Page 55 of The Burnt
“So there are more staff than just you?”
“There used to be. We used to have a full-time gardener and a maintenance man. Now we just hire as needed. We still have Mr Semple.”
Charlie leaned in. “And what does Mr Semple do?”
“Well, he’s Mr Griffin’s right-hand man. He’s been with him for even longer than I have.”
“Does he live here?” Charlie asked.
“Not full-time, but he does have a bedroom upstairs for times when Mr Griffin wants him here. In the early days, he was usually the one who kept his eye on Milo.”
Charlie looked up from his note pad. “Sort of a personal bodyguard then?”
“You could say that.”
“And this Mr Semple, could I have his first name? Just for the records. My boss is a real stickler for the details, if you know what I mean.”
“Oh, I understand that,” she said. “It’s Tom.”
“Is he in today?”
“Not at the moment, but he might be here later this evening when Mr Griffin gets back.”
“So, getting back to Milo,” Charlie said, “you mentioned he was rarely on his own off the property other than at school?”
“Well…he’d still manage to sneak away from time to time. He was a boy, after all. Always dreaming of adventure, and he was tired of waiting to grow up.”
Charlie reviewed his notes. “Mr Griffin told me they had a fight the night he ran away.”
She sighed. “Boys and their fathers always fight, don’t they?”
Yup, Charlie thought.
“And usually about the simplest things,” she added.
“Do you have any idea what they fought about that night?” Charlie asked.
“I do remember something about Milo being in the vault in his father’s office, and some money. Later on, Mr Griffin said five thousand dollars was missing. It didn’t make sense. Why would a boy who had everything want to steal?”
To get away from this prison…
Charlie made a note. “And Mr Griffin said that Milo had a…special friend?”
She stared off into the distance. “Yes, but Milo was very secretive about it.”
“Did you ever meet him, or did Milo ever mention his name?”
“No, I never met him and, no, he never mentioned a name.”
“Thank you. Just one more question. Have you seen this?” Charlie passed her the copy of the note that was supposedly from Milo. “Mr Griffin said it arrived last week.”
She glanced at it. “I never saw what it said, but I’m guessing it’s the one that was brought to the door.”
Charlie’s eyes widened. “You mean it didn’t come in the mail?”
“No. It was delivered by a boy.”
“A boy? How old?”
