Page 61 of Stolen Ones

‘Well, we did uncover the bones. I didn’t know if—’

‘Mr Butler, have you done something wrong?’ she asked.

‘Not that I’m aware of.’

‘Then I think we’re good. I’d like to know a bit more about the business if you don’t mind.’

‘I’m sure Barbara gave a suitable summary of our history but, in a nutshell, my father worked off the back of word-of-mouth recommendations: small house extensions, minor commercial repairs and refits. Worked consistently within a twenty-mile radius without placing one advert for thirty years.’

‘And you joined the company…?’

‘After university and a few years out in the real world putting my business degree to good use. I came on board when my father decided he wanted to slow down. That had always been the plan.’

‘You took the company in a different direction?’

‘Absolutely. We stick to my father’s principles but upscale it and apply it to bigger projects.’

‘And you worked at the Hawne Park site many years ago?’

He nodded. ‘I can get you the exact date but it was August ’99.’

Exactly what the residents’ committee chairman had said.

‘Are you sure?’ Kim asked.

‘Of course I’m sure.’

If that was true, Harte had either kept Melody for three years instead of the one year he’d kept the others or he’d had the body located somewhere else.

Butler took out his phone and began texting. His fingers were quick and nimble.

‘I’ll have the exact dates shortly,’ he said, placing his phone on the table.

‘And is that how you met Steven Harte?’ Kim asked. ‘On the Hawne Park project?’

‘No, we met in our first year of university. Not many guys from the Black Country at Oxford that year. Our accents set us apart.’

Kim tipped her head and frowned.

‘I’ve worked hard to soften it over the years, Inspector. Got sick of being called a Brummie.’

Kim smiled. ‘So you’ve been friends for…?’

‘Hang on. I wouldn’t exactly say we were friends. We got along and we passed the time of day, but other than our accent, we didn’t have a great deal in common. I started to make friends and asked him to come to a couple of parties or a sports event, even just for a pint, but he was always busy.’

‘Doing what?’ Kim asked.

He shrugged. ‘He liked taking photos.’

‘Of girls?’

Butler laughed. ‘No. At least that I could have understood but it was birds, trees and flowers and shit…sorry, stuff like that.’

‘And you kept in touch all these years?’ Kim asked. Strange to say they hadn’t even been friends.

‘Not really. We lost touch while he was out there making his millions. I was working in London, as I said. First I heard was when he called the company and asked me to quote for a job. We were still doing the smaller stuff, so we met up and had a chat.’

‘And that was Hawne Park?’