‘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?’
‘Yes, which was the seventeenth to the twenty-first of August ’99,’ he said, consulting the message that had flashed on his phone.
‘And had he changed in the years since you’d seen him?’
‘Not a bit. He was still quiet and studious, pleasant enough but a bit detached.’
‘Wife or girlfriend?’
Butler paused and looked up, searching his memory.
‘You know, not in all the years I’ve known him has he ever mentioned the name of one female – or a male for that matter.’
It was as though he’d only just realised that himself.
‘And you’ve worked regularly for him ever since?’
‘He’s a good customer, and he’s not a bad name to throw around to attract other business.’
‘And did Steven Harte ever visit the building sites once he’d instructed the work?’
‘Oh yes, it was a job and a half to keep him away. He annoyed a couple of the older guys sometimes with his attention to detail, but hey, he’s the customer. He can be as anal as he likes.’
‘And was he? Anal, I mean.’
‘Absolutely, but the result was always worth it. He knew what he wanted and wouldn’t settle for anything less.’
‘Would he visit the site after hours?’
Butler laughed. ‘It wouldn’t surprise me. He liked to be sure his instructions were being— Hang on, you’re not trying to say he put those…?’
‘I’m saying nothing, Mr Butler. I’m just getting background on the working relationship between the two of you.’
‘Are you sure I don’t need my lawyer?’ he asked suspiciously.
‘Not unless you’ve committed a crime since the last time you asked.’
‘Okay, please continue.’
‘Did you or your guys report any strange activity around the area at the time?’
‘Bloody hell, Inspector. It’s been over twenty years.’
And that was always going to be her problem. Except Grace Lennard wasn’t twenty years ago and neither was she dead, Kim prayed, but to find her Kim had to know everything possible about Steven Harte and his associates.
Butler shook his head. ‘If we had I’m sure we would have reported it at the time.’
Bryant took out his notebook and Kim watched him scribble a reminder to check suspicious activity around a community park in ’99.
‘Just one last thing, Mr Butler,’ Kim said, recalling her and Bryant’s puzzlement in the reception. ‘I can see from your pictures out in the reception area that you’ve worked on many high-profile buildings around the country, projects worth hundreds of thousands if not millions of pounds.’
‘That’s true,’ Butler answered as his chest puffed out.
‘Then why on earth would you be interested in taking on such a tiny project worth a couple of hundred quid for a small community job?’
‘Because we were asked, and we like to keep our best customers happy.’
‘Roy Barber from the residents’ association is a good customer?’
He laughed. ‘No, we refused him.’
‘So who?’
‘Steven Harte asked us to reconsider the request. It was him that asked us to dig up Hawne Park.’
Thirty-Five
‘Bloody hell, your boss needs a refresher on rapport posture,’ Alison said, sitting back in her chair.
Stacey groaned. ‘Alison, we’ve already had one guy come and lecture us. We don’t need—’
‘We’re talking basics here, Stace. The idea is to get answers from this guy.’
‘So what’s she done wrong?’ Penn asked, rolling his chair closer.
‘She started well. She was businesslike, not hostile or over friendly. But she never controlled her temper or masked her distaste or disgust. She’s supposed to stay emotionally detached and relaxed, but you can see the tension in every part of her body.’
‘He is trying to play her like a violin,’ Penn defended.
‘And who are you analysing, the suspect or the boss?’ Stacey asked.
‘Both at the minute because I can’t work out if he’s feeling genuinely tense or if he’s mirroring.’
‘Whatting?’ Penn asked.
‘It’s when someone imitates the movements or gestures of another person to enhance familiarity and liking. I don’t know if he’s feeling his own tension or picking it up from the boss.’
‘Well, you’ve been doing plenty of scribbling so you must have spotted something.’
‘Grooming,’ she answered. ‘He touches his ring…’
‘Touches his what?’ Stacey called out.
‘The ring of his cup. It’s non-verbal deceptive behaviour, where anxiety is dissipated through physical activity in the form of grooming either oneself or the immediate surroundings.’
‘He asks for a lot of tea,’ Penn offered.
‘Often, he touches his face or head before messing with the cup; it’s another form of non-verbal deceptive behaviour, this time prompted by discomfort associated with circulatory changes triggered by the fight-or-flight response.’
‘What if he just has an itch or a mild skin condition?’ Penn asked.
‘That’s why we look for clusters,’ Alison explained.
‘Not every skin condition produces clusters, you know,’ Penn offered with a cheeky smile.
Alison chuckled before continuing. ‘Clusters of behaviour. Non-verbal clusters include grooming gestures, hand-wringing, inward curled feet, pursed or biting of lips, slumped posture, finger tapping, a shift in blink rate, shrugs, clenched fists, winks, closed eyes and fake smiles.’ Alison smiled and took a breath. ‘There are more if you want me to—’