When we listed the art and antiques in my mother’s house, we missed the beautiful early twentieth century picture of a red-haired girl walking through a walled garden. It was painted in oils by my great grandmother, and had been lost in a gap between the bedside table and the wall of my bedroom.

I disputed my sister S’s claim that the picture was hers. This was on the basis of (a) the main subject – a child who shared my colouring – and (b) its storage location. I was determined to take the picture home and hang it in my newly decorated spare bedroom. Unfortunately my sister would not drop her claim (and nor would I).

When I later saw my other sister J with the canvas in brown paper, I was furious. She told me that she was wasn’t taking it for herself, but had wrapped it for S. I grabbed the parcel and tore off the paper, only to find underneath a dirty oil painting of an eighteenth century scene. It was only then that I realised that J was on my side.