Less than an hour later, Caroline was back in work mode, having buried her health worries in the back of her mind. She was in Uppingham, at the premises of Allure Design, having picked Dexter up on the way. She’d been surprised to find Monique — despite her release from custody — nowhere to be seen.
Caroline didn’t like to stereotype, but she was fairly certain she could’ve picked Tom Mackintosh out of a line-up of potential IT managers. His grey t-shirt was at least two sizes too big for his lanky frame, and the frayed bottoms of his jeans declared they’d seen better days. As she got closer, she noticed he smelled of stale smoke, although somewhat sweeter. She wondered if it wasn’t purely tobacco he’d been smoking, or if her sense of smell was still recovering from heavy chemotherapy. Right now, though, she had more important matters on her mind.
‘Good to meet you, Tom,’ Caroline said, shaking his hand. ‘How was the break?’
‘Lovely, thanks. Always good to get away.’
‘Anywhere nice?’
‘Up to Scotland. Love it there.’
Caroline winced. ‘Crikey, it must’ve been cold up there. It’s bad enough down here.’
‘Exactly,’ Tom replied, with a know-all smile. ‘I’m a big fan of all-weather camping. I love all the survivalist stuff. No better way to get away from it all than be in the middle of nowhere for a bit. The cold just gives it an extra edge.’
She couldn’t deny that sounded like heaven at times. ‘Not that we’re ever far from the middle of nowhere round here,’ she said.
‘Oh, definitely. In fact, if it’s something you’re keen on, there are some great local places I go to. Fineshade and Wakerley Woods are brilliant. Whack a tent in a bag, kit up and off you go. They’ve both got facilities if you want them, and if you know the right spots you can even get wi-fi.’
‘I couldn’t think of anything worse. Especially in this weather.’
‘Ah, you’re missing out. Get yourself down to Fineshade and hire a Danish shelter. Basically a tiny three-sided log cabin with a fire pit outside. Beautiful.’
‘I’ll think about it,’ Caroline said, tickled by his enthusiasm. ‘Still, sorry to burst your bubble.’
‘Indeed. This isn’t really what I expected to come back to, I’ll be honest, but I’ll do what I can to help.’
Caroline smiled. ‘Looks like they’re a bit stuck without you. What happens if something goes down while you’re away?’
‘To be honest, there isn’t really anything much that can go down. If there are network problems it’s usually down to our internet service provider, if the website collapses it’s down to the designer or the host, and if someone forgets their computer password for the sixth time that month — well, that’s their problem, isn’t it?’ Tom replied, smiling.
‘Sounds familiar,’ Dexter said, looking at Caroline.
‘So, how can I help?’ Tom asked.
Caroline took a deep breath and considered her wording carefully. ‘Well, at the moment it’s more a case of gathering evidence. We don’t have our eyes on anything specific, but there’s always the slightest possibility there might be some digital evidence somewhere. We’ve got a specialist en route who’ll explain things and let you know what we need. Essentially, it’ll involve making copies of systems and communications. It’s all beyond me, so I’ll leave him to explain. He should be here any minute.’
Tom shrugged. ‘Alright. Do you guys want a drink or something in the meantime? Tea? Coffee?’
Caroline smiled. ‘Coffee would be lovely, thanks.’
‘Sounds good,’ Dexter replied.
They followed Tom through the office towards the brightly decorated break room, where Caroline eyed up the egg chairs once again. ‘Y’know,’ she said, ‘these things do start to grow on you, don’t they?’
‘Not really my style,’ Tom replied, leaving Caroline wondering what his style actually was. The closest she could come to defining it was “greasy”.
‘So, what kind of guy was Martin? Good boss?’ Dexter asked.
‘Yeah, he’s alright. Was. Crikey, feels weird saying that.’
‘I imagine it’ll take some getting used to. What were his relationships like, do you know?’
‘Relationships?’
‘Yeah. Did he get on with everyone?’
‘Oh. Right. Yeah, sorry, I thought you meant... Sorry.’
‘Meant what, Tom?’
‘I don’t want to drop anyone in it. It’s just... there were rumours. About him and Monique,’ he said, almost silently mouthing her name although she was nowhere to be seen.
‘What about them?’ Caroline asked innocently.
‘Probably just rumours. But office gossip was that they were, well, you know.’
‘I think I do, yes.’
‘I dunno what’ll happen to our jobs now. Someone said his wife’s a director too, but I don’t think I’d recognise her if she walked in here. Can’t see she’ll be too bothered about keeping the place going.’
‘You never know. She might bring in a manager or bump someone up to looking after the place. Silent director sort of thing.’
Tom laughed. ‘Chance’ll be a fine thing. Never much silence round here, I can tell you that.’
‘One of your colleagues mentioned that Martin had a bit of a row with someone last week,’ Caroline said. ‘Did you hear anything?’
‘Ah. Yeah, I think I know the one you mean. It was the day before I went up to Scotland. Thursday, it would’ve been. I didn’t really hear what was said, but it didn’t sound good.’
‘Do you know what it was about?’
Tom shook his head. ‘No, sorry. To be honest, stuff like that happens at work sometimes. There won’t be anything in it.’
‘Who was he arguing with?’
‘Uh, Amie, I think.’
‘How well do you know Amie? What’s she like?’
Tom took a deep breath, then let out a huge sigh. ‘I dunno. I mean, she’s fine. She’s nice. She seems to get on well with everyone. Keeps herself to herself, mostly. She can be difficult to get to know, but not necessarily in a bad way, if you know what I mean. Private. But cheerful, friendly, bubbly.’
‘This is Amie Tanner?’ Caroline asked, unable to reconcile Tom’s description with the woman they’d already met.
‘Yeah. Why?’
‘Just trying to build a picture,’ Caroline replied, smiling. ‘How were things left after the argument?’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well, did Amie stick around or did she go home? Were there any comments or remarks made? Did they kiss and make up?’
‘Nothing specific that I can remember. They seemed fine, I think. No permanent falling out, if that’s what you mean. I don’t imagine Martin would stay angry at her for long.’
Caroline cocked her head slightly as she registered this comment. ‘How do you mean?’
Tom looked as though he’d just realised he’d said too much. ‘Oh, nothing,’ he said.
‘No, go on.’
‘Honestly, it’s nothing. It’s probably not even relevant.’
Dexter interjected. ‘With the greatest of respect, that’s for us to decide.’
Tom looked at him, then back at Caroline. ‘It’s just… Well, it’s difficult to explain really. It’s Martin. Between you and me, I think he’d been trying it on with Amie as well. It’s the sort of guy he is. Was.’
‘A relationship, you mean?’
‘Oh no. Not Amie. I doubt it, anyway. She’s always been pretty smitten with her other half. Not that he’s the nicest guy in the world, from what I’ve seen. But Martin had a bit of a reputation. It was a sort of unspoken thing. Especially with… you know.’
‘His wife?’
‘Well, yeah. No-one really wanted to rock the boat, I guess. But like I say, they got along fine. Everyone has arguments every now and again, but it all seemed to be sorted out pretty quickly. And I doubt it had anything to do with what happened.’
Caroline smiled at him. She had to admire his optimism, but she wasn’t entirely sure she agreed.