Page 148 of Three Widows

‘We don’t know yet, but we must consider Tyler Keating’s role,’ Lynch said.

McKeown said, ‘His car was found in Jennifer’s lock-up, having been moved there four weeks ago. The GPS shows it had been located prior to that in the Ballinisky area, close enough to Kathleen Foley’s house.’

Lottie said, ‘Did we find out anything further about the widows’ group?’

Lynch stood and walked along the photos on the board. ‘We initially thought the group was exclusive to widows. Then we discovered that wasn’t the case.’

‘But all the female victims, and those who are missing, were members of the group at some stage. Was it more than just a social outlet? Was it a front to hide something? Did Gary find anything when he dug into it online?’

Lynch said, ‘He says it’s like any other closed Facebook group. Éilis Lawlor was the administrator, and to join you just sent her a request. He couldn’t find anything in the DMs or comments that looked suspicious. It was set up by Éilis, and Jennifer was the first to join. We have no way of knowing who actually met in person, though.’

‘Okay,’ Lottie said. ‘Maybe Amy can give us more of an insight. Kirby, I know this could be viewed as a conflict of interest, but she might talk to you about it.’

‘I’ll go back to her later and see what she says.’

Lynch continued. ‘We tried following the money, and Owen Dalton’s murder kind of puts the kibosh on that. Like I said, he owed back the initial investments of Kathleen Foley, Tyler Keating and Frankie Bardon.’

‘Gives Frankie a motive to kill him.’

‘It gives someone a motive to take out Tyler Keating, but Frankie and Kathleen haven’t been targeted.’ Lottie stood. ‘Frankie and Amy had a previous relationship. She’s been badly injured. He is currently married to Owen, our latest victim. Can we trace a definite link where the other women have had an interaction with him?’

‘They all attended Smile Brighter,’ Boyd said.

‘So did half the town,’ Kirby pointed out.

McKeown said, ‘Just because he once might have beaten your new girlfriend doesn’t mean he murdered three people.’

Garda Martina Brennan coughed. ‘Can I say something?’

‘Open forum,’ Lottie said.

‘I did a deeper background check on Frankie Bardon. He went to college in Athlone. He was originally studying Irish mythology, but after year one, he changed college to study dentistry.’

‘Tyler Keating lectured part time in Athlone,’ Kirby said.

‘And Owen Dalton lectured there too before giving it up,’ Lynch said.

Lottie joined her team as they formed a curve at the board. ‘Jane Dore had a theory about the locations where the bodies were left. She mentioned mythology. Not enough to pin down Bardon for murder, though.’

‘Okay. What about the missing women?’ Boyd said.

‘Have you found anything in Helena’s background check, Martina?’ Lottie asked.

‘Yes! Just a few minutes ago I got confirmation that she was once married. In Las Vegas, if you don’t be minding. It was never registered here.’

Boyd swirled round. ‘Her mother said she didn’t have a husband. That she was a pathological liar. That she invented imaginary friends and hated Amy.’

‘Maybe Kathleen Foley is the liar and not her daughter.’ Lottie paused. ‘Bring in Mrs Foley. I want to talk to her here and see how she performs under stress. Martina, work with Detective McKeown and do a thorough background search on Kathleen and her family.’

‘Sounds good to me,’ McKeown said.

‘And Kirby, those files from the lock-up…’

‘I did an initial read-through, but—’

‘Make the time,’ she said, pre-empting his excuse.

Garda Lei entered the room. ‘Inspector, Madelene Bowen is asking to see you.’