Page 115 of Three Widows

‘She might have other friends to bunk in with.’

Lottie yelled up the stairs. ‘Helena?’

‘We’re wasting our time here.’

‘There is a back way in.’ She made her way to the kitchen, mindful not to walk on the specks of blood. The door was locked. ‘Helena could well be our next victim, and Orla Keating was the last person to see her alive.’

She walked into the utility room and scanned her eyes around. Empty wine bottles in a bin. Fresh bottles in a cooler. She tapped the walls.

‘What are you doing now?’

‘I want to make sure there’s no false walls.’

‘Lottie, you’re losing your shit now. The woman is a pathological liar and could be anywhere.’

‘Or maybe someone wants us to think that. She could be in mortal danger.’

‘Or she could be a killer.’

‘Has the lab come back with a DNA hit on that blood we found?’ She pointed to the floor, where the blood had dried brown.

‘It’s too soon.’

‘Get on to them.’

As Boyd slouched off, she had a feeling of dread that Helena could be the next victim. She feared for the woman. It was obvious she was delusional, thinking she had a son and a dog, not to mention a dead husband. Had she become the latest victim of a crazed killer? Try as she might, Lottie could not figure out what the killer was at. She just knew she had to find Helena and Amy before it was too late.

* * *

Kirby scanned the file for the names of everyone who had been interviewed with regards to Tyler Keating’s disappearance. Frankie Bardon’s name was not on the list. But it wasn’t a surprise. There had been no reason at the time to talk to his bloody dentist.

And there was still no sign of Amy.

He’d tried to find any friends or family, but hit a brick wall and nothing had turned up on PULSE. He just didn’t know enough about her. He phoned the supermarket office and requested her job application form or CV. But he was met with the usual GPD stalling. Get a warrant. He’d just hung up when the phone rang again.

‘Is that Detective Kirby?’

‘Yes.’

‘This is Shauna. I work in Dolan’s HR department. I overheard Mr Cooke talking and I wanted to say I am really scared for Amy.’

‘Why so?’

‘She’s under a lot of pressure. Because of Luke.’

‘Do you know Amy well?’

‘Just here at work. She’s a private person, but I know she tried online dating for a while. And she joined that Life After Loss group after a break-up.’

This was news. ‘Do you know who she broke up with?’

‘No, she never spoke of him.’

‘Shauna, is there any way you could email me her job application and whatever else might help me?’

‘I shouldn’t, but I’m so worried with all these murders. I’ll scan what I have and email it to you.’

Kirby rattled off his email address and said, ‘I appreciate this.’