Chapter 54
Thomas Clarke was a lot brighter than the sobbing drunk Lottie had encountered earlier. Barefoot, he left the door open for her to follow him inside. He pounded around his pencil-sharp kitchen like a man possessed.
‘Thomas. Sit down.’ She’d had her fill of men and wanted to go home to soak in a bubble bath.
Just a bath, never mind the bubbles. To hell with that, she’d settle for a shower.
Hot, scalding. To wash away the stench of the chicken farm.
The stench of the investigation. It was frustrating her more and more, and she didn’t like impassable roads with dead ends.
Not to talk of a missing mother and daughter.
His eyes blazed as he ceased his pacing and she wondered if he’d taken something illicit.
‘What do you want this time?’ He flexed his fingers into fists and out again, his knuckles white from the exertion. ‘I’ve told you everything. And you’ve done bugger-all to find my family. You’re wasting time coming here talking bullshit with me. That’s not police work, that’s incompetence.’
‘Take it up with Superintendent Farrell, but I still need to talk with you. About Sadie. And Caroline.’
‘I wish we’d never set eyes on that family. Everything was fine until they walked into my home.’
‘Yet you had an affair with Caroline.’ She couldn’t help herself.
‘How many times do I have to tell you?’ He tugged at his hair, exasperated. ‘I did not have anything to do with that woman. Where’s my little girl, Inspector? That’s what you should be talking about. Where is my little girl and my wife?’
‘Maximum resources have been assigned to find them and to the murder investigation. But I need background information. Sometimes that’s what helps us see our way through and reach a positive conclusion.’
‘All right.’ His breathing calmed. ‘Ask your questions.’
‘When and where did you and Sadie meet?’
‘Years ago. She was working as a receptionist in a doctor’s surgery. She was beautiful. Got talking, started dating. The rest is history.’
‘Did you know anything about her life before she met you?’
‘A little. She didn’t speak much about it. I got the impression it was painful for her and I didn’t press her.’
‘What was the little she told you?’
‘Do you want a coffee?’ He looked around the sterile kitchen.
‘No thanks. Go on.’
He took an empty mug from the cupboard but didn’t make a beverage. ‘Right. She said she was an orphan. Her parents died within a short time of each other. Her mother from an aggressive form of cancer, father had a heart attack twelve months later.’
‘Her schooling? College? Know anything about that?’
‘Far as I’m aware, she didn’t go to college. She used to live in Dublin and said her parents hadn’t much money. Council house, she said. She had to give it up after they died, moved around a lot, rented bedsits, then came to Ragmullin and started working.’
‘I’m not sure that story is entirely true,’ Lottie said.
‘That’s all I know. What do you expect from me?’
‘I just thought you could fill in the blanks.’
‘You are unbelievable. My daughter and wife are missing and you’re here talking ancient history. No wonder you haven’t found them.’ He slammed down the empty mug and stormed out to his office. She followed.
‘I think I’ve hit a nerve, Thomas,’ she said, leaning against the wall.
He shook his head slowly and moved around the desk. He sat on the Eames chair, nursing a mug of cold coffee he’d found on the desk. He seemed to need to be holding something. ‘I didn’t really know my wife, did I?’
‘That appears to be the case. I have further investigation to do, but I’ve been told that when Sadie was maybe thirteen, she spent time in a place called Oak House, an institution for young offenders.’
He almost dropped the mug in shock. ‘What the fuck? That’s ridiculous. Who made this allegation?’
‘I can’t tell you at present, but I promise I will when I know more.’
His head lolled and Lottie thought he had tears in his eyes, or maybe it was splashes of his cold coffee.
‘Sadie was always a bit icy with me, but I was besotted from the minute I set eyes on her. And when Lily came along, she focused all her love on our daughter. I admit I wasn’t a great husband.
Sadie brought out the worst in me. It’s not an excuse.
I’m sorry. But I’m a good father and I want her and Lily back. ’
‘And you know nothing of Sadie’s younger life?’
‘Not a thing.’
‘Any paperwork that might help us?’
‘There’s nothing that I know of.’
‘And did you have an affair with—’
‘How many times do I have to tell you?’ Anger flashed across his face in a red-hot flush. ‘I never had an affair with Caroline Healy.’
She was inclined to believe him, but still. ‘The text messages appear to contradict that.’
‘There are more people with the initial T than me. Look, Caroline and Sadie were thick as thieves. Inseparable. It would have been impossible for me to have an affair with Caroline.’
‘Could they have known each other before they met here?’
‘Seeing as you think you know more about my wife than I do, perhaps you can answer that.’
Lottie pulled a chair from under the desk and sat opposite Thomas, who had shrunk into his fancy recliner. ‘We think Sadie and Caroline met as teenagers. In Oak House.’
‘The young offenders place you mentioned?’ The flush faded, leaving a sickly hue on his face.
‘Yes.’
He remained silent so long, Lottie thought he’d fallen asleep with his eyes open.
‘Like I said, Inspector, I didn’t know my wife at all.’
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She slid it out halfway and snuck a glance at it. Garda Lei. She killed the call.
‘Thomas, we’ve been through your house, garage and garden. We found nothing to help us. Is there anywhere Sadie might hide anything she didn’t want you to see?’
‘I don’t know. And that’s the truth. But you’re welcome to search the place again, and I’ll have a look around too.’
Her phone went off again.
‘I better get this.’