He was intrigued by the letters he and Kezzie had found and wondered if his mother could shed more light on them. ‘I’ve never seen any of this before,’ his mother said, as she read through them. ‘But Connie always kept things close to her chest. I had no idea she’d hidden all this stuff away. I presume it was her; everything’s labelled in her writing. And from what I remember of her, she did rather see herself as the guardian of the family honour. Mother always said there were hidden secrets here.’ ‘I wonder why she didn’t destroy all this, then,’ said Joel. ‘She was very close to her father,’ said Mum. ‘Perhaps she couldn’t bear to.’ ‘So what actually happened to Lily? How did she die?’ ‘Well, I know she drowned, but apart from that nothing. There was always some great secret about her death. Everyone referred to her in hushed tones, if at all.’ ‘What about Edward? What happened to him after wards?’ ‘I think he became quite reclusive,’ said his mother.
