Page 44 of Three Widows

‘Then keep at it until you do what I asked you to do.’

Kirby didn’t look too happy, Boyd noticed. And he himself was anxious to see Sergio. At least Kirby had a date later. That could only be a good thing for his friend, as long as he was able to escape on time. With Lottie in her current humour, he wouldn’t place any bets on it.

28

The Keatings’ two-storey cottage was located just outside town, close to the cemetery. A row of three sat on their own plots with a vast housing estate behind them. It was evident that the adjoining fields had been snapped up by developers. The cottages were situated a little in from the main road, surrounded by overgrown hedges. A foil against the expansion around them.

Boyd parked outside the house and Lottie stepped onto the gravel driveway, noting dandelions and thistles sprouting through the stones. The cottage too appeared in need of repair.

Orla Keating opened the red-painted door. Dressed in jeans, sharp shoulder bones protruded from a floaty white shirt with pockets in the sides. She wore thick-soled black sandals complemented by smears of black polish on her toenails.

She led them through a narrow tiled hall into a kitchen at the back of the house. Lottie found herself standing amongst a clutter of clothes hanging on a rack and on the backs of chairs, and magazines discarded around the floor. But her eye was drawn through the window to the garden. Flowers were blooming in a raised stone circle flower bed, the lawn was cut, the perimeter bushes neatly trimmed. Beyond, she could see the expanse of the housing estate. It was a big garden, and she thought the kitchen could have been extended. There was barely room for the three of them.

She turned to find Boyd sitting at the small round table and Orla shifting mugs from it to the sink.

‘You have a lovely home,’ Boyd said. Lottie raised her eyebrows.

‘It’s small, but it’s mine,’ Orla said. ‘Or rather, it’s mine and Tyler’s. Would either of you like something to drink?’

‘No thanks,’ Boyd said.

‘Water would be good,’ Lottie said. She pulled out a chair and sat on top of an old House & Home magazine.

Orla placed a tumbler of tap water on the table and sat on the last remaining chair. Definitely not much socialising, if any, went on in this house, Lottie thought.

‘Sorry for the tight squash, but it’s always been just me and Tyler here. Now that he’s gone, I’ve been thinking about moving away, but what if he comes back and can’t find me?’

‘Do you think he will come back?’ Lottie said. There had been no sorrow in the woman’s tone.

‘His body hasn’t been found, so it’s possible he’s still alive and will return one day.’

Lottie noticed Orla shake with an involuntary shiver. ‘Would you be happy if he came back?’

‘Inspector, what are you implying? That I don’t want Tyler home where he belongs?’

‘That’s not what I meant at all.’

‘I’m still worried about him. Only this morning I asked Detective Kirby for an update. Every day Tyler is missing, I fear he will never be found.’ Orla stared hard, and Lottie found herself wondering if she hoped, rather than feared. She continued, ‘Not knowing is worse than knowing. Are you here because you have new information on his case?’

‘I’m sorry,’ Boyd said, ‘that’s not the reason for this visit. We have a few questions for you.’

Her expression lost some of its tightness. ‘Go ahead.’

Lottie noticed that the woman’s eyes were pinned to Boyd’s face, totally ignoring her. All the better to study her then. She’d let Boyd take the lead.

‘You were out with Helena McCaul and Éilis Lawlor last night,’ he said. ‘Is that correct?’

‘Yes. We met up in Fallon’s. I think I stripped my stomach lining with the amount of gin I consumed, but it’s worth it to meet up and talk.’

‘You don’t get out much?’ Lottie couldn’t help herself.

‘Not really. Not socially, anyhow. I work from home and my only outlet is yoga.’

‘You’re an accountant, isn’t that right?’ So much for letting Boyd take the lead, but something about this young woman spiked a reaction in her inquisitive antennae. And it made her impatient to find out what that was.

‘Yes. I’ve worked from home since I married Tyler. He said we didn’t need the expense of an office in town.’

‘And you’re a qualified accountant?’ Lottie pressed.