‘So, you’re saying they were both murdered? Dear God.’
It was the first indication of true emotion Kelly had seen from the scientist.
But it was unconvincing.
‘I’ve got a couple more questions. I believe Mr Hampton and Ms Dent have headed over to Dow Bank House?’
‘I believe so.’
‘Did any delegates go over there this week? Security staff, admin staff? Anybody?’
Sandy shrugged. ‘There is a skeleton staff kept there to get it ready for events like this one. I’m also heading over there this afternoon, I think. I can ask.’
‘And will the close protection detail for Hank Hampton be there?’
‘The heavies?’ Sandy laughed.
Kelly remained serious. She didn’t find it funny, not since one of them was a person of interest to her. Mercedes man.
‘They come everywhere with us.’
‘Is there any reason one of them might have been anywhere else? Like Skelwith Bridge, for example.’
‘Where?’
‘It’s where Jamie’s sister was staying.’
‘Oh. I doubt it. They stick to Hank and Tilda like glue.’
Chapter 23
The hotel was down to a skeleton staff and Kelly thanked a young waiter for bringing more coffee. The server worked silently as if he was being paid overtime at a funeral wake. Kelly decided she didn’t give a stuff what the experts said about coffee, she wasn’t giving it up anytime soon. The smell of the recently ground beans filled the room and comforted her with renewed strength. It was a good job Emma was elsewhere. A call from her father grounded her further after feeling unsettled from her chat with Doctor Cooper. It wasn’t that Kelly was intimidated by the older woman whose presence sucked the air out of a room, more that she got the impression that Sandy Cooper was lying.
‘How’s Lizzie?’ she asked her dad.
‘She seems hot, but she’s in my arms and sleeping,’ he told her.
The contrast between their jobs and their personal lives couldn’t be more brutally on display in that moment, she thought.
‘You spoil her; she deserves you.’
‘Don’t be too late,’ he said, but he knew as well as she did that it was out of her control. She would leave when she was done.
Ted always managed to cheer her up. He helped her out in all sorts of ways without even realising he was doing it. He helped her financially on occasion, though it hurt her pride. He eased her burden without her ever asking for it. He saw her struggling on her copper’s wage and spoilt her. She’d put the money from the sale of her mother’s house into her current property and she loved it there. Since Johnny had moved out, she’d shouldered all the bills, and it was tough. Ted stayed over regularly and insistedhe was merely paying his way, but he left little gifts around the place, replaced firewood and arranged workmen to fix things.
They were a small but tight family and Josie – Johnny’s daughter from his previous relationship with Carrie – still visited during her university holidays. They were truly modern and blended. Now all they needed was a dog. A pooch like Melvin Stone’s would do nicely, one that sat and grinned all day, and was a constant companion.
They said goodbye and Kelly turned her attention to Paul Burlington, Jamie’s business partner.
She smarted at how much these people were worth on paper. Kelly couldn’t imagine spending millions of pounds, or even having it at her disposal. A holiday a year might be nice. A decent car, a new kitchen would be lovely, but at the moment all she could hope for was managing to pay her gas bill, which had gone up again, feeding Lizzie real food without going bankrupt, and paying her ever-increasing mortgage.
These people had so much money they must get lost in counting it, she thought and it begged the question yet again why the conference was held here in the first place. Highflyers usually chose places like New York, Hong Kong, London or Singapore. They could have gone anywhere. The reason she’d been given was that the UNESCO status of the Lake District promoted connection to nature, which was spot on trend for their brand. There was also the Dow Bank House association. It made sense but something still nibbled at her.
She turned when she heard a noise, expecting Paul for his interview, but instead Emma joined her in the conference room.
‘How are you doing?’ Kelly asked her.
‘This is my least favourite part of an investigation,’ Emma confided.
