Chapter 26
Kelly watched Lee Lovett go back inside then went to the shore of the lake where two men sat chatting.
The younger of the two looked very happy indeed, as if he’d just had a quickie behind the boat shed.
A shadow across her path made her look up and she saw movement in an upstairs window.
It was where the VIPs stayed in the swanky penthouse rooms, and she assumed the maids were cleaning up there.
She recognised Paul from a company photo and she guessed the older man sitting with him was Melvin Stone. She’d get to him in good time but after what Lee said she doubted she could use any of his testimony. She approached them and introduced herself.
‘I’ve been looking forward to meeting you,’ Melvin told her. He was alert and lucid and she’d heard that about dementia sufferers: their attacks came and went depending on severity and how long they’d had the illness.
She leant over and petted his dog.
‘This is Acorn. I brought her back with me today because everyone has fallen in love with her. But it’s so quiet now!’
Kelly smiled.
‘I have seen you on TV and in the paper. You’re the reason this area is getting cleaned up. Did you have something to do with closing down that hotel in Ambleside? They were racketeering everything out of that place, drugs, poor women, animals, you name it, they made money from it.’
‘No, that was drugs squad. They did a good job; those women were lucky to escape when they did.’
‘What will happen to them?’ Melvin asked.
‘They’ll be treated medically, then they’ll go through an interview process, then I guess they’ll be eligible to go home or seek asylum.’
Melvin shook his head. The other man got up to leave.
‘Can you stay? It’s Paul, isn’t it?’
The guy looked jumpy and his earlier bravado disappeared. Melvin laughed.
‘Don’t worry, mate, this is a good’un. Answer her questions and she’ll leave you alone, unless you have something to hide, then I’d run for it.’
Kelly watched Paul Burlington for his reaction and Melvin giggled to himself. He seemed happy with himself and came across as overfriendly.
‘Can I speak to you after?’ Kelly asked Melvin. ‘I know it’s been a very long couple of days for everyone; we’re almost done.’
‘Of course, I’ll be getting a cuppa inside.’
Melvin walked away and called Acorn, who trotted after him. Kelly sat down.
On closer inspection, Paul Burlington appeared flushed and sweaty. She didn’t want to shake his hand but she did so and introduced herself properly. He appeared to be the polar opposite of Jamie, who’d been described as suave, polished and charismatic. Paul was bulky, rough and shy.
She noticed his hands shaking as he reached down into a bag at his feet and brought out a sachet of YouthBlast. As she looked down, she saw that he had very large feet.
‘I had a chat to Sandy Cooper about that stuff. It’s your star product, isn’t it?’
He nodded and smiled.
‘What’s so special about it?’ she asked.
‘It’s a compound Jamie and I worked on for years. It enhances performance and energy, encourages muscle bulk with fat loss and is generally an all-round fantastic product.’
The marketing speech was impressive but Paul didn’t look to her like a man winning at life. He looked ill.
But she did notice that he became enlivened by talk of profit. She clapped her hands after he’d finished telling her how the powder could save her life and prevent disgusting degenerative diseases.
‘That was quite a sales pitch. I’m impressed. Is it safe?’
She watched him pour the contents of a sachet into a bottle of water and shake it up, then he gulped at it as if his life depended on it.
‘It’s been passed by the FDA.’
‘Ah, so it must be.’ Kelly winked.
‘You don’t believe it?’
‘Sandy Cooper said it’s not quite ready for public use yet.’
Paul stopped sipping and stared at his bottle. ‘I get to try these things out.’
‘It’s your privilege as the creator of the brand, I guess. Can I ask you a personal question about your partner?’
‘Jamie?’
Paul looked away wistfully and Kelly saw affection and possibly regret.
‘It’s come to my attention that some people think he struggled with substance abuse. Did you know that?’
Paul’s face told her everything she needed to know.
‘Jamie? Never,’ he said.
‘This next one is quite intimate,’ Kelly warned him. ‘We recovered extensive pornographic material in Jamie’s room.’
Paul’s immediate response was to laugh. ‘Jamie? Why would he need porn? He had women falling over him!’
Kelly watched him. She got the impression that despite having a close bond with the deceased, Paul was also envious of him.
‘What size shoe are you, Paul?’
‘Eleven, why? Jamie always said somebody could row the Channel in my trainers.’ He laughed but stopped suddenly.
‘Do you own a pair of CAT boots?’
He hesitated and appeared puzzled.
‘Do you?’
‘I did.’
‘You did?’
‘I can’t find them.’
‘When was the last time you had them?’
‘I can’t remember, I must have left them down at the lake when I went swimming.’
‘Have you visited Skelwith Bridge while you’ve been here?’
He looked at her oddly. ‘I don’t think so,’ he said.
Kelly maintained her cool exterior and nodded to his drink.
‘And that’s just vitamins and juice?’ she asked.
He smiled. ‘As well as some hidden treats,’ he said. He held his finger up to his mouth in collusion, but she wasn’t impressed.
‘Such as?’
He shrugged.
‘You don’t know?’ she asked.
‘Jamie and Sandy took care of that.’
‘Are you compelled to test it, or do you like it?’
He stared at her dumbly and she reckoned she’d caught him out.
‘What’s it like?’
Paul looked down.
‘If the company coerces you to take it, you should tell me.’
He smiled again and the moment was lost. A faraway look descended over his face and he looked melancholy, depressed even. He certainly didn’t behave as if he was in control of all his faculties, but shock did funny things to people.
‘So, why don’t you explain your relationship with Jamie to me, and your role in the company.’
Kelly listened as Paul Burlington gave her a precis of his career history with Hampton-Dent. He told her how they met and how they clicked instantly. Their shared love of technology and health and fitness.
‘They’re a great company to work for. I have share options allowing me to retire soon; that’s my plan.’
Dear God, she thought. Retirement for her on her police pension would likely be at seventy the way she was going. Paul was twenty-eight.
‘Was Jamie happy at Hampton-Dent?’
Paul looked at his hands and Kelly saw emotion stir in him again. He ran his fingers though his hair and rubbed his eyes. ‘It was everything.’
‘What was everything?’
‘The deal with Hampton-Dent. We came up with this idea five years ago. Now, the market is saturated with products promising miracles, but this one is different. It makes you strong. And I mean so tough you can stay up all night working, you can stand up to a boss, you can walk out on bullshit, you can bench press another fifty pounds…’
She watched as he transformed before her eyes. Then she looked at the sachet which had blown off the table onto the grass. He truly believed in this stuff. Some things were simply too good to be true.
‘Fuck, I can’t believe he’s gone. He had vision. This was his product really. I designed the branding, but he had the original innovation. He was a genius. He could have gone all the way and been a director of Hampton-Dent one day.’
‘Did he want that?’
Paul stared at her. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Do you think he wanted out? Do you think he was disillusioned? Bored? Scared?’
Paul’s head snapped up and he stared at her. His eyes looked like those of a drug user and Kelly wondered why Tilda Dent would accuse Jamie of drug taking and not Paul, who clearly was high on something.
‘What’s your relationship with Tilda Dent like?’
That’s when she knew.
His neck reddened and his head turned to the hotel and the penthouse suites.
‘Erm, she’s fine.’
He didn’t elaborate so she tried another way in.
‘Are you aware of the staff corridors behind the hotel?’ Kelly asked. She didn’t expect his answer.
‘Yeah, it’s how I got around.’
‘Really? Why did you need to get around without others seeing you?’
‘Erm, I was seeing somebody who I shouldn’t have been.’
He smiled but it was more of a grimace, knowing he’d been caught out. But Kelly also noticed a creeping energy boost inside him. His body wouldn’t keep still, and she couldn’t help thinking the juice had done it to him. She’d almost completely disarmed him.
‘Who?’
‘I don’t really want to say.’
‘OK, you’re not under arrest, but if it becomes important later and you withheld information then that might be a problem for you.’
He stared at her. ‘Will it be confidential?’
‘I can’t guarantee that.’
He looked up to the hotel and she followed his eyes. He gazed at the suite in the middle with a balcony; it was designed like some kind of castle with the lord’s manor at the top. But it wasn’t a lord who was checked into that suite. It was Tilda Dent’s room. Her hunch had been correct.
Paul blushed.
‘So, you’re screwing your boss? Did Jamie know?’
‘Kind of.’
‘Kind of? Did it cause a problem between you?’
‘No, not at all, we always used to share… I mean, oh, God.’
‘Thanks for being honest. Were you sharing Tilda?’
‘No, he wasn’t interested.’
‘Did that cause a problem?’
He shrugged. ‘I have no idea.’
‘Is that where you were Tuesday evening when Sandy couldn’t find you?’
That bewildered look again.
‘She said she thought you were outside?’
‘Oh, it was a hot day.’
‘It was,’ Kelly agreed. Too hot for boots, she thought. ‘When did your boots go missing?’
Paul looked embarrassed. ‘On a walk. Tuesday night.’
‘A night walk?’
‘It was cooler.’
‘I see.’
‘I took them off to go for a swim in the lake and couldn’t find them after.’
‘Fair enough.’
It wasn’t fair enough. It was too convenient.
‘When did you last see Jamie before he fell?’
‘Only after his speech.’
‘And?’
‘He went back to his room.’
‘Alone?’
‘I think so.’