Page 122 of Three Widows

‘What happened?’ he asked. Taking her hand, he raised her to her feet. ‘Are you okay?’

‘No, I’m bloody well not okay.’

‘You need stitches.’

‘Later. Get me a cloth.’

She watched as he reluctantly left the darkened room. She vaguely remembered a panel sliding back in the wall, and stepping inside. Then… nothing.

‘This is all I could find.’

She took the balled-up kitchen paper from him and swiped it at the back of her neck.

‘Let me do it for you,’ he said.

‘I’m fine, stop fussing. Was Lei attacked too?’

‘Yeah, he has a bump the size of the Harbour Bridge on his head, but he says he’ll be fine. I actually think he’s delighted at being in the action.’

‘A few more knocks and bangs and he’ll change his tune.’ She swept her hand around the small enclosure. ‘What is this place?’

‘Looks like a cold-storage room.’

‘That’s what I thought. Jennifer had frostbite. Shit, Boyd, do you think she might have been held here?’

‘We better call SOCOs. Come on out.’

‘Just a minute. I want to take a better look. Is there a light?’

‘No.’ He switched on the torch on his phone and the room lit up like a Christmas tree. ‘Holy fuck.’

‘Christ, what is going on, Boyd?’

She tried to ignore the throbbing in her head as she walked down the narrow room, careful not to touch anything but too curious to wait for SOCOs.

The room was designed like a galley kitchen, with cupboards on either side and a narrow stone-slabbed walkway between them. Only they weren’t cupboards. They were chest freezers.

At the end of the walkway, she came to yet another door.

‘What is this place? This building is like a maze,’ Boyd said.

Lottie remained tight-lipped, partly because she had a blinding headache, but mainly because of the large steel bolts screwed to the door with a series of padlocks and a combination lock.

‘I don’t think Helena was keeping a supply of nettles in there, do you?’

‘Doubtful.’ She leaned her ear close to the door, but there was no sound. ‘What if there’s someone in there? Do you think this door is dense enough to block out sound?’

‘I don’t know what to think.’ Boyd lowered the phone and the door became a dark hulk.

‘Fetch the big key to get us in there while I check the freezers.’

‘Like I said, we need SOCOs. No point in using a battering ram when there could be evidence—’

‘Boyd! There could be someone in there. Helena and Amy are missing, and Orla seems to have evaporated into the ether. Any one of them might be inside, hurt or dying, even dead.’

‘And any one of them could be a killer.’ He raised the phone again and scanned the area with the beam of light. ‘It’s hard to believe there’s this much space. From outside, the shop looks tiny.’

‘The shop itself is small, but the building is like a warren.’ She raised her hand and hammered the door. ‘Ouch. Jesus, Boyd, it’s rock solid.’