Page 35 of Three Widows

‘I’m worried about their mother. I don’t want to frighten them further, but I want my forensic team to have a quick look around the house. Garda Lei, will you accompany them?’

‘Sure,’ he said.

‘Becky and Roman?’ Bianca said. ‘Want to come to mine while this lady contacts your mum?’

The children were reluctant, but eventually they took her hands and left.

Lottie put in the call to SOCO.

‘Are you being a bit premature with that?’ Boyd said when she finished the call.

‘I don’t like the feeling I’m getting about this. Our murder victim, Jennifer, was part of this social group for widows that Éilis Lawlor apparently founded. And now Éilis is missing. I hope I’m wrong, but…’

‘She might have gone out for a walk and bumped into someone. Maybe they got chatting and she didn’t realise the time.’

‘She has a neighbouring teenager to mind the children. She’d at least have asked Bianca to come over to sit with them.’

‘She might have forgotten to call her. She forgot her phone, after all.’

‘And her wallet and keys? Come on, Boyd. It’s past lunchtime. No way a mother forgets her young children that long.’

She opened the patio door with gloved hands and stepped outside. She made her way to the wooden cabin nestled in the corner of the garden. The door was unlocked. She stepped inside.

It appeared at first glance that no one had disturbed the inside of the woman’s workspace. An Apple Mac computer stood on the desk. She admired the shelving unit with its neatly ordered sample books. Wallpaper, fabric, wood, floor coverings. She peered at the square pieces of carpet pinned to the wall, thinking that one or two looked like remnants from the seventies.

A drawing-board-type desk stood in the corner with a sketch taped to the worktop. A ground-floor design with lots of colour. Lottie liked it. She could only dream. Living in an ancient ramshackle home didn’t give her many options. Lack of funds gave her no options. It frustrated her and she tried not to think about it.

She tapped the mouse, but the computer was switched off. If it came to it, Gary from tech could have a look at it. There was an A4 notebook on the table, the pages bulging with scraps of photos and material. She photographed it in situ with her phone camera, then took it with her to look through later.

Not finding anything out of place or disturbed, she returned to the house.

‘Anything?’ Boyd asked.

‘Not at first sight, but SOCOs can check.’

‘What do you think happened?’

‘The link to Jennifer raises questions I don’t have answers to yet.’ She held out the notebook. ‘It’s her work notes.’

‘Bit old-fashioned, isn’t it?’

‘Probably the best way to examine ideas with her clients. She has a desktop computer. I’ll get Gary to check it out. Kirby or Lynch can contact her clients. Best-case scenario, Éilis had a consultation she’d forgotten about and rushed off without organising Bianca for the children.’

‘Her personal belongings are here and her car is still outside. She’d have had to walk.’

‘True. Someone has to have seen something, unless she left in the middle of the night. Or was taken then. But let’s be optimistic.’

As Boyd went off to organise a canvass of the neighbours, Lottie stared out at the garden, gathering her thoughts. Despite what she’d said, she didn’t feel optimistic. Her gut was telling her that either Éilis Lawlor had been frightened of something that had made her leave her home, abandoning her children. Or, more realistically, that she had been abducted.

Then an awful thought struck her.

What if Éilis had been involved in some way with Jennifer O’Loughlin’s murder? What if she’d heard about the discovery of the body this morning and decided to flee, leaving behind anything that could be used to track her?

It was a possibility she could not ignore.

* * *

Kirby felt buoyed by his chat with Amy. He had a date. Life was looking up for him. Yes!