
    Jeremy Kemp continued as if she hadn’t spoken. ‘ And finally, I leave the remainder of my estate, goods and chattels as set out in Annex II attached, but explicitly including Wainwright Hall, its contents save those that have been bequeathed elsewhere, my estate in the Caribbean as set out in the deeds attached hereto, and the residual half of the value in the Wainwright Family Trust, to my nephew, Alexander Wainwright-Smith, and his wife Sally, as joint