Page 29 of Three Widows

He shut up as the door swung open. A teenager stood there. She had hoops in her ears and a multitude of bangles on both arms.

‘You must be Bianca,’ Lynch said gratefully.

‘I’m relieved you came,’ the girl said. ‘The little ones are so upset. Yes, I’m Bianca Tormey, and this munchkin is Becky.’ She pointed to the girl holding her hand tightly. ‘Roman is in the living room on his iPad. Little madam here won’t leave my side. Have you any news on Éilis?’

Lynch’s head swam. Bianca and Garda Lei both talked nineteen to the dozen. ‘This is a beautiful room.’ She couldn’t help herself commenting on the kitchen decor as she tried to lighten the sombre mood. She looked at the dog in the child’s arms. ‘And who is this lad?’

‘Mozart,’ Becky said. ‘He’s tired.’

Catching Bianca’s side-eye glance, Lynch gathered she wasn’t to go there. ‘He’s cute.’

‘Do you want to sit down?’ Bianca said. ‘Sorry the table is a mess. The kids fed themselves and I haven’t had time to clean up.’

‘Don’t worry about it.’ Lynch sat awkwardly at the glass table. Garda Lei followed suit. Bianca sat with Becky on her knee.

‘Becky?’ Lynch said. ‘Would you like to go play with your brother while I talk with Bianca?’

‘He won’t let me play with him. I want Mammy.’ The child bit down on her lip and failed to stop the tears falling. ‘Where is she? Will you find her? I’m afraid.’

‘Don’t be afraid, petal. Myself and Garda Lei will bring her home. When did you last see her?’

‘She put on the light and woke me up. She gave me a kiss and told me to go back to sleep, and now she’s gone.’

Bianca rubbed the child’s arm. ‘Shush now, Becky. No need to cry.’ Looking directly into Lynch’s eyes, she said, ‘Éilis was home around a quarter past eleven last night. I was babysitting the children. They were as good as gold. Both asleep by nine. She paid me and let me out the front door. A little while ago, Roman rang me from her phone.’ She glanced at the counter. ‘I put it back where he found it.’

‘Do you know the PIN?’

‘Roman knows,’ Becky said.

‘Will you get your brother for me?’

The little girl slid off Bianca’s knee and ran from the room.

‘Her bag is here too.’ The teenager leaned back and took it from the counter. ‘Bank cards and cash. I checked. It doesn’t make sense.’

Lynch nodded. ‘Are her keys here?’

‘Yes, they’re in the dish where she always leaves them.’

Lynch got up to look at a wedding photograph on the wall. ‘Is this her husband?’

‘Yeah, Oisín. He died three years ago.’

Returning to the table, she said, ‘Could Éilis have gone out for a run and got delayed somewhere?’ The woman in the photo struck her as someone who worked out regularly.

‘I’ve never seen her out jogging. She does yoga, though. I babysit for an hour on Monday and Wednesday evenings when she goes to her class.’

‘What’s it called?’

‘I haven’t a clue.’

‘Did you check with any of Éilis’s friends to see if they’d know where she might be?’

‘I called her friend Helena. They were out together last night. Fallon’s bar, I think. Éilis probably got a taxi home, because she didn’t bring her car with her. It’s still outside.’

‘Has she any other friends?’

‘I only ever heard her talk about the women she meets on these Thursday nights. Jennifer was another one of them, but Helena said she hadn’t been there for over a month.’