Jennifer glanced up as she heard the front door open and close, followed by a cheery greeting.

"Darling, I’m home!"

"In here, Darling!" Jennifer stood up as Jonathan entered the room and enveloped him in a crushing embrace.

Jonathan could tell that there was something wrong straight away. "What’s happened? Is it the girls? Are they sick?"

Jennifer gazed up at him. "I’ve been reading the Police Report on your father’s death…I don’t think it was an accident!"

Jonathan poured over the contents of the Police Report, stopping periodically to blink back the tears forming in his eyes. He managed to control his emotions until he saw the autopsy photographs of his father. Gazing at the handsome face which so closely resembled his, tears began to stream down his face.

Jennifer held him as he grieved for his father, whispering softly and soothingly to him. "Darling, I love you, Louise loves you and Suzanne loves you. We’re your family and we’ll always be here for you!"

Jennifer climbed into the front seat of the Mercedes Estate and glanced over her shoulder at the twins, who were strapped securely in the back seat. They were awake and alert, gurgling contentedly at their mother, who was pulling funny faces at them.

Drew Jennings smiled to himself as he watched the silver Mercedes glide through the open gates of the Hart house onto the highway.

Jennings kept a discreet distance as he followed Jennifer through the traffic filled streets of LA. After half an hour, the Mercedes entered the underground carpark in the Hart Industries building.

Jennifer opened the back door of the car and leaned inside.

"Come on girls, let’s go and say hi to Daddy!"

"Mrs Hart?"

Jennifer straightened up and turned in the direction of the voice. Jennings was standing a few feet away, pointing a small handgun at her. She knew she had to protect her daughters at all costs, so she tried her best to stay calm.

"Who are you…what do you want?"

Jennings smiled. "A friend of mine wants your husband to stop digging into his past!"

Jennifer’s hand slid discreetly into her purse, where it quickly connected with a small can of hairspray. She removed her hand, with the spray concealed in it, and waited for her moment.

Jennings looked her up and down appraisingly. "I think we should get to know each other better…we have plenty of time!"

With lightning speed, Jennifer raised her hand and pressed the top of the can, directing a jet of spray into Jennings’ eyes. He let out a cry of pain and fell to his knees. Jennifer grabbed her two daughters, still strapped into their baby seats, and ran for the nearest entrance to the building.

Emerging into the lobby, Jennifer ran to the bank of elevators and frantically pressed every button she could find. Within moments, the doors of one elevator opened and Jennifer staggered, exhausted, inside, sagging against the metallic wall behind her. She watched as the doors began to close and breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, a hand appeared, pushing the doors open just enough to allow Jennings through.

Facing Jennifer, he pointed the gun at her. "I’m going to kill you right now…then I’ll kill your daughters!"

Jennifer’s eyes widened in terror. "No…please!"

At that moment, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Stanley Frieson stepped in, carrying a pile of papers.

"Hello Mrs Hart, I haven’t seen you for a while!"

Jennifer smiled weakly. "These two little ones have been keeping me busy!"

Jennings stared in amazement at Stanley, who was oblivious to the danger he was in.

The elevator stopped again and Jennifer saw her chance to escape. "This is where I get off!"

Stanley stood back to allow her to pass. Calmly, Jennifer exited the elevator, too terrified to check if Jennings was following her.

Jennings tried to get past Stanley, who tripped and dropped his pile of papers.

"I’m really sorry…I’m such a klutz…my mother says I inherited it from my father…he was a klutz to!"

By the time Jennings had managed to extricate himself from Stanley, Jennifer was safely in another elevator on the way up to Jonathan’s office.

Jonathan glanced up as the door to his office flew open and Jennifer appeared, sobbing and incoherent.

"Darling, what’s wrong?"

"He’s got a gun…he tried to hurt us…he’s in the building!"

Jonathan placed he daughters, in their baby seats, on his desk, and took Jennifer in his arms.

"It’s OK…you’re safe now…all three of you!"

Jonathan placed a protective arm around his wife as they sat together in Lieutenant Giordano’s office. The man himself was sitting at an old wooden desk, on the end of which stood a state of the art computer terminal.

Lt Giordano smiled at Jennifer. "There’s a law enforcement database stored on this computer, which includes photographs of a large number of criminals. I’d like you to take a look at the photos to see if you recognise the man who attacked you today."

Jennifer sat in front of the computer, watching intently as a series of photographs flashed onto the screen. She’d spent the last hour studying photos from the law enforcement database. She was hoping to recognise the face of her attacker, but was having no luck. She was on the verge of giving up until Drew Jennings’ face suddenly appeared.

Glancing at Jonathan and Lt Giordano, she said in a clear, unwavering voice, "That’s him!"

Lt Giordano turned the computer screen around so that he could see it. "This man’s name is Drew Jennings, aka ‘Jinks’. He’s a known associate of Owen Grant!"

Jonathan stood up, barely surpressing his anger. "I knew Grant was involved in this! Lieutenant, I want you to get that piece of scum…If you don’t, I will!"

Lt Giordano tried to placate Jonathan. "Look, I’ll interview Grant, but for now that’s all I can do!"

Jonathan was in no mood to be placated. "Owen Grant sent that Neanderthal Jennings to kill my wife and daughters! His father destroyed my father’s family…I won’t let him destroy mine!"

Jennifer slid Jonathan’s pyjama top over her head and pulled it down so that the hem skimmed the tops of her legs. Picking up a bottle of hand cream, she squeezed a small amount into the palm of one hand and, after placing the bottle back on her dressing table, she rubbed the cream into her skin. She was still doing it at she entered the bedroom, where Jonathan was already in bed. He looked deep in thought.

"Darling, what’s the matter?"

Jonathan glanced up at her and smiled weakly. "I’ve been thinking…maybe we should stop delving into my past!"

Jennifer pulled back the quilt and climbed into bed next to him. "Darling, Owen Grant tried to have the girls and I killed today!"

He reached for her, burying his face in her auburn curls as she lay with her head on his chest.

"I don’t want to put my family at risk again…you mean too much to me!"

Jennifer gazed up at him. "Maybe we should discuss this in the morning, when we’ve slept on it!"

Jonathan nodded. "OK…but what are we going to do now?"

Jennifer climbed on top of him, removing the pyjama top as she eased herself into position.

Jonathan encircled his arms around her waist. "Are you sure you’re up to this?"

She leaned close to him, giving him a 100-megawatt smile. "Fasten your seatbelt Mr Hart, you’re in for a bumpy ride!"

Jonathan, dressed for business in a pale blue shirt, dark blue trousers and a matching silk tie, was trying to fasten the sticky tabs on Louise’s diaper. She was kicking and squirming, making the task even harder than usual.

Jennifer was seated at the kitchen table, with Suzanne nestled in her arms. The top two buttons of Jennifer’s blouse were unfastened, allowing Suzanne free access to her breakfast.

The intercom buzzed, alerting the Harts to the fact that they had a visitor. Louise momentarily stopped squirming and Suzanne released her vice-like grip on her mother’s breast. Jonathan picked Louise up and walked across to the wall-mounted speaker.

"Hello, can I help you?"

"This is Lt Giordano…I have something here that I think you should see!"

Jonathan, still holding Louise, led Lt Giordano into the kitchen where Jennifer was now gently winding Suzanne. Lt Giordano placed an old, battered suitcase on the table and opened it.

"Mr and Mrs Hart, I sent some of my men to search through Owen Grant’s belongings yesterday. They found this case…it belonged to your father, Mr Hart!"

Jonathan leaned over the case and began to examine the contents. There was a small box containing a selection of cufflinks, a gold fob watch with a chain, a pile of letters tied with a ribbon and a framed photograph of Jonathan’s mother.

Jonathan picked up the pile of letters and unfastened the ribbon. They were love letters from his mother, containing words of love and passion. At the bottom of the pile, Jonathan discovered a letter, which was unopened. He was about to bundle it back up with the others when he noticed that the handwriting on the envelope was different. His hand began to shake when he read the two words written clearly on the front of the envelope:

TO JONATHAN

Jonathan opened the envelope and in his rich, clear voice, began to read aloud:

Jonathan placed the letter on the table in front of him and gently took Jennifer’s hand in his.

"I think we’d better show this to my mother!"

Pearl gazed at the familiar handwriting on the letter. "Charlie was right! He said that Frank made another Will…that he made sure Jonathan and I were well provided for!"

Ellie nodded. "Charlie looked all over for that Will! It broke his heart when he couldn’t find it!"

Rose smiled brightly. "I know where we can find it!"

Jonathan sat opposite her. "We know it’s attached to the back of my father’s portrait, but we don’t know what happened to the portrait!"

Rose leaned close to him. "After Frank’s funeral, I took the liberty of helping myself to a few of his personal effects. I wanted to make sure that you and your mother had something to remind you of him! One of the things I took was the portrait…right now it’s safely stored away in the attic of my house!"

Two days later, everyone converged on the Hart house to await an extra special delivery. Rose had contacted her daughter and arranged to have the painting Fed-Ex’d from San Francisco.

Jennifer, Pearl and Rose were fussing over Suzanne and Louise, while Lt Giordano and Ellie took turns to act as official photographer. Jonathan periodically joined in the fun, but his mind kept returning to his father. Soon, he might have evidence, which pointed to a strong motive for Franklin Hart’s murder.

Everyone froze when the intercom buzzed loudly.

Jonathan walked over to the speaker and pressed a button. "Hello…can I help you?"

"I’m from Federal Express, sir. I have a delivery for Mr Hart!"

Jonathan opened the front door as the young man climbed out of his vehicle, clutching a large package. Jonathan thanked him and tipped him generously before returning inside, clutching the large, flat box which contained his father’s portrait, and possibly his Will.

Jonathan opened the lid of the box, to reveal an object wrapped in what looked like a bedsheet. With trembling hands, he carefully unwrapped the object and laid it on the dining table so that everyone could see it.

The painting was large, almost covering the table. It depicted Franklin Hart, wearing a smart grey suit, sitting behind the desk in his study.

Rose laughed. "Frank never wanted to have his portrait painted…that was his wife’s idea! Jane was such a snob! He only went along with it to keep the peace, although he did manage to inject some humour into the situation!"

Rose pointed to a picture on the wall behind Franklin’s left shoulder. It was of a red haired woman, cradling a baby in her arms. "Frank decided that he was going to have Pearl and Jonathan included in the portrait…it was his way of quietly rebelling against his wife! The funny thing about it was that Jane had this painting hanging in her home for three months before Frank’s death and, in all that time, she never realised that Pearl and Jonathan appeared in it!"

Jonathan turned the painting over and examined the back. There was no sign of the missing Will.

Lt Giordano took a penknife from his pocket. "I think I know what’s going on here!"

Before anyone could stop him, he slipped the blade in between the back of the portrait and the frame. Quickly, he sliced through the backing and lifted off the entire panel.

"As I thought…false back!"

Lt Giordano’s impromptu surgery revealed the picture’s real backing, complete with a thick piece of string for hanging. Stuck to the panel was a brown envelope with three words neatly written on it.

LAST WILL AND TESTEMENT

Jonathan carefully took the envelope from its hiding-place and opened it, reading the contents aloud.