Chapter 38
The click-clack of her mother’s crutches echoed down the hall. Lottie reckoned she would for ever hear that sound in her sleep. If she ever again enjoyed a good night’s sleep.
In the end, she’d spent the night in Rose’s room, listening to her rabbit on about the old days as if they were the present day.
The ancient sitting room had been reconfigured into a bedroom to avoid Rose having to use the stairs whenever she stayed over.
Some good that had done yesterday. Now her mother would be on an extended stay and needing someone with her at all times.
With Katie in a mood, Lottie would have to phone Rose’s friend Betty to see if she could call over.
Grabbing her mug of coffee and a coat from the back of the door, she escaped outside. The rain had eased during the night, but the yard was one big muddy puddle. Great for Peppa Pig, which made her think of her grandson.
She put the mug on the fence and struggled to get her arms into the sleeves of the jacket, which she realised belonged to Boyd.
Maybe she should drag it through the muck after she’d finished her coffee.
That made her smile. Mr OCD would freak out.
Good enough for him, she thought, not really meaning it. She was getting more childish with age.
She concentrated on the scene around her home in an effort to calm down.
The dawn was as dark as it had been at dusk.
The slate-grey lake in the distance was a mirror image of the awakening sky.
It looked bruised and battered, black and blue.
Her mood was no better. With no sign of the calm she craved, she had an uneasy feeling that something terrible had happened. Maybe she’d had a nightmare.
However, wrapped in Boyd’s warm coat, she felt something like comfort. Like an old friend crushing her in a welcome hug.
The back door opened. She didn’t turn around. If it was her mother in her slippers, traipsing through the mud, she might just scream.
‘Thought I’d find my coat out here,’ Boyd said.
He sounded chipper, so she tried to absorb some of that spirit into her tone. As usual, she failed. ‘Morning. Hope you got more sleep than I did, which wouldn’t be hard seeing as I got very little.’
‘Sorry about that.’
‘Not your fault. I was out of order last night.’
‘Don’t worry. You’re under a lot of pressure and I shouldn’t have imposed myself and Sergio on you. I’ll ask Kirby if we can stay with him. I’m sure Amy won’t mind.’
‘No. Stay here. Please. It’s just work. These murders and the disappearances of Sadie and Lily…’
‘You need a break.’
‘I need a break in the investigations.’
‘Want to talk it through here rather than the stuffy station? It’s a nice fresh morning.’
‘I know the sky is still dark, but there’s a cloud forming out over the lake. In about ten minutes, it’s going to dump a week’s worth of rain on top of us.’
‘That means we have ten minutes.’ He took her mug. ‘Don’t move. I’ll grab two fresh coffees and be right back.’
‘Where’s Mother?’
‘I shepherded her back to bed and brought her in a cup of tea. Sergio went in and is reading to her. She likes him, I think.’
‘She probably thinks he’s her long-lost son.’
‘He’s keeping her calm. She said she’s staying there until dinner time… which will be in an hour, according to her.’
Lottie laughed at the twinkle in his eye. She desperately wanted a hug from him. He went back into the house, picking his steps carefully trying to keep his shoes clean. That brought a further smile to her tired face.
She kept staring at the lake, the wind on her skin awaiting the rain. Boyd returned with the promised coffees and her phone. She sat the mug on the fence again before glancing at the phone screen. A missed call from Chloe during the night. She groaned.
‘What’s up?’ he asked.
‘I can’t be dealing with whatever drama Chloe has now. Maybe I’ll tell her to ring you,’ she said pointedly. ‘After all, you’re the one who got her into the Garda training college.’
‘Now that’s a bit unfair.’
‘Yeah, you’re right. Thanks for the coffee.’
‘No problem,’ he said. ‘Where do we go next with the investigation?’
‘Sadie Clarke is climbing up the suspect list. She didn’t drink at the party, so she could have doctored the drinks.’
‘True.’
‘She appears to be well-off, so why would she need to steal clothes from Caroline?’
‘Maybe they were loaned to her.’
‘They still had the labels on them. Never worn. Makes no sense.’ She couldn’t get her head around it.
‘Could Caroline have sold them to her? If she was strapped for cash?’
‘Was she that hard up? We were told Cam was in debt, though, so we should do a deep dive into their finances.’
‘We need a serious talk with Liam Scanlan,’ Boyd suggested, ‘to find out how Cameron’s accountancy business was really doing. There might be a valid reason why Caroline had to offload her new clothing.’
‘Good idea. After you drop Sergio off, we’ll head to the Healy house for another look before we tackle Scanlan.’
‘You know what, Lottie?’
‘What?’
‘It’s good to see you smile.’