Page 111 of Murder in the Family

(flushing slightly)

Like I said, she wanted me to have them. She said she didn’t have any daughters or granddaughters and I was the nearest thing. It was all above board. The lawyer did it in the will. Look, I hope you’re not suggesting—

HUGO FRASER – off

No, no, I’m not suggesting anything. I’m sure youwerelike a granddaughter to her.

SYLVIA CARROLL

(still looking wary)

I was, actually. I looked out for her. No one else was, that’s for sure.

HUGO FRASER – off

So no one else visited, then? No one else in the family?

SYLVIA CARROLL

When I first started at Lakeside she told me that she didn’t have any family. That was why it was such a big surprise when that Luke turned up.

HUGO FRASER – off

Luke?

SYLVIA CARROLL

You know, the grandson. The one that got killed. You must remember him. It was in all the papers.

HUGO FRASER – off

You met him?

SYLVIA CARROLL

(smiling)

Of course I met him. I was there the first time he came. He’d written beforehand saying he wanted to come and was that OK, but the manager was deffo a bit wary at first. You know, people turning up out of the blue and claiming to be long-lost rellies, it isn’t always legit. But he was. The lawyer checked him out.

HUGO FRASER – off

Mrs Ryder’s lawyer?

SYLVIA CARROLL

Mr Hepworth, yes. He wanted her to make Luke take a DNA test as well but she refused. Said the passport and stuff was enough. That demanding a DNA test would make Luke think she didn’t believe him. That he’d be insulted.

HUGO FRASER – off

Interesting. And I’m guessing it came as quite a shock. For Mrs Ryder, I mean – him turning up like that after all those years.

SYLVIA CARROLL

I know. I remember overhearing him saying as much to the manager. How he’d wondered initially whether it was the right thing to do, and the last thing he wanted was to cause Flo any distress. That was so like him – always worrying about other people.

HUGO FRASER – off

So you liked him?

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