‘William handed over the day-to-day running of the business months ago. He was no longer informed of such changes.’
Kim wondered if he’d still have had something to say about such a drastic alteration to work patterns. But she wasn’t here to discuss rotas and working practices.
‘Lucky that Rachel married someone so willing to help out the family business,’ she said. ‘Was the intention for you to caretake it until one of his children was ready to take the reins?’
Colour flooded his cheeks. ‘Like whom, Inspector? Lewis was a child who couldn’t see beyond the end of a game controller. Rozzie was a self-absorbed YouTuber obsessed with followers and approval, Rachel has no interest and Zach only wants things that belong to other people.’
‘Hmm…’
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘But I’ve put my heart and soul into this business.’
‘Good to know how you really feel about the family, Mr Hewitt,’ she said, and she could see the regret in his face. He was wishing he hadn’t been quite so honest. ‘But I’m interested as to how you got into the business. Were you in this line of work when you met Rachel?’
He shook his head, and Kim suspected he was still looking for a way to backtrack and rephrase the harsh things he’d said about the Daynes family, most of whom were now dead.
‘No, I wasn’t working when I met Rachel.’ He smiled. ‘We literally bumped into each other in Stourbridge. She was backing out of a coffee shop, and I was walking in, distracted on my phone. We both fell over, felt indignant and burst out laughing at the exact same second. I offered to replace her spilled coffee, which she accepted. She offered to replace my broken phone screen, which I refused, but I did ask if I could take her number instead.’
‘Smooth.’
‘Didn’t feel like it at the time. It felt clumsy and awkward but, cheesy as it sounds, I knew she was the one for me.’
‘Love at first sight?’
‘For one of us. Rachel was a little slower, as she was nursing a bruised heart, but luckily she fell for me too eventually.’
‘And did Rachel recommend you to her father?’
He looked affronted. ‘No, Inspector, I did that all on my own.’
‘How, Mr Hewitt? I am both intrigued and eager to know how you reached the dizzying heights of managing director in a relatively short space of time.’
‘I had been offered two jobs at middle-management level – one for a national car-hire company and another at a meat wholesaler. I asked his advice on which one to—’
‘You showed him the job offers?’
‘I can’t quite remember if it was the actual letters or the adverts but, either way, he told me he had a similar position at “the shop” as he called it and asked me to consider taking it. I started here in the buying office and worked my way up.’
‘Fortuitous,’ Kim observed, trying to keep the disbelief out of her voice. There was something not ringing quite true about this whole situation.
‘For both of us.’
‘Of course. And your rise to senior management?’
‘I think William saw something in me. I fell in love with this business. I made it my mission to find out everything I could about the manufacturing processes, advertising, shipping, everything. I was the first person here each morning and the last to leave. William saw how committed I was to the family business. He trusted me.’
Kim couldn’t help but wonder if Daryl Hewitt had married Rachel Daynes or her father.
‘The other staff didn’t mind?’
He shrugged. ‘Does it matter?’
Not to you, Kim realised, not liking the taste in her mouth.
‘Didn’t it concern you that you had your whole personal and professional life all tied up in one family?’
‘Why? Neither of us is planning on going anywhere.’
After witnessing the obvious tension and distance between them, Kim wouldn’t have bet her next meal on that, but she’d got enough background and there was one question to which she really wanted an answer.