Page 81 of Three Widows

‘I can guarantee you there’s nothing in it to concern you.’

‘You know the file I want. Open it.’

Reluctantly Madelene took the bunch of keys from her desk and opened the cabinet. ‘Be my guest.’

‘Be my guest. That’s so like you. Sarcastic cow.’

Madelene sat back down and nudged her briefcase containing the offending file further under the desk. Out of sight, out of mind.

The slam of the drawer lifted her out of her musings.

‘Where is it?’

‘I told you, I destroyed it.’

‘You should not have done that.’ The visitor came to stand behind Madelene’s desk, leaning over, hand on the back of the chair, and spoke into her ear. ‘Two women have been murdered. Does that not scare you? It scares me, I can tell you. You may not know how many you are putting in danger by your silence, but I guarantee it’s a lot more than the two who have already died.’ Straightening, they moved to stand in front of her. ‘These murders are on your head, and I can guarantee if the guards zero in on me, I won’t hesitate to drop your name right into their investigation.’

‘Is that a warning?’

‘It’s a threat. You have until the end of the day to get me that file.’

Madelene braced herself for the door to be slammed, but the visitor slipped out of the office as silently as they had entered. Only then did she let out a long, relieved breath.

She needed to read that file again. Then she would destroy it. And after that she’d ensure there was absolutely nothing left on any computer or server that could implicate her firm.

Someone had talked and awakened a murderer.

52

Kirby was accosted by a man who introduced himself as Ted the furniture man.

‘Do you have CCTV here, Ted?’

‘I hardly have the money to put a lock on the door.’

‘Notice anyone around Mrs O’Loughlin’s unit recently?’

‘I mind my own business. I’m not a busybody.’

‘Thanks, anyway.’ He made to move off.

Ted tugged him back. ‘You might want to talk to the missus. Nothing gets past her.’

‘Is she here?’

‘Gone up the road to the garage for a sandwich. She’ll be back soon. That’s if she doesn’t bump into someone willing to listen to her gossip.’

‘I hope she doesn’t spread the word about what’s going on here.’

‘No one told her not to, and even if they had, it wouldn’t make any difference. My missus listens to no one, and that includes me.’ He stomped back into his shop.

Kirby scratched his head, trying to make sense of Ted’s words, then smiled to himself. He headed to the lock-up and met Grainne as she was handing over to a member of her team.

‘I’ve to return to the lake,’ she said.

‘We need you here. This could be a crime scene.’

‘There’s no evidence of blood or criminal activity in the work space. Just the car, which seems to have been deep-cleaned. I’ve ordered it to be brought in for further examination. You might be able to download something from its GPS.’ She snapped her case shut and looked up at him. ‘Get one of your tech team to do it.’