‘The name doesn’t sound familiar,’ Caroline said, as she held the phone to her ear with her shoulder, simultaneously attempting to stir a pan of pasta.
‘Either way, that wasn’t the weirdest bit,’ Dexter replied at the other end of the phone. ‘Why’s a guy with a house like his doing factory work on minimum wage?’
‘I don’t know. Did you ask him? Maybe he’s staying with family, or he might be renting a room.’
Dexter made a noise of disagreement. ‘Nah, I don’t think so. Call it intuition if you like, but there was something not right. The whole thing just seemed really suspicious. At first his story was that he was checking to see if Fletcher was alright, and then it was that he was worried about his job and wanted to find out what was going to happen. I mean, you send an email or make a phone call, don’t you? You don’t just pop round to the boss’s house of an evening and start skulking around in his back garden.’
‘True. Any previous to his name?’
‘Not checked yet. That’ll be the next step. Just thought I’d report back and let you know.’
‘And Fletcher wasn’t in?’ Caroline asked.
‘Nope. I did a thorough check of the property once Barton had gone. Nothing suspicious or out of place — just looks like he’s not home.’
Caroline moved the pan off the hob and switched off the gas.
‘Alright, Dex. I’ll give Fletcher a call and check everything’s okay. Last thing we need is him going AWOL, especially if he knows something.’
A few moments later, Caroline called Alistair Fletcher, who answered the phone after only two rings. At first, she thought he was drunk or had fallen asleep, but it soon dawned on her that he was merely distracted and somewhat sombre.
‘Hello?’ he slurred at the other end of the line.
‘Mr Fletcher? It’s DI Hills from Rutland Police. Is everything okay?’
‘Mmmm. Yeah. What’s up?’
‘One of our officers popped by to see you at home. He said there was no sign of anybody in the house, so I wanted to check you were alright.’
A momentary pause — just enough for Caroline to notice.
‘Oh. Yeah. Sorry. I’m not home. I’m at work, going over some papers.’
‘I see. Anything important?’
There was a loud sigh at the other end of the phone. ‘Yeah. I’m trying to work out how long we might have, and when I’m going to need to pull the plug and put the company into liquidation. Last thing we want is to not be able to pay people.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that. How’s it looking?’
‘So so. Not ideal. Either way, I don’t see how the company can continue if I’m likely to end up with a prison sentence.’
There was something in Fletcher’s voice that sounded off. She couldn’t be certain what it was, but she got the sense he hadn’t resigned himself to bankruptcy and ruin in quite the way he made out.
Caroline wasn’t sure whether it was an uneasy concern for Fletcher’s welfare or a sense that he might be ready to talk, but she felt compelled to visit him. She was a big believer in face-to-face discussion, and it hadn’t let her down yet. Was he ready to talk? Was there a plea bargain to be done? She didn’t know, but she needed to find out.
‘Sorry if this sounds a bit random,’ she asked, ‘but do you have a chap by the name of Fred Barton working for you?’
She could almost hear the intake of breath at the other end of the phone, although she didn’t quite know what it meant.
‘Yes. Why?’
‘I was just wondering. When my colleague went to your house earlier, he found Mr Barton there. He said he’d come to see how you were doing, and to find out if his job was safe. I wondered if that struck you as normal or not.’
There was a momentary silence. ‘I don’t see anything wrong with it,’ Fletcher answered, unconvincingly.
By now, Caroline was certain something was amiss.
‘Would it be alright if I popped into the office on my way home?’ she asked. ‘There’s a couple of things I’d like to go through with you.’
Fletcher sounded somewhat flustered. ‘Uh, yes. That’s fine. I’ve got a couple of jobs to get done first, though. How about I meet you at my house in an hour?’
Home territory, Caroline thought.
Fletcher detected the beat of silence. ‘Or I can come to the station if that works better for you?’
‘Alright,’ Caroline said. ‘I’ll see you here in an hour.’
As she put the phone down and began to collect her thoughts, things started to fall into place.