Hank used his hands to articulate himself. There was emotion in his eyes that took Kelly by surprise. It was a chink in the corporate armour.
‘What’s your role in the company, Hank?’ she asked. ‘You don’t mind me calling you Hank?’
‘No, sure, go ahead, ma’am,’ he said. ‘I’m based out of Dallas. I run the executive arm of Hampton-Dent, like a chief operating officer.’
‘You get things done?’ Kelly asked.
He smiled. ‘Sure, that’s what I do.’
‘And the company has your name.’
‘It’s in my family.’
His Texan drawl was infectious, and Kelly noticed his easy unpicking of complex issues. He was matter of fact but warm with it, the polar opposite of Tilda.
‘I’m Hank the third. The original founded Hampton-Whalley corporation, of Silicon Valley fame, and then merged with Dent-Whalley.’
‘And what happened to Whalley?’ She felt a little foolish for asking.
‘Bought out by my granddaddy.’
‘Where did Jamie fit into the hierarchy?’ she asked.
Hank looked uncomfortable for the first time. ‘Well, ma’am, that’s the thing. Jamie was a rising star. He was the future really. It’s wholly devastating, it sure is.’
Kelly noticed his discomfort. ‘I won’t keep you much longer.’
‘I know he had his issues.’
‘Issues?’ Kelly asked.
‘I don’t like to speak ill of the dead, ma’am, but I am led to believe he had a few drug-addiction matters that he was trying to sort out. That just came to my attention this weekend gone. Now, the company doesn’t tolerate such behaviour. It’s a delicate but deliberate policy we have, and so I was aware that he might be moving on.’
Kelly looked between the two VIPs but it was difficult to read them. A drug company taking issue with an addict wasn’t an irony one got to witness every day.
‘Your rising star? Did you ever witness any evidence that he might be a substance abuser?’
‘No, I did not.’
‘And who told you he was?’
‘Well, I don’t think I should…’
‘If it’s for an investigation under the UK legal system than I must insist, Mr Hampton.’
‘Right, well, it was Tilda here who told me.’
Kelly looked at Tilda Dent.
‘Paul, his partner at FairGro, told me,’ she said, rather too quickly. Kelly made a note.
‘And you representtheDents?’ Kelly asked her. Her Google search had produced more than their annual turnover.
Tilda’s very manicured eyebrows raised a little.
‘Isn’t FairGro owned by Hampton-Dent?’ Kelly asked.
‘My great-grandfather was Waldo Dent,’ Tilda said.
