A Genuine Mistake by Ted Tayler (miss read books txt) 📗

an honours board on the wall next to the main match table. His name features there every year since 2010. He recorded over thirty century breaks before he left to start his professional career. There were no maximum breaks on those tables, but he’s had three on tour since he left home to travel the world. They love Byron at the club. He’s far more outgoing than Sean or his late father.”

“Byron is more like his late mother, Evelyn, isn’t he?” asked Lydia.

“That’s what Nick Barrett told us,” said Gus. “Less academically gifted than Sean, but just as focussed on the path that he followed.”

“When Jimmy and I finished our two frames of snooker, he went home, guv,” said Neil. “I tried to get another opinion from the steward, but he wasn’t there when Gerry was alive. He told me he had moved to Bradford-on-Avon from Bridport, in Dorset, four years ago. He knew Sean and Byron were club members but hadn’t seen enough of them to comment.”

“Jimmy must have known Nick Barrett, surely?” asked Gus.

“Barrett is on the committee, guv,” said Neil. “If I read the steward right, Nick Barrett wouldn’t win a popularity contest in the club if he was the only entrant.”

“Well, it was a night out, Neil,” said Alex. “A pity it wasn’t more productive.”

“Time will tell,” said Gus. “Talking of time. When am I due at Belinda Hogan’s place, Luke?”

“Half-past ten, guv,” said Luke. “She still lives in the family home. I’ll give you the address before you leave.”

Gus heard the lift descend to the ground floor. Blessing was back.

“Anything from that charity yet, Luke,” asked Gus.

“Nothing yet, guv.”

Blessing Umeh exited the lift and walked to her desk.

“Both jobs are on the Hub’s schedule for today, guv,” she said. “Divya hopes to have interrogated the various social media sites by tonight for connections between the names Neil supplied. The forensic accountant I spoke to will apply a range of skills and methods to determine whether there has been financial reporting misconduct at Hogan’s.”

“Well done, Blessing,” said Gus. “After you’ve updated your digital files, you can catch up with Neil’s night out. He should have got everything done by then.”

“Got it, guv,” said Blessing.

Gus got up and headed for the restroom.

“Are you okay, Blessing?” asked Lydia.

“I suppose so,” said Blessing. “You know how Wednesday evenings are for me. My mother calls me and expects to get a detailed account of everything we’ve done at work. She asked if I’ve met anyone new since Dave finished with me. I mentioned we were going out on Friday night, and that meant her asking me who was going. Were they the right people? You know what I mean. I’m twenty-one, but sometimes my parents treat me as if I was still twelve.”

“I can vaguely remember those days,” said Lydia. “My foster parents weren’t too strict, thank goodness. They gave me a degree of leeway. If I stayed out later than they said or spent time with people they didn’t know, it could mean my free time got cut for a while. The more I played by their rules, the better things became. It was an easy decision.”

“My father must have listened in because when I said I was going with Divya, I could hear him tutting in the background.”

“Did you speak to him?” asked Lydia.

“Not last night,” said Blessing. “My mother asked whether I was visiting them this weekend. I said I would drive over on Sunday afternoon. She was disappointed that I wasn’t going earlier, so I could attend church with them.”

“Did you regularly go when you lived near Warwick?” asked Lydia.

“My parents never gave me a choice,” said Blessing. “At least, until I became a police officer. Then I could volunteer to work the occasional Sunday. When I moved to live in Worton with Mr and Mrs Ferris, I stopped going. There was nobody stood at the bottom of the stairs asking if I’d dressed in my Sunday best clothes yet.”

“Has your father tested out the journey into Bath from Englishcombe yet?” asked Alex.

“I’ll find out on Sunday,” said Blessing. “He has six weeks before his students arrive to start the new year. Four miles is no distance, but my father’s sense of direction is so poor that my mother fears for him every day he leaves the house. Perhaps I should go with him after dinner to show him the way.”

“Are you sure you know how to get there, Blessing?” asked Lydia.

“It’s the only thing I have to remind me of Dave. He wrote out the route for me and put it in my glove box for safe-keeping.”

“You might be late in on Monday morning then,” said Alex.

“Don’t get on at her, Alex,” said Lydia. “Blessing is nervous enough as it is.”

Gus was back at his desk with a coffee. Blessing noticed that Neil had a fresh cup too.

“Is Neil going with you this morning then, guv?” she asked.

“I hadn’t given it much thought, Blessing. I thought Alex would be best to take with me to talk to Sean Hogan this afternoon. Why? D’you fancy a trip to Bradford-on-Avon?”

“Yes, please, guv. I’ve never been there.”

“Okay then,” said Gus, looking at the clock on the far wall. “If you want a coffee before we go, you’d better get cracking.”

As Blessing walked to the restroom, Luke approached Gus’s desk.

“Here’s Belinda Hogan’s address in Barton Orchard, guv. I’ve had a reply from the charity. There’s been quite a turnover in personnel since 2002. The HR manager had found the relevant file and could confirm that Evelyn rejected the job offer. Their Chief Financial Officer was the only senior member of staff still on site from those days. The HR manager said he’d asked her what she remembered. The CFO told him that