Page 9 of Hidden Daughters (Detective Lottie Parker #15)

Standing in line, Martina eyed Robert Hayes, Edie Butler’s ex-boyfriend.

He was working behind the carvery, serving the queue at Danny’s lunchtime rush.

He wore a white tunic, black and white checked trousers and a chef’s hat.

He looked the part of a Michelin-starred chef, but here he was serving food in a bar.

The smell of the cooked food assailed her and she realised she was starving.

‘What can I get you, love?’ He grinned, a lopsided one that made her think he’d practised it in front of a mirror. He was older than she’d first thought.

‘What’s the chef’s special?’

His smile slipped for a moment as he gave an exasperated glance over his shoulder at the chalkboard menu on the wall. She read that the special was a choice of beef stroganoff or boiled ham.

‘Tough luck for vegetarians.’ She attempted a joke.

‘You asked what the special was, love, but as you can see laid out in front of you, we also have pasta dishes, battered cod, a selection of salads. You name it.’

‘Sorry.’

‘No bother. You’re not the first to ask.’ The smile returned.

She reckoned he was in his early sixties, and he had a worn look about him that even his fake smile could not disguise. His hair, streaked with grey, was tied back in a ratty ponytail.

‘I can’t make up my mind.’ That was the problem with such a choice. It complicated things.

‘There’s a long line behind you, love, so do you want to stand to one side while I serve this gentleman?’

‘No, it’s okay. I’ll have the cod and chips.’ She watched while he dished up her food. She didn’t like the way he squinted at her ample waistline before adding an extra scoop of chips.

She found a free table and waited for Kirby to join her. He’d chosen the stroganoff.

‘Smells divine,’ she said, feeling a little jealous.

‘I could eat an old boot. I’m starving.’

He dug into his food and she picked at her chips, keeping an eye on Robert Hayes.

‘He’s a bit smarmy for my liking,’ Kirby said with his mouth full, a dribble of sauce curling on his chin. ‘The way he was calling you love and sizing you up made me want to thump him.’

‘And what would that have achieved?’

‘Satisfaction.’

‘We don’t want to spook him. Not yet, anyhow.’ Martina maintained her surreptitious glances towards the chef.

‘What exactly did Noel Butler say about him?’ Kirby asked, chewing while talking.

‘Hayes is the most recent guy his mother dated, and she was doing fine up until a month ago. That’s when Robert dropped off the face of the earth. Then he called to their home on Friday night wanting to take her out, but she wasn’t around.’

‘Has her phone been found? It might confirm if she was still communicating with that prick over there.’

‘Shh. This place is jammed.’ Martina lowered her head, moving closer to Kirby. ‘No phone found yet. Search is still ongoing in the area where her body was found, and upstream. Her son says it’s not at the house. She left her handbag at home, the one she normally uses, according to Noel.’

‘We should search her house for the phone.’

‘McKeown said he’d organise that.’

‘Another prick,’ Kirby said under his breath. ‘Well, we’ll have to question Noel again.’

‘Would he even know if his mother was still meeting Robert during those weeks when he thought it was all off?’ She swallowed a chip before continuing. ‘She was slipping back into her old ways. His words, not mine.’

Kirby wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before taking a slug of his beer shandy. ‘If someone you’d been going out with for a few months had died, even if the relationship had run its course, wouldn’t you be a bit more forlorn than he is over there?’

‘Maybe he doesn’t know yet.’

‘Everyone knows. It’s all the town is talking about.’ He spread his hands wide, taking in the lunchtime crowd.

Martina shook her head. ‘You’re great at generalising, aren’t you?’

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘Forget it.’

Kirby said, ‘You’ve changed since you used to go out with that bollox McKeown. You’ve got more cynical and too serious. I fancied you myself at one time, you know?’

‘I know, but then you met Amy and you’re happy with her. Aren’t you?’

‘Happier than a pig in shite.’ He filled his mouth and munched loudly.

She had to laugh. Kirby could be obnoxious and adorable at the same time. She liked him, and she liked his partner, Amy, even more. All she felt for McKeown was disdain, and disgust at herself for ever having fallen for him. If that experience had given her a cynical view of mankind, so be it.

‘What’s our next move?’ she asked.

‘We need to talk to him.’ Kirby pointed his fork towards the chef.

‘I’ll have a word and see what time he finishes.’

Kirby held up a side plate. ‘Ask for an extra portion of chips for me while you’re at it.’