Page 105 of He's the One

His father poured himself a large one.

The more they looked, the more irregularities they discovered. Many of the discrepancies were small and Theo supposed that was the reason Dastardly had got away with it, but a few involved substantial amounts.

“Have you noticed that most of the things we’re questioning relate to catering?” Theo pointed out. “The champagne flutes, hire of tables and chairs, flowers, marquees, music.”

“Yes, I had noticed. We’ve done more weddings since Darnley started here. Made more money.”

“But not as much as we should have.” Theo turned his laptop round to show his father. “Darnley has an unusual name. I’ve found his daughter, Phoebe. She runs an events business in Essex.Picture Perfect.Weddings, birthdays, anniversaries. She’s run three of the weddings we’ve had here and I wondered…”

“If Darnley’s been siphoning our purchases over to his daughter’s business?”

“It’s possible. Her last tweet was that she’d been invited to arrange a winter ball at an amazing location.Think castle!!!With three exclamations marks.”

His father glowered. “Nothing’s been agreed yet, has it?”

“No.” Theo took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice anything before now.”

“I’m not blaming you. I gave him too much leeway. If you’d said something, Darnley would probably have given me a perfectly reasonable excuse. I know you two don’t get on.”

“He doesn’t speak to me in private, the way he speaks to me in front of you. I don’t want him to call me lord, but he’s disrespectful and surly.”

“You can be…difficult, Theo.” His father rubbed his eyes.

Theo wasn’t going to push the point. “So what do we do?”

“I’m not sure we have the evidence for immediate dismissal. What you and the accountant discover tomorrow should make that clearer. We could suspend him and his wife while we investigate. Unfortunately, during that time we’d still be paying the pair of them to sit at home on their backsides. We’re bound by legal procedures, even if Darnley and his wife have broken the law.”

“What about calling the police?”

“I looked into that. Once we go to the police, it’s out of our hands. We might have to wait months for anything to come of it and be paying two salaries all that time. In the end, the public prosecution service might not even consider it worth prosecuting. And the publicity would be embarrassing at the very least.”

“Shit.”

“Exactly. We don’thaveto tell the police. That’s only required if money laundering is suspected. But I might have to inform them if the trustees require it. I’m not yet sure about that.”

“What about the stuff Darnley signs, and bank mandates?”

“I’ve stopped those. I probably should have waited until I’d suspended the pair but I didn’t want to risk waiting. When we find out how much money is involved, then I’ll decide how to proceed. Police or no police. Maybe civil action.”

“I’m sorry,” Theo muttered.

His father patted Theo’s hand and his heart almost stopped. His father so rarely touched him.

“Stop apologising. It’s my fault.”

Theo bet his mother wouldn’t think that. “Are we done for the night?”

“Apart from talking about Col.”

Ripples of unease rolled over Theo’s body. “What about him? Are you going to tell me he’s not good enough? Not the right class?”

“Theo!”

“You asked him if he could be discreet and he can.” Theo pushed to his feet and grabbed his laptop. “I like him. Don’t tell me not to see him.”

“Theo! Stop and listen.”

Theo stalked out of the room, seething with fury.

---