Page 27 of The Burnt
“Thank you,” he said, taking the glass from Charlie and taking a sip. He smacked his lips. “Twelve-year-old Laphroaig, if I’m right.”
Charlie nodded. “It was a birthday gift from our accountant.”
“And to think, mine only sends me a card. I’ll have to get your man’s name.”
The drink seemed to do the trick.
“So we were talking about your ex-wife,” Charlie prompted.
Simon took a deep breath. “Yes. In spite of what she said, I had her under surveillance for a month just to be sure, but no sign of Milo.”
“What is Milo’s mother’s full name?” Charlie asked.
“Michelle Coleman. She worked mostly in film in the States. I don’t think she’s working much anymore. As beauty fades, so does the career.”
“Do you have an address or phone number for her?”
“Yes. I can get you that once I get home.”
Charlie reviewed his notes. “And is there anyone else he was close to back then? Anyone I could try and track down?”
Simon sat up straighter in his chair. “There was a boy he was seeing. He was a bit younger than Milo and I’m pretty sure they were more than friends. As I’ve told you, it was a long time ago, so I don’t remember much about him, but I recall he looked like he was from the wrong side of the tracks. Milo was careful not to bring him around the house but I saw them exchanging a kiss outside of a coffee shop in Banff one day. When I asked Milo about it, he said I must have seen somebody else.”
“Did you know the boy’s name?”
“No.”
“Did you make any attempt to find the other boy?”
“The police looked into it, but said it was another dead end.”
Simon paused as he looked at the picture of Freddy Whitcher on Declan’s desk.
“Is that Mr Hunt’s son?”
Charlie shook his head. “No. He doesn’t have any children. Now, I have one more question for you, Mr Griffin.”
Simon’s gaze returned to Charlie.
“Did your son have access to money? A bank account, credit card, that sort of thing?”
“I insisted that he have a bank account. Young people have to know how to take care of their money. I had him on an allowance that I deposited in the bank for him every month.”
“And was any money withdrawn before or after his disappearance?”
Mr Griffin sat in silence before answering. “After he vanished, I had a look at his bank statement. He’d been withdrawing five hundred dollars a month for the ten months before he disappeared.”
“And nothing since?”
“I left the account open for a while, hoping it would show some activity, but it never did. I closed it long ago.”
Charlie said, “Five thousand dollars is a lot for a kid to carry around.”
Simon shifted in his chair. “That’s not all. A few weeks after Milo disappeared, five thousand dollars was missing from petty cash reserves that I keep in the vault. I suspect it was Milo. So he actually had ten thousand dollars in cash at hand.”
“And no one else had access to the vault?”
“Only my assistant, Tom. And before you suggest it could have been him, I assure you, to him, that amount means nothing.”
