“What do you do here, Mr Prosser?”
“Driver.”
“Night shift only?”
“Aye. Look here. Have you found Barry, or what? I’ve a few choice words to say to him, abandoning his post like he did.”
Reilly sat down. “Have you been here all night?”
“Aye, I have.”
“What time did you start?”
“Sometime around seven o’clock. Normally it’s eight, but I were a bit bored last night, so I came in early.”
“Was Barry here?”
“He was.”
“What time did he start?”
“He doesn’t have a start time. You don’t when you’re the boss, do you?” Prosser reached over the desk for a cup, draining the last of whatever was in it.
“You lads like a drink?”
“No thanks,” replied Gardener.
“Mind if I make a fresh one?”
“Be my guest. So, let’s get back to last night. Barry was here before you.”
“Aye. But he always is. The man’s a workaholic.”
“It’s his business,” said Reilly. “You’d expect him to put the hours in.”
“There’s work, and there’s work.” Prosser picked up the boiling kettle and threw a tea bag into his cup before filling it with water. “And then there’s Barry.”
“What do you mean?” Gardener asked.
“Twelve hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks of the year. He’s never away from the place. He works all hours.”
Prosser added milk and sugar to his tea before sitting back down in his chair.
“Does he ever take a holiday?” asked Reilly.
“I’ve never known it, and I’ve been here at least ten years.” Prosser added, “He likes his money, does our Barry.”
“Can’t get much time to spend it.”
“Couldn’t tell you, but it doesn’t look that way. I keep telling him, you can’t take it with you. Get some of it spent, take some time off. Go and enjoy yourself.”
“Let’s get back to last night, Mr Prosser. You started an hour early. How did Barry seem to you?”
“Fine. He was manning the controls, sending one or two of the drivers to various drops. I made him a cuppa. I would have stayed and talked, but he had a run for me.”
“Where to?”
“Leeds/Bradford airport. A young couple going on honeymoon. They had to be there by eight. So I got straight off.”