Jane had taken out her notebook and was writing as fast as she could. She looked up. ‘That would be Beatrice?’
Hadley nodded. ‘Yes, Beatrice. Helena wanted me to forward money to her sister as she had been left a widow with two young sons.’
There was a long pause as Hadley sat with his head resting back on the Chesterfield sofa. Jane coughed gently and he opened his eyes.
‘It was rather a surprise to discover that Helena Lanark was an exceedingly wealthy woman. She had substantial shares in a variety of companies and numerous bank accounts. She owned her small cottage in Totnes, as well as the substantial property in Stockwell. And yet she lived so frugally. I couldn’t understand it.’
Jane raised her hand to interrupt him. ‘Could you give me an estimate of her wealth?’
He pursed his lips. ‘Oh, it ran into many millions, if you include the property in Stockwell, which she eventually told me had been her family home. She made it clear to me that she did not want to sell it, and it was to remain uninhabited. When I pointed out that this was rather illogical, given the size of the house and the extensive gardens which were all being left unattended, she simply said that was what she wanted.’
Jane took some more notes, then looked back up at Hadley. ‘So, these payments to her family in Australia, were they frequent?’
He nodded. ‘I have to admit, Detective Tennison, I became concerned because she had apparently been parting with very large amounts of money over a lengthy period, even before she came to see me. Then her nephew, Jason Thorpe, began calling me personally. I had sent them a letter, without Helena’s knowledge, saying that I was concerned about the amount of money being forwarded to them. I also informed him that Helena’s health was deteriorating. Jason then suggested that he should be given power of attorney. He also had the audacity to suggest that Helena’s legal representation should be reviewed.’
There was another long pause before Hadley shrugged his shoulders. ‘He had a meeting with Helena and myself and she agreed he should have power of attorney, although there were some legal provisions attached. So there you have it.’
‘Mr Hadley, do you believe that there may have been blackmail involved?’
Hadley’s response was startling because he gave a rather loud, barking laugh.
‘Of course, there was! But Helena never told me what it was about. I suspected something was not right because she always seemed tense and angry when dealing with her family, but I could do nothing. She was adamant they should continue to get the money and, although you saw her in a very frail state, she was an astute businesswoman. She gave large sums of money to her sister and her nephew, but she attached a caveat which gave her the right to oversee her nephew’s wine import business. She asked me to take care of her other financial investments and I hoped the payments to Australia were ultimately loans that would be paid back when his business became successful.’
He smiled wryly.
‘She found Jason to be very much a showman when it came to his business. The company addresses on his business cards were Wall Street, Mayfair and Hong Kong, even though the only office he actually had was a small rented room above a garage in Queen’s Gate Mews.’
‘Did you have any inkling at all why she was being blackmailed?’
Hadley shook his head. ‘Helena refused to talk about it, saying that it was a family matter and none of my concern. But she clearly felt it necessary to keep her sister happy, and preferably on the other side of the world.’
‘How did Helena react when she discovered Jason Thorpe wanted to sell the Stockwell property?’
‘Initially he didn’t want to sell it; dividing it into four different apartments and renting them out would be more lucrative in the long term. At first Helena said that couldn’t happen, but with his persistence, and maybe even my encouragement, she eventually agreed — as long as the basement was not to be occupied and the rear garden never to be used by the tenants.’
‘Do you know if Helena ever went to the property?’
He shook his head sadly. ‘That would’ve been rather difficult.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘By this time Helena was suffering from severe osteoarthritis in both legs and was virtually confined to a wheelchair. Her nephew hired the company that did the renovations, but years later, due to mismanagement and poor maintenance, he had no option but to sell the house to developers who were proposing to demolish it and build a large block of flats in its place.’
‘And Helena knew about this?’ Jane asked.
‘I did inform her of Jason’s intentions but I’m afraid that by this time Helena had early onset dementia and often could not recall owning the property, or ever having lived there. At times she didn’t even know who I was. I contacted Jason some time later and suggested that Helena needed to go into a care home. Anyway, as you know, there were extensive and costly delays to the demolition work and the development company began to hesitate about the deal going through. Jason was very concerned.’
‘That could explain why he eventually sold the property below market value,’ Jane surmised.
‘Yes, I suppose so... he’s a sly one, is Jason. He’s always got an answer when you challenge his actions. I still find it odd that he never told me about the company shares he acquired.’
‘He’d probably say he bought them for Helena’s benefit, in an effort to recoup financial losses from the sale, which as her representative with power of attorney is his prerogative.’
Hadley sighed as he nodded in agreement. Jane didn’t feel the need to pursue the matter any further and closed her notebook.
‘I can’t thank you enough, Mr Hadley. You really have been very helpful. As you know, it was the events in the shelter that led me to go and see Helena. Whilst I was in Australia, Beatrice told me that the baby whose body we uncovered had been born to her other sister Marjorie.’
‘Yes, I knew Marjorie had taken her own life, but Helena never spoke of it.’
‘I believe Marjorie was terrified their father would find out she was pregnant. Helena buried the baby in the shelter, which is probably the reason she would never go back to the house.’
Hadley shrugged his shoulders. ‘Surely this is all supposition? Marjorie committed suicide, Helena can’t confirm any of these accusations, and Beatrice is clearly untrustworthy. Helena used to say that Beatrice took after their mother. I don’t believe that Helena could ever have done such a terrible thing.’
Jane stood up. ‘Well, we may never know the whole truth, but there’s no doubt Helena was her father’s sole heir after Marjorie killed herself. Helena and her father must have been close.’
Hadley nodded. ‘I know that she cared for him during his last years, when he was very ill. She adored him, I think. Why she chose to move from London to Devon and live such a frugal life, she never discussed with me, but it was fortunate for me, because that was how we met.’
‘And then, it seems, Jason and his mother started blackmailing her. I have to say, I found Jason an extremely unpleasant man.’