Page 163 of Three Widows

Clouds shifted over the evening sun with a sense of foreboding. The sky faded as the weather broke with a streak of lightning and a deafening clap of thunder. A persistent deluge followed.

After fruitlessly waiting for the rain to subside, Lottie decided to proceed. She jumped out of the car, tightened the Velcro on her Kevlar vest, pulled up her hood and tugged her jacket zip up as far as it would go over the bulk. She whispered instructions to the team before heading towards the house.

It was in darkness save for light escaping from a gap in the curtains of a downstairs window. Lottie closed her eyes to get a mental picture of the layout. She put her finger to her lips and beckoned her team to their stations before marching up to the door and knocking loudly. They’d already been to the house of the person identified by Luke, but no one was there. The friend’s house was her last hope.

The door remained closed. The silence was once again shattered by a clap of thunder and the downpour continued. She knocked again, then pressed her hand on the bell.

‘Kathleen? Open up. We need to talk.’

Still no reply. She stood to one side as two uniforms slammed into the door with the big key. The timber shattered, the old hinges snapping.

Boyd was at her shoulder as she stepped over the splintered wood. Torch beams gleaming behind her lit the hallway. She headed to the door to her left just as Kirby and McKeown arrived from the kitchen, having broken in through the back. She nodded, acknowledging them, and opened the living room door.

‘Stop!’ came a voice from inside. ‘Don’t come in.’

Lottie blinked, eyes adjusting to the dimness of the room, lit only by a standard lamp by the window. Three people were there. A woman lay on the couch, listless.

‘She’s unwell,’ Lottie said. ‘She needs to go to the hospital.’

‘She’s going nowhere.’ The voice was sharp but weary.

That worried Lottie. People at the end of their tether were unpredictable, at their most dangerous.

‘Can we talk? I think I know what went on. Jennifer and Éilis were working towards exposing a fraud that could bring your business down. Honestly, I don’t blame you. I’d be mad myself.’ Wrong word, she realised too late.

‘How dare you! I am not mad. I have never been more lucid in my life. I can see the wrongs in this world. The naked greed that led to corruption. They were the ones who were mad. All of them tried to implicate me and my life’s work and drove me to seek revenge.’

‘Will you sit down and talk it out with me?’ Lottie chanced.

‘I’m done talking. Time for my last action. Come in and you can bear witness.’

Taking a deep breath, Lottie moved forward. She felt a tug on her jacket: Boyd, behind her, trying to prevent her from walking into the viper’s nest. She shrugged him off.

‘Only you, Inspector,’ screamed the voice. ‘You may leave, Detective. Close the door behind you.’

‘It’s okay, Boyd,’ Lottie said, quickly assessing the situation. The house was surrounded. She was safe, wasn’t she? The woman stood regimentally tall, her back to the empty fireplace, holding a short blade, like a scalpel, in one of her hands. She would be able to disarm her, wouldn’t she? Kathleen sat in an armchair, and on the couch, Helena lay motionless, eyes closed, skin pale, breathing shallow. Lottie didn’t notice any blood and hoped the young woman was only drugged, not beaten.

Hearing the door click shut behind her, she waited.

The woman at the fireplace stared, her platinum hair faded in the dim light. ‘Sit, Inspector.’

‘I’d rather stand. Why, Madelene? Why all these deaths? What have you accomplished?’

‘Would you like some tea? Kathleen made a pot for me earlier.’

Lottie glanced at Kathleen Foley. A silver teapot and china cups were laid out on a small table in front of her. She held an old biscuit tin on her knee, a photo in her hand. She was shaking, her eyes darting between her daughter and Madelene. Was she trying to tell Lottie something? Or was she just terrified?

‘No tea, thank you, Madelene,’ Lottie said, trying to keep her tone neutral. ‘I want to know what your intentions are here.’

Madelene turned towards Kathleen and spoke directly to her.

‘My love, I succeeded in keeping our relationship secret for so long, and I knew I would be vilified if those bitches revealed it. You received photos that proved someone knew about us. You should have told me, because I was sent them too. So maybe I’m at fault for not confiding in you.’

‘What’s a few photos got to do with anything?’ Lottie asked, blinking with confusion.

Madelene continued to address Kathleen, slapping the blade’s flat side against her trouser leg. ‘I couldn’t live with the shame of it becoming known. You know how I feel. Maybe I’m old fashioned in that respect, but to be outed… it would destroy me.’

Lottie fought hard to understand Madelene’s reasoning. There was no shame in being gay. How could that idea lead the woman to murder?