Barnett tried his best to sit still.
Before Gardner’s secondment up north, the team frequently experienced disorganisation and division. Rice and Riddick wound up the community, while some of the older detectives had forgotten how to put in a shift.
Gardner had built a formidable team up here.
His respect for her went beyond words, and he didn’t want to betray her trust. However, she’d left him with all his clearance intact. Combine that with the multitude of favours he could call in, and it wasn’t long before he made two significant discoveries.
The first discovery involved Robert Thwaites. During his time as a partner in Long, Oakes and Thwaites Ltd, Robert had acted on behalf of a small, up-and-coming company called Penstone Ltd. In 1991, Penstone had used Robert, on an expensive fee, to assist Leeds council, and the government, in fighting off the accusation surrounding systemic failure at Helping Hands, following the two suicides of Melissa Sale and Barnett’s mother’s close friend, Isla Holt.
Penstone was a small company dealing exclusively with promising new technologies… or so they claimed. One look at the major shareholders gave you the truth. Some shareholders were relatives and associates of shareholders in KYLO.
So, Thwaites and Penstone (or KYLO in disguise) brought an end to the accusations with out-of-court settlements for the relatives of Melissa and Isla.
Then, after saving Helping Hands, the press expected Penstone to make a move for the shelter.
Not so. The company dissolved because of poor profits. The press quickly lost interest in this immoral company. Government blushes were, for now, spared. Several months later, KYLO got their reward. Theirs was the winning bid for Helping Hands. The connection between KYLO and Penstone had swerved the press, as had been their intention all along.
Barnett felt sick to the stomach.
Not only had KYLO discreetly helped cover up for Helping Hands before taking over and sacking James Sykes, it had also then ordered, out of the goodness of its heart, an inquiry into the media’s persistent accusation of systemic failure!
KYLO had paid for it. What heroes! No need for them to be biased, eh? It’d been before them, after all.
They’d taken the absolute piss.
When Helping Hands came back in the clear, the media quickly lost interest.
The slate was clean.
Barnett phoned Gardner. After hitting her voicemail, he sighed, and then delivered the news. Someone needed to get to secretive Robert Thwaites pronto and tell him his connection was rumbled. Unless Gardner got back to him shortly, that someone would be him.
The second discovery came following a phone call from Janice Knowles of the local council. She informed him she’d sent over all she had on the history of John Atkinson’s property. After informing her he owed her a large bottle of red, he hit the computer and looked over the documents.
What he found nearly knocked him over.
The straw that broke the camel’s back.
I love you boss, but no way I’m sitting on my hands!
He grabbed his coat and left the house.
Outside, he found Lucy O’Brien on his doorstep.