Page 103 of Three Widows

‘What the…?’ Confused, Kirby struggled to put his legs underneath himself.

‘Tae kwon do.’

Luke put out a hand to haul him upright, but Kirby turned on his side and with some difficulty stood unaided.

‘You’ll pay for that,’ he wheezed.

‘You asked for it.’

He watched as Luke took a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and lit one. He then had the audacity to offer the pack to Kirby.

‘Stick them up your…’ he grumbled. ‘I want to know your movements since you finished work yesterday evening until the time you clocked in this morning.’

‘Why?’

‘Answer the question.’

‘I was at home in bed all night.’

‘Can anyone vouch for you?’

‘You could ask my mother, but she doses herself with sleeping pills and wouldn’t hear the house being robbed, let alone if I went out.’

‘No corroboration, then?’

‘No.’

Kirby wondered why Luke was so calm now. Maybe he was hiding something, or perhaps he didn’t want to get in trouble for assaulting a detective. Whatever the reason, Kirby felt the kid was too bloody relaxed. That unnerved him.

‘You were arrested for assault a few years ago. I think the judge was particularly lenient with you.’

Luke stomped his cigarette out on the pavement. ‘So?’

‘You attacked a young woman walking alone by the canal and you only got community service.’

‘What are you trying to say, old man?’

‘You got a lot of people to provide you with good character assessments. And that’s why such a serious crime wasn’t suitably punished.’

‘So what? It wasn’t me anyhow. I was stitched up by you lot.’

‘You pleaded guilty.’

‘I was eighteen. First offence, though it’s none of your business.’

‘It is my business, because your colleague Amy Corcoran told me you were harassing her.’

‘That’s a lie. I wasn’t harassing her.’

‘Amy thought you were, and now she’s missing.’

Luke didn’t baulk. ‘I never touched Amy, and if she’s missing, shouldn’t you be looking for her, not harassing me?’

Kirby silently acknowledged the point. ‘If I find one shred of evidence pointing me in your direction, I’ll have you in Mountjoy Jail before you have time to pack a bag. Get it?’

‘Sure, old man.’

But Luke’s bravado had disappeared, a line of worry furrowing its way between his eyebrows.