Jonathan knew it was unprofessional, but he cancelled the meeting with Caroline the next morning and then, for the next few weeks, he kept as far away from The Cider Kitchen as possible, addressing anything that arose by email. Although he remained horrified by the killing of the cat, Caroline had pretty conclusively shut him down when he’d tried to discuss it with her. He felt sure that there was far more to it than met the eye, but he didn’t want to start grilling her when relations were so strained. For the good of the restaurant, he decided to act on her words and keep things purely professional for the time being.
Matthew had also handed over much of the legwork for the Buckthorn takeover proposal to Jonathan, too. Weary of waging war on all fronts, Matthew was finally learning to delegate. Not, Jonathan reflected, that it was going to make a scrap of difference in the long run. Matthew would never agree to hand the family business over to Buckthorn, no matter how much money was offered. Once again Jonathan had tried to broach the subject with his father, but Jack had stonewalled him. That morning they hadn’t parted amicably and Jonathan knew when he got back to Orchard Cottage that night he needed to make amends.
He’d been poring over The Cider Kitchen’s quarterly performance figures, and was pleased to see that turnover had been increasing steadily. If nothing else he could say to Caroline could make her happy, he thought, the fact that the restaurant was making a fair profit should do. Perhaps it was time to break the stalemate and arrange a meeting. He typed out another quick email and fired it off before he could change his mind. Involved in the message, it was with some surprise that Jonathan looked up from his desk to find Matthew standing the other side of it.
‘Hey,’ Jonathan said. ‘Wasn’t expecting to see you until later.’
Matthew looked grim faced. ‘We need to talk about the restaurant.’
Jonathan shut the lid of his laptop and sat up straighter. ‘What’s up?’
‘May I?’ Matthew gestured to the chair in front of Jonathan’s desk.
‘Of course.’
Matthew sat down heavily. ‘Sam from Finance, who as you know has been handling the restaurant’s accounts, has noticed a few odd looking payments over the past couple of weeks. He did some digging and it looks as though someone has been making payments that don’t match the invoices or purchase orders. It’s not been going on for long, thankfully, but there’s a fair chunk of money that’s unaccounted for, even in that short time.’
‘It could be an oversight,’ Jonathan said. ‘You know what it’s like when you’re setting up something new. Caroline probably forgot to raise a purchase order before making a payment to a supplier.’
Matthew shook his head. ‘Ordinarily I’d agree with you, but when I say a fair chunk of money, it’s not just a few hundred quid. I’m talking thousands.’
Jonathan’s heart lurched. ‘Really?’
Matthew nodded. ‘I think we need to call her in for a meeting. This afternoon.’
Mind racing, Jonathan sat forward in his chair. ‘Let me go and see her first. Perhaps I can find out what’s been going on before you strap her to a chair and interrogate her.’
‘From what Finance have been telling me, it’s gone somewhat beyond the cosy chat stage, Jonno,’ Matthew said. ‘I think we need to get her in here, and possibly contact our legal department.’
Jonathan stood up quickly. ‘You gave me responsibility for the restaurant project, Matthew, so let me do it my way first. I’ll go and see her, and if there’s anything you and the company should be properly concerned about, I’ll let you know.’
‘Are you serious?’ Matthew snapped. He jumped up and started to pace the short distance from desk to window. ‘It’s not like it’s few quid out of petty cash, Jonathan. There’s thousands missing and Caroline’s the only one, apart from you, who has the authority to move money like that.’
‘Have you spoken to Caroline about it? Or are you just trusting the word of that number cruncher in accounts?’ Jonathan could feel his own temper rising.
‘I don’t need to.’ Matthew could be mercurial at the best of times, but his irritation at, yet again, being blindsided by the mix of business and family was clearly getting to him. ‘The figures speak for themselves.’
‘What about Anna? Does she know anything that could shed any light on it?’
‘I didn’t want to bother her with it.’ Matthew turned back from the window. ‘She’s getting pretty tired. And she’s up to her ears in preparations for the murder mystery evening. Besides, she’s not seen Caroline for a while.’
‘We live in the same fucking village, Matt! The Cider Kitchen’s a stone’s throw from all of us. How have none of us picked this up until now?’
‘What about you?’ Matthew poured himself a cup of coffee from the cafetiere on Jonathan’s desk. ‘It’s not like you haven’t been spending enough time there lately to warrant at least a cursory investigation about how things were going business wise.’
Jonathan winced, remembering his and Caroline’s last encounter, and how short she had been with him. Was that all to do with the death of her cat, or did she have something else to hide? ‘I haven’t seen her for a while,’ he admitted.
‘So once again you’ve lost interest in a woman and everyone else has to duck the fallout? Christ, Jonathan, when the fuck are you going to learn?’
‘This has nothing to do with my interest, or otherwise, in Caroline.’ Jonathan couldn’t quite meet his brother’s gaze.
‘Really? Because from where I’m standing, it looks as though you were the one who took your eye off the ball.’ Matthew finished his coffee and then swiftly poured another one. Anna wasn’t the only one who was tired. ‘As soon as she moved to the village you were spending no end of time there, and now you’re telling me you didn’t have the faintest idea this was coming?’
‘What exactly are you accusing me of, Matthew?’ Jonathan’s voice had taken on a dangerous edge. ‘Are you suggesting I have something to do with the missing cash?’
‘Well it wouldn’t be the first time you walked off with something that wasn’t yours, would it?’ As soon as the words were out, Matthew looked horrified. ‘Christ, Jonathan, I’m sorry. That was completely out of order. I’m really tired. Forgive me.’
Jonathan carefully placed his coffee mug down on the desk and looked his brother straight in the eye. ‘You’re right. It was. So listen to me very carefully. I am going to the restaurant now and I will sort this out. I will speak to you later.’ Not sparing his brother another glance, or waiting for him to leave, he walked out of the office.