Footsteps on the Shore

‘Why do you want to know that?’ she snapped, abandoning the charm offensive. ‘It’s got nothing to do with him disappearing.’

Horton eyed her steadily and said nothing.

She flushed under the harshness of his gaze and said tautly, ‘He just came to work and then went home.’

‘Doing what?’ asked Cantelli in a friendlier tone.

She switched her gaze to the sergeant, and relaxed slightly. ‘Designing our new web site and providing computer support for the factory. We should have had someone years ago, but you know how it is with budgets and getting the right person.’

‘So Luke Felton came cheap,’ Horton taunted, knowing he should ease off but not seeming able to, or caring. Being so close to Catherine and the fact that he might see her was making him edgy. That, and thoughts of what Kelly and others here must know about his marital break-up, and what Catherine might have said about him, were eating away at him like rats at rotting flesh.

Her dark eyes flashed daggers at him. ‘Luke is engaged on a project basis. I offered him a fee for three months’ work, payable at the end of each month, and with an option to renew, or the offer of a permanent job, depending how he got on.’

‘And how did he get on?’ asked Cantelli lightly, yet Horton could hear his colleague silently urging him to back down.

‘Very well. I can’t understand why he hasn’t shown up for work.’

‘I can. Drugs.’

She switched her hostile gaze to Horton. ‘I don’t believe that.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because he said he was clean. Oh, you can scoff, but I believe him. He works hard and keeps himself to himself, which is more than I can say for some of the staff, including the sales and marketing team.’

That was nasty, but then he had provoked it.

Hastily, Cantelli jumped in. ‘How do the staff feel about him working here?’

‘They don’t know his background. He isn’t going to broadcast it and neither am I.’

Horton reckoned she underestimated the jungle grapevine. Everybody probably knew.

Cantelli continued. ‘How did he get the job? Did you advertise it?’

Horton thought she looked uneasy as she answered. ‘Yes, but the applicants weren’t suitable. They were either too highly qualified or not qualified enough. Then I happened to mention it to Matt and he said-’

‘Matt Boynton? You know him?’ Horton sharply interrupted.

‘Is that any of your business?’ she said coolly.

‘It is when a man convicted for murder is missing.’

She eyed him malevolently. ‘If you really must know, Matt and I were at university together.’ Then, directing her remarks to Cantelli, she continued. ‘I saw Matt when I was out one night and we happened to get talking about work. Matt said he knew someone who would be ideal for the project. I was interviewing at the time and I said send him along, not really thinking he’d be any good. But he was perfect.’

‘Weren’t you worried about employing someone with a violent record?’

‘Matt assured me that Luke was reformed and Luke didn’t seem capable of violence, let alone committing murder.’

‘But he did, and he went to prison for it,’ Cantelli said.

‘But he’s served his time and learnt his lesson.’

Horton wasn’t convinced of the latter and Felton certainly hadn’t served his full term. He wondered if Catherine’s father was aware of Felton’s record. He asked her.

‘Toby leaves me to engage the right people. It’s my job,’ she replied haughtily.

Which meant no. Horton said, ‘You’d better tell him before someone else does.’

She opened her mouth to reply but Cantelli got there first. ‘When was the last time you saw him, Miss Masters?’

‘Tuesday evening. He left here just after six.’

Horton studied her carefully. She could be lying. Perhaps Luke Felton had spent the evening with her, or the night, and now she was too concerned to admit it.

Cantelli again. ‘Did he contact you after that, to tell you he wasn’t coming into work perhaps?’

‘I didn’t even know he hadn’t been in until this morning. I was at a conference in London on Wednesday and Thursday. When I discovered this morning that he hadn’t been into work and hadn’t reported sick I called the number he gave me. The man I spoke to, a Mr Harmsworth, said he didn’t know where Luke was, so I called Matt. Perhaps he’s had an accident.’

Walters had already ruled that out, locally at least. Horton said, ‘Did Luke talk to you about his time in prison?’

‘No.’

That was clearly a lie. Her eyes darted away from him. Horton reckoned she’d had a nice little post-coital chat with Luke about that, and probably a lot more.

Cantelli said, ‘Did he speak of his friends or family?’

‘No,’ she answered with a note of exasperation. ‘He worked.’ She was beginning to look frazzled.

‘Was there any member of staff he talked to or seemed close to?’

‘I’ve already said. He worked alone.’

That didn’t stop him communicating with someone, thought Horton. With a glance at Cantelli, he said, ‘We need to talk to the staff.’ Cantelli put away his notebook.

‘Is that really necessary?’ she said in alarm. ‘They won’t be able to help you.’

Horton knew the reason for her trepidation. She’d come in for some criticism over her decision to engage an ex-convict. Well, that was her lookout.

Cantelli slipped out of the office, aiming a silent plea at Horton, urging him to go easy. Kelly Masters watched him go with fear and a fidget.

‘Did Luke speak to any customers on the telephone?’ Horton asked.

‘He had no need to.’

‘But you weren’t with him in his office. So you don’t know that for sure.’

‘I do because there’s no telephone at his work station,’ she cried triumphantly.

‘What about email? I take it he would have had access to that and the Internet.’

She squirmed. ‘Well, yes.’

Horton rose. ‘Show me where Luke worked.’

With ill grace she hauled herself up and led him through the corridor to a small office on the right. There was no one in it, but beyond the glass partitioning Horton could see Cantelli talking to a group of people in a large open-plan office. Catherine wasn’t among them, but then she had her own office on the other side of the reception area. And was she in there now? he wondered. Had she returned?

With a churning gut, he pushed thoughts of her away and turned his attention to the desk in front of him. On it was a computer monitor and little else. He opened the desk drawers — only some paper and pens.

‘Did Luke have a laptop or mobile phone?’

‘Not that I know of,’ she said sulkily.

‘No one is to touch this computer. I’ll send someone to collect it. I’ll also need access to any passwords.’ They needed to check which sites Felton had visited and who he’d communicated with. He didn’t think that was Ronnie Rookley. He doubted Rookley even knew how to switch on a computer. But Felton could have been involved in something that had led to his body being washed up in the harbour — if it was him.

She was looking worried, as well she might. Toby Kempton wasn’t going to be very pleased if his company name appeared in the press along with that of a convicted criminal. Catherine, as marketing manager, would have the media on her back, and bloody good luck to her, he thought, not without a touch of malicious satisfaction. He knew that Bliss’s instructions to contain this story were about as likely to be fulfilled as a politician hiding an affair, because although Kelly Masters, Toby Kempton and Catherine wouldn’t blab, he wouldn’t put it past one of the employees Cantelli was talking to wanting to get his or her name in the newspapers.