‘Did she really make Amy get a bus home?’
Barnes glanced across to where Laura was frowning at her phone screen, then back to the road.
A blue motorway sign flashed past, and he eased off the accelerator, swinging into the left lane and taking the exit for Aylesford.
‘Well, she told her to make her own way home. I’m guessing she must’ve either waited for a bus, or taken a taxi.’ Laura grinned. ‘You should’ve seen her face when I showed her the door. It’d started raining by then, too.’
‘It sounds as if it’s almost worth my while asking Hughes to show me the security camera footage from the front desk.’
‘I thought Kay was going to strangle Amy when she confessed that she’d made it up about the domestic violence. Even I was scared.’
‘Just as well we’re out of the way for a while. At least by the time we get back for this afternoon’s briefing she might’ve calmed down.’ Barnes shook his head. ‘There isn’t much that can piss her off, but that certainly would. Right, where does Thorngrove’s boss live? Second left up here, isn’t it?’
‘Uh-huh. Then look out for a willow tree, he said. Apparently his house is along a track to the right of that. And he said don’t worry about the dog that’s usually roaming around – apparently it’s old and doesn’t have many teeth left.’
‘Good to know,’ Barnes murmured. He noticed the sign before he spotted the track, its faded black lettering almost lost to time against a white-washed wooden background, and gave a surprised grunt. ‘I didn’t realise he lived in a caravan park.’
‘Apparently he owns one of the chalets, not a caravan. Number seventeen – go left after we pass through the gate down here.’
He slowed to match the hand-painted speed limit sign to their left and took in the well-maintained flower borders that edged against the track, nodding to an elderly couple who held up their hands in greeting when they passed.
‘Friendly place.’
‘Quiet, too.’ Laura unclipped her seatbelt as Barnes parked outside a bright blue chalet. ‘Not sure I could cope with that colour first thing in the morning though. Reminds me of a beach hut.’
The ground shook when Barnes climbed out, and then a train flashed past the row of conifers behind the chalet, their branches bowing in its wake.
He snorted. ‘So much for being quiet.’
‘You get used to it.’
He turned to see a man in his fifties leaning on a wooden rail that ran the width of the small house, its raised position forming a shallow deck above the two parking bays.
The man smiled, straightening when they reached the three steps leading up to the front door.
‘I presume you’re Detective Barnes.’ He held out a hand. ‘Gerry Harlington.’
‘Thanks for seeing us at short notice. And on a Sunday.’
Laura introduced herself, then Harlington grimaced.
‘Least I could do in the circumstances. I wondered if something bad had happened to Dale when he didn’t show up for work yesterday. I couldn’t get an answer on his phone when I tried that.’
‘Not Thursday or Friday?’ asked Barnes while Harlington guided them through a sliding patio door and into a narrow living room.
‘He asked for some time off when we finished on Tuesday. Said he had some personal stuff to sort out.’ He sighed. ‘I assumed he meant with his ex-wife. You know they were getting divorced?’
Barnes caught Laura’s warning look, and reckoned the memory of Kay’s reaction to Thorngrove’s marital issues was still raw, despite her light-hearted comments. He cleared his throat.
‘We had heard they were having some issues, yes.’
‘Amy was the issue. Honestly, the woman was a nightmare.’ He rolled his eyes, then moved across to a small kitchenette at the back of the chalet and held up a kettle. ‘Want a brew?’
‘No, we’re good thanks.’ Barnes put his hands in his pockets and peered at a series of framed photographs on the wall above a well-used armchair. In each, a motorbike had been captured leaning into a corner, the speed evidenced by the blurred background and the rider dressed in bright racing colours. ‘Is this you?’
Harlington looked over and paused mashing a tea bag against the side of a mug. ‘A whole other lifetime ago. Well, about thirty years at least.’
‘Was this at Brands Hatch?’
‘It was.’
‘How come you went from that to running a garage?’ Barnes joined Laura beside a metal fold-out picnic table and took a seat as Harlington joined them.
‘There’s only so many times you go sliding across a racetrack on your arse before you realise you don’t bounce as well as you used to,’ he said with a rueful smile. ‘I did all right out of the race wins over the years, and picked up some sponsors so when I quit, I started up the tyre place. The servicing side of things happened by accident, and before I knew it I had four blokes working for me.’
‘Any problems with Dale while he’d been with you?’ said Laura.
‘None at all. He’s been reliable.’ Harlington paused to slurp his tea. ‘He was trustworthy, and good with customers too. The sort of bloke you could leave in charge for a few days if you wanted a break. I’m going to bloody miss him.’
Barnes gave the man a moment, before turning his attention to the task at hand. ‘Did he seem worried, or perhaps preoccupied, on Wednesday?’
‘Not really. We were busy though. He’d asked for a couple of days off and although I’ve got the other three working for me, one of them’s still an apprentice. Dale wanted to make sure he got a couple of servicing jobs out of the way and an MOT so we had a few less things to worry about while he was off.’ He tapped his fingers against the side of the mug. ‘We were too busy for me to notice if anything was on his mind. I feel bad about that now.’
‘Was he the sort of person who would tell you if he did have something on his mind?’ said Laura.
‘Depends what was bothering him I suppose. I mean, he didn’t talk about the ex-wife much, or the divorce. I got the impression he was embarrassed about it to be honest.’
‘Was he acting out of character, or on his phone more than usual perhaps?’ Barnes asked.
Harlington sat back in his chair, his gaze moving to the photographs on the wall.
‘There was one phone call now you mention it,’ he said eventually. ‘Monday morning – it would’ve been about half ten because Sam – that’s the apprentice – was helping with a delivery that had just arrived. Dale’s phone went off, and he took one look at the screen and went outside to answer it.’
‘Do you think it was his ex-wife?’
‘No, because I stuck my head out the door after ten minutes to tell him I needed him to finish an MOT inspection before the customer came back, and he was pacing the forecourt and yelling at whoever was on the other end.’
‘Can you remember what he was saying?’
Harlington nodded. ‘Only because it was out of character for him, mind. I don’t make a habit of eavesdropping on my staff. Like I said, it’s all about trust.’
‘Understood. What did he say?’
‘He stopped yelling when he saw me, but there must’ve been a lull in the traffic going past, because I definitely heard him say “you’re going to pay for this”.’
Barnes looked up from his notebook. ‘Were those his exact words?
‘Yes.’
‘In that case, Mr Harlington, I’d like to interview the rest of your staff. Today.’