Page 98 of Three Widows

In the car, he patted his pocket, reassuring himself that he had Sergio’s passport, then sent a text to Chloe informing her he wouldn’t need her today. He hoped Lottie didn’t find out about Jackie before he had a chance to talk to her. He loved her too much to lose her because of his interfering ex-wife. And no matter what, he could not lose his son.

He’d sort this out himself.

It was his mess to fix.

64

The boss had asked for an update on whether Orla Keating or Helena McCaul had been sighted since they’d left the council car park yesterday. Kirby, late again, slid in beside Garda Brennan as McKeown spoke up.

‘I’ve trawled CCTV from the surrounding area. The car turned right out of the car park and headed towards the canal area. At the junction, it turned left. We got images from Millie’s garage when it stopped at the lights there. Then it went straight on when the lights turned green. After that, I haven’t got anything else. Neither of them were home when I checked yesterday evening.’

‘Send someone to check again. They can’t just disappear into thin air. Any updates on the two murder victims?’

Lynch said, ‘We have a lot of data in from the public. Garda Brennan and Lei are coordinating the response and bringing me anything that might give us a clue. So far, not much to report.’

‘Keep at it, everyone.’

When Lottie entered her office and closed the door, Kirby rushed out to the yard and lit a cigar. He had texted Amy last night to make sure she’d got home okay, but she must have gone straight to sleep, because she didn’t reply. He texted her again now. Still nothing.

‘Fuck it.’ He phoned her rather than texting. It rang out.

He checked the time, recalling that she’d said she had the early shift this morning, which had been her reason for not staying the night with him. He stubbed out his cigar, but was unable to quench the sudden trickle of fear that shot goosebumps up on his skin. A murderer had targeted two women in the town over the last two days. And now he couldn’t contact Amy. Was he right to feel unsettled? Or was he being totally irrational? Amy had known about the Life After Loss group, but she had shot down the conversation. He had to talk to someone.

Back inside, he caught up with Lynch as she came down the stairs.

‘There’s another woman who knew about the Life After Loss group. Amy Corcoran.’ He paused to catch his breath before launching again. ‘She mentioned it in conversation, though she didn’t say she’d been involved. Bianca Tormey, Éilis Lawlor’s babysitter, works with her at Dolan’s supermarket. I can’t reach Amy this morning.’

‘Slow down. What are you talking about?’

So he told her about Amy and their conversation last night.

‘She isn’t a widow,’ Lynch stated.

‘No, but she said she went through a messy relationship break up.’

‘And what has that to do with our murdered women?’

Kirby watched Lynch lean against the wall, studying him. He wavered under her perceptive gaze.

‘I told you. She knew about the group.’

‘I’m sure a lot of people know about it.’

‘If we’re going down the route that women who were in this group are being targeted by the murderer, I think Amy might be in danger.’

‘You have no proof she was actually in the group, have you?’

‘No, but—’

‘You’re panicking over nothing.’

‘I called her a taxi home late last night. I can’t reach her. There’s this guy she works with. Luke Bray. He’s been harassing her at work. What if he’s got her and he’s our killer?’

Lynch pulled away from the wall and stepped into his space. He looked down at her hand on his arm. ‘Kirby, I’ve known you for a long time. You are a pain in the arse, but I like you. We get on. We think the same way, most of the time. But this time you are making massive leaps where there’s nothing to jump over.’

‘I have this weird feeling. Something isn’t right.’

‘She might be at work and forgot her phone, or something as simple as that.’