Tell Me - Ashe Barker Page 0,47

be over as long as we have staff, a lot of staff in fact, who believe we did that man an injustice. The compensation doesn’t change anything, not as far as they’re concerned. Resentment festers. We need loyalty, and commitment from the people we employ. They expect the same from us.”

Isabel opened her mouth to issue another protest but Tony forestalled that with a lifted hand. “Thea, go on please. What more do you have to tell us about this matter?”

“Jeremy Malone wasn’t married, was he?”

“No. His wife died about three years ago. Cancer I think.” Denise supplied this information. “We all had a whip round.”

“Does he have other family?”

Denise shook her head. “Not to my knowledge.” She looked to Eric and Chris for further elaboration. The doubtful expressions suggested none would be forthcoming.

Thea consulted her notebook again. “In fact, Mr Malone has a daughter. Melanie, aged twelve. She has Downs syndrome.”

Tony abandoned his relaxed pose. Elbows on the table he fixed Thea with a familiar, focused stare. “A lone parent, of a child with special needs? And you’re telling me we didn’t know that?”

“Well, I certainly didn't know.” Eric was quick to chip in.

“Would it have made a difference? If you had known?” Thea’s question might have been addressed to Eric, but it was Tony who she was watching, whose reaction mattered now.

“I reckon it would. The company would have cut him more slack probably.” This from Tony. “Is there more, Thea?”

Sensing she was on the downhill slope now, Thea continued. “Yes. As you say, Chris, Mr Malone was a bit of a loner. However it seems he was close to a Mr Bartlett. Albert Bartlett, who retired three years ago.”

Chris nodded. “He might have been. I was new then but I do remember old Albert. He was Jeremy’s boss, and Jeremy took over his team when Albert went off to look after his roses or whatever.”

“That’s right.” Thea was no longer referring to her notes. She gazed around the table at the people listening to her. “I found Albert’s contact details in our records and rang him up. I asked him if he could shed any light on what might have gone wrong. He was very helpful. It seems Melanie attends a residential facility during the week and comes home each weekend. She arrives on Friday afternoon and leaves again on Monday morning. Jeremy always had to be home by three o’clock on Friday because that was when Melanie’s taxi would drop her off, and she wouldn't be picked up again until nine thirty on Monday. So he left work early on Friday’s and was late every Monday.”

“Shit! Fucking shit. How come none of this came out?” Tony’s voice was a low growl. Thea had heard that tone before, but this time it was not directed at her. Even so, her pussy clenched.

Eric was the one to answer. “Search me, boss. I’d have upheld his appeal for sure if I’d had any inkling. Bloody hell!” To his credit, the man looked devastated.

“Do we know for sure this is the reason for the pattern of absenteeism?” Denise was making feverish notes of her own now.

Thea smiled at her. The question was exactly the right one to raise at this stage. “Not without talking to him. But I think that should be our next step. I’m happy to do it.”

Denise flattened her lips thoughtfully. “You don't have to. I will if you like. Or I could come with you.”

A resounding crack disturbed their conversation. Isabel had snapped her pencil. All eyes turned to the agitated PA.

“What the hell would be the point? He was badly treated, probably. Okay, I get that. But he had his compensation. He was paid out. It’s not as though there’s anything else we could do about it now. I say we drop it, learn from it, and move on.”

Thea stiffened and turned to address the woman directly. In her view it was time Isabel Barnard wound her neck in over this. The woman hadn’t a clue what she was talking about.

“There are several things we could do. One, we can review how we managed to miss such a vital piece of relevant information. We need to understand how it was that we had someone working for us, whose personal circumstances were so difficult, and impacted on his job, and we knew nothing about it. No allowances made, nothing. Two, we could even now review the disciplinary action taken and revise our findings if we think