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‘Do you believe this was an accident?’ Kirby probed.

‘Wasn’t it?’ A raised eyebrow.

‘She was badly burned. Looks like she was scalded. Perhaps intentionally.’ He wanted to shock the man but decided he’d said too much. ‘We have to wait for the post-mortem to confirm cause of death.’

The eyebrow dropped as Robert leaned forward, his hands dangling between his legs. ‘Are you saying she was murdered?’

‘It’s early in our investigation. Nothing has been confirmed as yet.’

‘How long was she in the river? I can’t get my head around this at all.’

‘She was reported missing on Saturday afternoon by her son. Last he saw her was Friday morning. He said you called to the house Friday evening looking for her. Why was that?’

‘After we’d been meeting for a few months, she suddenly ghosted me. That was the situation until last week.’

‘What do you mean?’ Kirby hadn’t a clue what the man was on about. He patted his shirt pocket for the reassurance that he had a cigar for later.

‘She didn’t answer my calls or texts. She blocked my number.’

‘Why did she do that?’

‘Why did Edie do anything? She was a complicated soul.’

‘Aren’t we all,’ Kirby said. ‘What did you do when you were, eh, ghosted?’

‘I let her be. You see, Edie has… had a lot of demons, alcohol being only one of them. As I said, I left her alone. But she rang me last week out of the blue. Said she’d love to go out Friday night. That’s why I called to her house. That idiot son of hers said she wasn’t home. I thought he was just being pig-headed. He never liked me. Possessive of his mother, you know. Anyhow, I was in no mood for a row, so I left.’

‘Tell me when you were actually with Edie last.’

‘Must be a month or more. We went to Rosco’s for a meal and drinks afterwards in Cafferty’s.’

‘Did you speak with her by phone or text after that?’

‘No. She ghosted me, I told you.’

‘Did you have a row that night?’

‘No, everything was grand. We got a taxi and I left her to her door. I was rarely invited in, especially if the Noel lad was home.’

‘Did you ever bring her here?’ Kirby couldn’t imagine a romantic tryst occurring in Robert’s dingy abode. ‘To your home.’

‘No, never.’

‘So it wasn’t a sexual relationship?’

‘It was more… companionship, I suppose you’d call it.’

‘Who kicked your door in?’

Robert’s face darkened. ‘The Noel idiot. Yesterday morning. Shouting and ranting for his mother. He went off with himself when I didn’t answer the door. She wasn’t here anyhow, never has been. And that’s the truth.’

Kirby wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not. He tried to think of further questions. ‘Why do you call Noel an idiot?’

‘That boy is too old to be living with his mother, having her wait on him hand and foot. I know I said Edie was a bit soft, but she should have been able to stand up to him.’

‘You never said she was soft.’

‘Well, she was. She was too nice. She liked to take care of people, that was her nature. Because of that, she’d sometimes let them walk all over her. Noel was protective of her, but she did too bloody much for both those boys.’