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the voice which answered. Can anyone else help
you?
Fran explained her mission. Oh, well, then, I m
afraid it will have to be Mr Meade. May I ask him to
ring you as soon as he gets in on Monday? asked the
voice.
Fran agreed, and gave her number. And now to
contain her soul in patience until Mr Meade got in
touch and put her out of her misery.
I m sure it must be a mistake of some kind, she
said to Libby, whom she called the minute she arrived
back at Harry s flat.
Of course it isn t, said Libby. It makes perfect
sense. You ve pieced togeth er all the information so
far, and this confirms it. Frank wanted you to have the
cottage, but he couldn t do that, because of its
connection with Eleanor s family, so he sold it and put
the money in trust for you. I expect he meant to give it
to you on your twenty-first birthday or something.
But it said not to be released until Eleanor s death,
said Fran.
Well, in that case, he probably thought she d kick
up a fuss and try and get it overturned or something
you know, doing her out of her just desserts.
I expect she would. After all, she would expect to
inherit everything from him, wouldn t she?
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And that s why he did it this way. Clever, I call it,
said Libby. I wonder how much it s worth now?
I don t suppose it s grown along with the property
prices, said Fran, so I d on t expect I ll have enough
to buy anywhere.
You could put down a deposit, though, couldn t
you?
Yes, but I m not likely to get a mortgage, am I?
I m self-employed, and only work intermittently.
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Oh, yes. But if you had it invested and it paid out
interest monthly, you could afford to get a better
rented place.
So I could, said Fran, much taken with this idea.
Who d know about that sort of thing?
It pains me to say it, but Paul Denver would, said
Libby. He might not be much cop as an estate agent,
but I expect he knows all about that sort of thing.
No, I m not telling him, said Fran, a decided note
in her voice. But I will go and see Barbara, and ask
her what she knows about Coastguard Cottage. I bet
she knows more than Charles.
Good idea, said Libby. Do you want any back-
up?
No, I ll be fine on my own, thanks, Lib.
Would you like to borrow Romeo, then?
Oh, Lib, I d love to! I wasn t sure how I d get
there, otherwise.
OK, then. When do you want to go?
I ll phone Barbara and see when it s convenient
and ring you back, said Fran, and, switching off the
phone, thought again how lucky she was to have
landed here with such lovely people.
Barbara, although obviously surprised to hear from
her, agreed to see her tomorrow morning, which suited
Fran, as, having come all the way down from London
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she didn t really feel like setting off again. Next, she
phoned Guy.
I m going to see Barbara Denver tomorrow
morning, she said. What s happening about the
sculpture?
Nothing, said Guy. We ve got it on hold. It s far
too over the top, anyway, so maybe she ll change her
mind.
As long as the sculptor doesn t mind, said Fran,
because it isn t Barbara s decision anyway, and I
think Charles would prefer not to have it. Eleanor was
an old cow, anyway.
So I gather, said Guy, sounding amused. So,
you ll be here tomorrow morning? How about lunch
after the devilish Barbara?
That would be nice, said Fran, feeling a bit hot
under the collar. But I shall have Libby s car, so I
won t be able to drink.
Libby, when she heard that Romeo would be out on
the following day, immediately rang Ben to ask for his
advice.
You see, she said, I want to buy a computer. I
told you, didn t I? But you haven t been around, so I
couldn t ask for your help.
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I m still not around, he said, so how can I help?
I thought I d come into Canterbury tomorrow, and
perhaps you could come with me to choose one? The
only thing is, I ve lent the car to Fran, so I ll have to
come in by bus.
You ve never seen the flat, have you? said Ben.
No, said Libby slowly.
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