Page 90 of Stolen Ones
‘He was at university?’ she asked.
‘Final year.’
‘So how did he get out of it?’ Kim asked, trying to fathom the complexities this added to her case.
‘He didn’t. He was convicted of the crime and served twenty-four months.’
Kim shook her head. ‘Gum, that stuff has finally got to your brain. There’s no conviction record on the PNC, and nothing on the Sex Offenders Register.’ Both of these would have been checked by her colleague and flagged up to her.
‘Sex Offenders Register didn’t start until ’97 and wouldn’t have been indefinite anyway, as he was sentenced to less than thirty months.’
Okay, she got that, but his conviction should still be on his record.
‘Butler pleaded no contest.’
Kim rolled her eyes. Pleading no contest meant that while you weren’t admitting guilt, you were allowing the court to determine your punishment.
‘But his conviction would still have to remain on record until he’s one hundred years old,’ she said, citing the rules for data retention.
He took a swig of his drink and nodded. ‘Those are the rules now and in place since 2006, but before that a process called “weeding” was carried out.’
She’d heard the term and understood that it meant the removal of convictions and all associated evidence like fingerprints and DNA.
‘It wasn’t an automated system and there was little rhyme or reason to the process, but some crimes that should have been kept weren’t, and some that should have been destroyed were kept. Hence the need for an automated system that can count to one hundred.’
‘Bloody hell, Gum, why didn’t you say any of this the other day?’
‘You never mentioned his name as a person of interest, and there was nothing to tie Butler to Melody’s abduction. We expected him to lawyer up immediately but he didn’t.’
‘Why’s that?’
‘Because he had a pretty solid alibi of being on a construction site thirty miles away with more than a dozen members of his team, a site foreman and the main contractor.’
‘Jesus Christ,’ she said, rubbing at her forehead.
‘Is he a person of interest now?’ Gum asked, narrowing his gaze. His eyes were bright and alert, and he had barely touched his beer since they’d started talking.
‘Right now, Gum, your guess is as good as mine,’ she said, heading out of the kitchen. She needed air for more reasons than the overwhelming stench of filth.
She needed to process the fact that Steven Harte was doing business with a convicted sex offender.
Fifty-Four
Kim hadn’t expected to be back at Butler’s premises quite so soon.
‘Mr Butler is in a meeting,’ Barbara said. ‘I can’t disturb him,’ she added, looking flustered.
It was clear the woman had a very different working relationship with Butler Junior than she’d had with Butler Senior.
‘I’m afraid we must insist, and if your boss would prefer us to sit in here wearing full high-vis uniform until his visitors leave, that can be arranged.’
There, the woman had something to threaten him with that had come directly from her.
‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ she said, leaving the reception area.
‘Isn’t it strange how one piece of information about someone can change your entire opinion about that person?’ Bryant asked once they were alone. ‘I remember before becoming a police officer, I worked with a bunch of guys in a warehouse. One guy, salt of the earth, do anything for you. Most popular guy in the place until he let out in conversation he often drank and drove. Most folks cooled towards him after that.’
Kim understood what he meant in relation to Butler. Yesterday they’d viewed the pictures on the wall, impressed by the scope of his works, the growth of the company, the number of employees from the local area. All of those things were still true today and yet none of it counted for anything after what they’d learned.
