Page 166 of Three Widows

‘I’m so sorry.’

‘For what?’ He felt his stomach muscles clench. This was it. The confession. How she had used him for information. He really liked her, and now she was about to destroy that little bit of happiness she’d brought into his life.

‘For not being honest with you from the start.’

‘About Frankie Bardon being your ex?’

‘I didn’t think that was relevant to us. No, it’s the rest…’

Kirby scratched his chin nervously. ‘You don’t have to talk about it now.’

‘I do, if we are to have any chance…’

‘Chance of what?’ Maybe all would not be lost.

‘Us. A relationship.’

‘Okay, fine. Did you only meet up with me to get information?’

Her eyes never left his. She was one strong lady.

‘Not really. I didn’t stalk you or anything like that, but I knew you were a detective. I knew you from the television appeal you put out for Tyler Keating a year ago. It was coming up to the one-year anniversary and I decided to get close to you to see if I could be brave enough to tell you what I’d learned.’

‘And what was that?’ His voice wavered. Had she been more involved than Madelene had admitted? Was sweet Amy the reason Tyler was still missing?

‘I knew some of what he’d been involved in before he went missing. I resigned a good job because of him. I was terrified to open my mouth about the property he’d hoodwinked from grieving widows. Orla claimed he coerced her, and swore the group to secrecy. I was a little scared of her, so perhaps she really was complicit in his deeds all along.’

‘Why didn’t you come forward at the time of Tyler’s disappearance?’

‘I was terrified. I thought that if I spoke up, he’d come after me.’

‘Did you not suspect that he was dead, or had absconded abroad?’

‘I didn’t know what to think. Then when I was ready to talk to you, the murders started.’

‘You thought he might have returned to commit them?’

‘That, or he was dead and someone else was out for revenge.’

‘Revenge on those who’d kept quiet at the time?’

‘Or someone who wanted the truth to remain hidden.’

‘You should have talked to me.’

‘I’m sorry. I took the easy way out when I left Bowen’s. I was already damaged from Frankie… and from before, as a child. Look, I’m not trying to get sympathy.’

‘Kathleen Foley says you asked her to invest in Owen’s studio. Why did you do that?’

‘Frankie knew Kathleen had fostered me as a child. He thought she was loaded. Somehow he knew she had owned two properties, despite Tyler having stolen one from her. He said if I didn’t convince her, he would make me pay. I knew what he meant by that, so I begged her. I’m sorry, Larry. I should have spoken up sooner.’

‘That’s okay.’ He leaned back in the chair.

‘When Jennifer was murdered, I truly believed Tyler was back. She knew all about the fraud. When she was clearing out her husband’s desk at Bowen’s, she found the boxes of files, copies of his and Tyler’s deceitful corruption. She believed that the stress of what he was involved in caused Damien’s cancer.’

‘You really should have told me all this.’ He didn’t add that it might have helped save lives. He could see in her bloodshot eyes that she knew that already.

‘Do you hate me?’