Free Ursula's Secret by Mairi Wilson Page B

had no idea what they might be worth, or what to do about them, or even if she could do anything. A note on the lawyer’s summary cover sheet referenced them as ‘held in trust for RBM’, but she hadn’t been able to find any further reference to RBM in the folder. Who or what was RBM, and did this mean she’d become a trustee of some sort through this inheritance? Ursula’s inheritance, it seemed, came with responsibilities for someone, or something, Lexy didn’t know. But the lawyers would.
    She glanced at her watch. Time to go. She could phone Ms Hamilton later. She should probably let her know where she was staying in Malawi anyway. Perhaps their office here would have completed the summary of Ursula’s Malawi interests by now and Lexy could deal with them on that directly, although the thought of yet more lawyers and complexities didn’t fill her with cheer. Was this what death was all about, she thought bitterly, lawyers and “interests”? It seemed such a brutal way to package up a life, a loved one. She stood up quickly, snatched up her notebook and squared her shoulders. Stay focused. She had work to do, and right now, that meant an appointment with Dr Campbell of Blantyre Hospital.

6
Blantyre Hospital, June 8th
    The reception area was cool and calm. Lexy was impressed. She’d expected something noisier, busier, more like A&E on a television programme. But here, on a warm June afternoon, staff in pristine uniforms passed almost silently through the rows of benches and seats, collecting patients, returning them, handling their family and friends in reassuring, well-modulated tones. If all Malawi’s hospitals were like this, Lexy wondered why her parents had ever returned to the UK.
    “Miss Shaw?” An efficient-looking woman in a black skirt and glowing white blouse stood in front of her. “I’m Dr Campbell’s secretary. Audrey Lanakela.”
    “Pleased to meet you,” Lexy said as she rose and extended her hand.
    “And I you.” Audrey inclined her head, then led the way down wide, tiled corridors. “Dr Campbell’s in theatre, but he’ll be finished shortly. You can wait in his office.”
    As they walked, Audrey’s polite questions prompted Lexy to explain why she was here, where she’d come from and, Lexy realised, almost everything about the last few weeks of her life. Impressive. CID could learn a thing or two.
    They climbed a short staircase that opened onto a balcony running around an interior patio similar to that in Lexy’s hotel but more functional, and without the plants and soft lighting. Again, though, doors opened off each side of the rectangle and Audrey stopped in front of one bearing Dr Campbell’s name engraved on a brass plate that glimmered like gold.
    “Here we are. Please.” Audrey showed Lexy in and indicated one of two rattan sofas facing each other across a low coffee table. There was nothing on the glittering glass surface, not even a fingerprint as far as Lexy could see. In fact, there was nothing on any of the surfaces in the office.
    “Can I get you anything, Miss Shaw?”
    “No, thank you. I’m fine. It’s amazingly tidy in here.”
    Audrey beamed at the observation. “He’s hardly ever here, so it’s easy enough to keep things in order. Dr Campbell spends most of his non-clinical time in his research lab – and that’s a very different story. Overflowing with papers and equipment and goodness knows what. No one’s allowed to touch anything there – I believe it’s a dismissable offence even to try.”
    Realising it was expected of her, Lexy laughed. “That explains it. Because doctors are said to be the most untidy individuals on the planet, after all.”
    “I wouldn’t know. I’ve only ever worked for Dr Campbell.”
    “Really?”
    Was that a touch of reproval in Audrey’s voice? Had she thought Lexy was being critical or was it simply that humour was not to be reciprocated? Lexy decided to be cautious just in case. “I would say he’s very