Free The Ely Testament by Philip Gooden

would say, if it exists,’ said Mackenzie. ‘What we want to avoid is going to the Court of Probate, and having the intestacy business being broadcast everywhere.’
    He was thinking of the firm’s reputation. Tom nodded in agreement.
    â€˜We haven’t a great deal of time, either.’
    â€˜I’ll do my best, Mr Mackenzie.’
    But, privately, he didn’t believe there was much chance of success.

Dinner in Ely
    O n the evening of the day of Alexander Lye’s funeral to the north of London, there was a smallish dinner party at the house of Mr and Mrs Cyrus Chase some seventy miles away in Ely. Apart from the host and hostess, in attendance were the Reverend and Mrs Gordon Coffer, Mr and Mrs Frank Hardwick, Mr Charles Tomlinson and Miss Dora Selwyn. The reverend’s parish was in the city of Cambridge, so he and his wife were required to make the short journey by train to Ely, while the Hardwicks had to do no more than walk from the neighbouring street where they lived in order to spend the evening with the Chases. Frank Hardwick was a local brewer. Miss Selwyn was an ageing cousin of Mr Chase’s, useful to call on to make up numbers round the table. She, too, lived close by. And Mr Tomlinson? Well, Chase still wasn’t sure exactly where he lived or precisely what he did or where he came from, or sure of anything about him, really.
    The dinner party was being held mostly at the urging of Chase’s wife, Bella. She’d been in earnest about her wish to see Tomlinson again and soon, after his last visit to inspect Cyrus’ ‘apparatus’. She badgered her husband to invite him, so Cyrus, who was afraid of displeasing his wife for too long, thought up the plan of inviting Tomlinson along with several other guests who might somehow muffle the Tomlinson effect. The Tomlinson effect on his wife, that was. Also, he now found the prospect of seeing Charles to be alarming rather than enjoyable, so he considered it would be better to have company. As usual, when he wanted to communicate with Mr Tomlinson, he left a note at the Lion Hotel and received a reply within twenty-four hours.
    As for the other guests, Chase invited the Reverend Coffer and his wife because they were church people, and so might have a restraining influence on Tomlinson, and because Gordon Coffer was well disposed towards his researches into security coffins. The Hardwicks were old acquaintances and neighbours, while his cousin Miss Dora could always be summoned at the last moment.
    Cyrus Chase hoped that he had set things up to go as smoothly as possible at the dinner table. But the first surprise, a very disconcerting one, was that the Reverend Coffer and his wife already knew Charles Tomlinson. Not only did they know him, but they were distantly related, second cousins or something like that. In addition, Tomlinson had recently renewed his acquaintance with the daughter of the Coffers, who lived near Ely. Well, this was a bit of a facer for old Cyrus, but he put a good front on things.
    The Coffers and Tomlinson greeted each other warmly. Although Mrs Coffer was getting on in years, Tomlinson showed towards her – second cousin or whatever she was – almost the same degree of insinuating gallantry he showed towards Bella. Even Coffer, who tended to be rather grim-faced, was pleased to see Tomlinson. The gentleman was nearly as attentive to the mousy Mrs Hardwick. Only against cousin Dora did his charms seem useless. She peered at him quizzically and simply said ‘I expect so’ to the two or three remarks he addressed to her, whether her response made sense or not.
    Then things went wrong with the placement or seating. Cyrus thought he had arranged it so that Tomlinson was near him and instead the fellow ended up next to Bella in the seat where Coffer ought to have been. Cyrus spent much of the meal with his eyes darting towards the other end of the table for signs of over-familiarity.