‘Yeah, I meant legally, officer. I fully intended to take him to the cleaners legally, but turns out I didn’t have a leg to stand on.’
‘Go on,’ Kim urged, appreciating the man’s honesty.
‘I’ve known William for many years. Started my business not long before he did. We both did okay and grew pretty quickly. William wasn’t my only customer, but he was my best. I did everything to keep him happy, but I did have other clients. We kinda struck a verbal deal that I would supply only to him, and that’s what I did until dipshit wannabe bigshot convinced him to take his business elsewhere for a saving of two hundred quid a month.’
He motioned around him. ‘Put me out of business. I had no customers left cos I’d thrown all the eggs and the bloody chicken into one basket, and I got shafted. No income, no business, nothing to hand down to my own kid. Just because some donkey brain wanted to save a few quid.’
‘Did William know the effect it was going to have on you?’
‘Yeah, I told him it would do us in, but it was just business,’ he said, shrugging, but he couldn’t hide the hurt that flitted across his face. Clearly, he’d thought they were better friends. She glanced briefly at his son, but it wasn’t hurt that shaped Davey’s features – it was good old solid rage.
‘We’ve sold off the last few tonnes for peanuts just to give our suppliers something, but tomorrow we close the doors for good after thirty-eight years.’
Kim felt a wave of sadness for a man who had lost everything because he was too trusting.
‘But I didn’t hurt ’em,’ he said.
‘Dad,’ Davey warned again.
‘I wanted to hurt him, not his wife and kids, but I ain’t that stupid, and you’ll find no trace of me in that house. Now the little pretender of a shitbag is another story. I could quite cheerfully put my hands around his—’
‘Dad.’
‘Mr Burston.’
She and his son had spoken together. She continued. ‘Don’t say something you might regret later.’
‘You think I’d say it in front of three coppers if I was serious?’
Kim almost said two and a half.
‘Still, best not to threaten people right in front of us,’ Bryant advised.
Kim thanked the man for his time and headed back to the car.
‘If you really wanna find out what happened, you might want to start looking a bit closer to home.’
By the time Kim turned, Roy Burston had walked away.
It was Davey Burston who had called out.
She held his gaze for a good few seconds before he turned and followed his dad.
FORTY
‘Every single bloody platform,’ Stacey said, throwing down her pen.
‘Huh?’
‘Martey was harassing her all over the place. Messaging her on Facebook, Twitter, Insta. I can sure see why she cooled the social media.’
‘Didn’t she block him?’ Penn asked, putting down his magnifying glass.
‘Repeatedly but he’d just set up another account and change the number. On Insta he was up to Martey27. He’s a real nasty piece of work. Calling her all kinds of names, insulting her appearance, her weight, everything.’
‘Shit, sounds pretty determined. Could he be just another keyboard fruitcake?’
Stacey shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. Every account he’s set up is for the sole intention of harassing Rozzie. There are no other posts, comments or interaction. It’s all about her, and it could be literally anyone that’s doing it.’