‘You heard what I said his children claimed?’ Oldwater asked.
‘That he’d found a calling to do missionary work in Africa?’
‘That’s it.’
‘Did you buy it?’ Poe asked.
‘I didn’t then and I don’t now,’ Oldwater replied.
‘Didn’t they say he died of malaria or something?’
‘Dengue fever. And there was never any proof.’
‘But his assets were released by the courts.’
‘They were.’ Oldwater sighed. ‘Look, you have to see it from the children’s point of view. Their father had disappeared and there was a lot of money in the bank. A police investigation couldn’t prove it was ill-gotten and, by rights, the law of intestacy applied. His wife had already died so the money would pass to them as soon as he was declared dead.’
‘So they faked it?’
‘Hard to say. Records indicate that the children got it rough at school when the press went after him. Perhaps it wasn’t surprising they came up with a story that explained his disappearance. I don’t know if they were thinking as far ahead as getting access to his money.’
‘You think they hid his passport and chequebook?’
‘They might have. And once they’d lied, they had no choice but to stick with it.’
It would be unusual for three children to keep a lie going when being questioned by the police. More likely one of them had, and then lied to the other two.
‘I’ve read all the statements they made,’ Oldwater continued, ‘and they were very careful to avoid saying he had left the country. Rather they said they thought he’d left the country.’
‘And telling the police what you think isn’t a crime,’ Poe finished. ‘What about the dengue fever, though? Surely that could be checked?’
‘A lot of Christian missionaries go to Africa and a lot of them don’t come back. War, crime and disease are the big three,’ Oldwater explained. ‘But if the children were making it up, they were clever.’
‘How so?’
‘Do you know what dengue fever is, Detective Sergeant Poe?’
He shook his head.
‘Well, you only need to know two things. It’s an awful way to die and it’s highly contagious. In Africa, in those days, anyone who succumbed to a disease like that was immediately cremated.’
‘So—’
‘So all they needed was a record of an unidentified white male of the right age dying, and they could begin campaigning to have him declared dead. Records out in Africa, particularly in war zones, are virtually non-existent.’
Poe said nothing.
‘And don’t forget, by that time he’d been missing for years. They applied to the courts, showed some circumstantial evidence, and in 2007 they got a death certificate. The estate was then theirs to do with as they wanted.’
‘So what, they just squandered it?’
‘Oh, no, nothing like that.’
‘What then?’
Oldwater seemed to be coming to some sort of decision. ‘You don’t strike me as the kind of man who lets things go easily, Sergeant Poe.’
‘It’s not one of my strong points, Nicholas,’ Poe admitted.