Page 112 of 36 Hours

Realising that was something he could easily help with, he took a ledger from beneath the desk. Despite the upgrade in decor, they still didn’t have a computerised system.

‘Allegedly, six months ago, so let’s also try the month before and the month after.’

‘Six months is a lot of entries.’

‘We’ll wait,’ Kim said, resting her elbows on the reception desk.

He opened the ledger at the beginning of March. ‘What am I looking for?’

‘A red Citroën van with a registration plate ending TYL.’

‘Okay,’ he said, using his finger to travel down the page.

Although Kim couldn’t see the detail of every entry, she could see that the records listed date, make, model, fee paid, action taken and then a final column for resale. Very few entries had any monetary amount listed.

Kim knew that at least ninety-five per cent of every car scrapped was recycled by law. Scrap dealers bought and sold metals that ended up at a remelt plant and were cast into recycled raw materials. Metals were bought and sold by weight. The most valuable item by far was copper.

She watched silently as March turned to April which turned to May.

Finally, he looked up. ‘Nothing.’

‘And every scrap vehicle makes it into the ledger?’

‘Of course. What are you accusing me of?’

‘Just saying there’s a lot of different handwriting in there. Not one member of your team could have made a quick sale for a few extra quid in his pocket?’

‘If he did, he wouldn’t be a member of my team.’

‘If you knew about it,’ Bryant interjected.

He offered them a look that said he knew everything that happened in his business.

‘Can you show me April again?’ Kim asked.

He sighed heavily before turning to the page and combing the entries again.

‘What’s that?’ she asked, pointing to an entry that had been Tippexed out and overwritten.

‘Probably a spelling mistake.’

‘Doesn’t explain why all the columns have been changed,’ Kim observed.

He shrugged. ‘I couldn’t tell you.’

‘I thought you knew everything that went on in your business,’ she said, tipping her head.

‘It’s Tippex,’ he replied, raising an eyebrow.

‘Is it possible that someone sold on the vehicle and covered it up?’

He shook his head. ‘They wouldn’t.’

Kim didn’t find that statement to be a compelling argument. People committed acts of theft in the workplace every day.

‘Do you remember the vehicle? Apparently it’s quite ugly and hard to forget.’

‘I don’t remember,’ he said without giving it any thought.