Chapter 52
The afternoon light was dimming when Kirby returned to the office.
‘Nice of you to join us,’ Lottie said.
‘Sorry, boss, I went home for a few minutes, to eat.’ He looked at Boyd. ‘Sergio was in from school. You’ve a great kid there.’
Boyd shifted uncomfortably. Kirby knew it was because he’d seen his son while Boyd wouldn’t be with him till later.
Glancing around the room, his eyes landed on Martina’s jacket and belt on the back of her chair.
‘Did she not come back, Lei?’
‘Martina? No. I told you she got a call and left. Haven’t seen her since.’
‘I’ll try her mobile.’
‘What’s going on?’ Lottie stepped into his space.
Kirby began to sweat. Had he fucked up? He listened to the call go to voicemail. No sign of Sam McKeown either. No, Martina couldn’t be with him. She hated him.
‘Did she not come back at all after that, Lei?’
‘No. I’d say she’s stocking up on food in case it’s late when we knock off here.’
‘Where’s McKeown?’
‘No idea. I doubt she’s with him.’
Lottie put her hands on her hips. ‘Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?’
Kirby shifted his belt a bit. After eating two ketchup-covered sausage sandwiches at home, it was cutting into his belly. He felt he shouldn’t be worried for Martina, but he was.
‘It’s unlike Martina to go off grid like this,’ he told Lottie. ‘You know we were following up on Liam Scanlan like you asked us to?’
‘I’m tired, not stupid,’ she said. ‘You couldn’t find him last time I checked.’
‘Yeah, we spoke with the bar staff.’
‘What has a bar got to do with anything?’ She looked royally pissed off.
Kirby began to fumble his words before he mustered conviction into his tone. ‘The bar is located beneath Scanlan’s apartment. Anyhow, Clarice said she’d let us know if he came back.’
‘Who the hell is Clarice?’
‘The barmaid. Nice girl, a bit out there, if you know what I mean.’
‘I don’t, but go on.’
‘That’s it. Wait a sec. Martina gave Clarice her number to call if he came in. Maybe she phoned and that could be the call Lei said Martina got. I better get back there.’
‘Before you go off, you need to phone this Clarice to see if she contacted Martina.’
‘Ehm, shit.’
‘What now?’
‘I don’t have her number.’
Lottie’s eyes were on fire. ‘You and Lei get up to the pub and check it out. Now, Kirby.’
‘What’s that about, Boyd?’ Lottie asked, confusion knitting her brow into a scowl.
‘No idea. Kirby’s right, though. It’s not like Martina to go off on her own like that.’
‘Okay, we won’t worry unless he returns empty-handed. Meanwhile, I want everything we can find on Dermot Macken and his smelly chicken farm. I don’t trust him.’
‘Don’t trust him? Or the smell?’
‘Both. I asked Martina to check him out when McKeown didn’t answer my call.
Where the hell is he?’ She didn’t wait for an answer.
‘And I only half believe Christy Kearny. He strikes me as the sort of man who would have gone into the house and checked on the family after seeing Cameron dead through the window.’
‘If he had killed them, he could use that as an alibi if we found traces of him in the house. But we have no evidence that he actually went in.’
‘Anything back from forensics?’
‘Latest is that whoever strangled Caroline and Freya wore gloves. Further analysis is being carried out.’
‘Kind of figures, seeing as there were no fingerprints or DNA on their necks, but surely there has to be some transference on their clothing, the bed, even the pillows.’ She began to pace, frustration in every footstep. ‘We’re missing something, Boyd, and I can’t see it.’
‘We need to find out more about Caroline and Sadie’s youth,’ he said.
‘I can’t understand why Alice offered up that piece of information.’
‘Maybe she thinks Sadie was involved in the murders.’
‘Yep.’ Lottie was thinking how Sadie hadn’t been drinking at the party and could have slipped sedation into the Healys’ drinks. ‘It might do no harm to see if Thomas Clarke knows anything of his wife’s past.’