Chapter 68

68

MONDAY

At six a.m., Lottie walked into her kitchen, her coat on over her clothes. It was bloody freezing in the house. The windows had iced over in the night and a white frost glistened on the grass outside. It was so cold her breath hung in the air, a white mist. Inside! She flicked the oil switch again. Not a sound. It couldn't be out of oil already, could it? She scratched her head, thinking. She'd only had it filled at Christmas. Hadn't she? But now the tank must be empty.

She made a coffee and the hot liquid slowly warmed her up. The house was so quiet without Katie and Louis in it. Not that they'd usually be up at this hour, but she always felt their presence. This morning, the house seemed slightly empty. Sean would have to get up for school in an hour. Chloe was in late from work last night, so she'd stay in bed a bit longer. The atmosphere felt depleted.

She was tempted to text Katie to see how they'd got on at Rose's last night. No, leave it for now. She'd call round there this evening and have a heart-to-heart chat. It was time to talk seriously about their living conditions, and about Rose. And then maybe she'd talk to Boyd about pooling resources and see what they could afford. She might even swallow her pride and phone Leo in New York. Maybe. Maybe not.

The first person she bumped into at the station was Garda Lei.

‘I want to revisit all the witness statements,' he said. ‘I should just say statements really, because so far no one has witnessed anything, but we may have overlooked something. You know what I think?—'

‘I have a job for you,' she cut in. Lei would talk all day if allowed to. ‘There's a box and a suitcase in the boot of my car. Can you bring them to the incident room, please? Be careful with the box, it's disintegrating. Then I want you to check every item thoroughly and catalogue them. Let me know if you find anything of interest.'

‘Oh. Right. Sure. Of course. Who do they belong to?'

‘Aneta Kobza.'

‘Who's she?'

Lottie realised she hadn't updated the team on her discovery. ‘Our latest murder victim. She worked at Cuan rehab for a month early last year.'

‘Right so, boss.'

She handed over her car keys and entered the general office. The door opened behind her and McKeown strode in.

‘You're early,' she said, and almost added ‘for a change', but stopped herself in time. No point in antagonising him.

‘Decided to leave home early because of the frost, but the main roads had been gritted, so I had no delays.'

‘I want you to dig up what you can on an Aneta Kobza. And check if her passport has been used in the last year.' She filled him in on the details and asked him to populate the incident board as he worked. ‘See if you can find out anything on her financials. Cuan should be able to tell you what bank they paid her wages into. Check if she had any connection to the escort agency.'

‘Will do.'

As McKeown headed for his desk, Lottie heard Boyd talking to Kirby in the corridor. They were followed in by Garda Brennan.

‘Martina, any update from Diana Nolan?' Lottie asked, taking off her coat.

‘She kicked me out yesterday afternoon. Doesn't want an FLO, so she says.'

‘What caused that reaction?'

‘She'd been out with her grandson and returned after Detective McKeown had left. I just asked her the question he'd intended asking her.'

‘And what was that?'

‘Whether Laura had been in rehab. But she got very uptight and insisted I leave. I believe she's not being totally honest with us.'

‘In relation to what?'

‘I don't know, to tell you the truth. She's been acting weird. I get that people react differently to grief, but something's not quite right in that house. Not one neighbour or friend has visited her. That seems so strange. You'd imagine the place would be overflowing with Tupperware containers of food by now.'

‘Have any of Laura's friends called?'

‘Not a one. Maybe they were a private family and had no contact with other people.'

‘Possibly. Go over what we gleaned from the canvass of their neighbours.'

‘Will do,' Martina said. ‘When Diana came back yesterday, she began ransacking the drawers in the sitting room dresser.'

‘For what?'

‘Don't know.'

‘Where had she been?'

‘She didn't say.'

‘I'll go over there now.' McKeown stood.

‘No, I gave you a job to do. I'll call round later.'

‘Is there anything else you want me to do, besides checking the house-to-house reports?' Martina said.

Lottie thought she caught a satisfied glint in the younger woman's eye at her put-down of McKeown. ‘Help Garda Lei in the incident room. He'll explain.'

She filled Kirby in on the latest developments, then began allocating jobs to the team. ‘We need to uncover all we can about Aneta. Talk to friends, co-workers, neighbours from Hill Point apartments. If her passport wasn't used, then everything indicates she was missing for almost a year.'

Kirby said, ‘And Shannon Kenny is still missing. I spoke with her brother first thing this morning. We need to issue further appeals for information. It's most likely she didn't leave voluntarily.'

‘Not good news,' Lottie agreed. ‘Do what you can and I'll talk to the super to prioritise it. I also need the exact dates Shannon was in Cuan.' She thought of the photo they'd found in Aneta's jeans pocket and turned to McKeown. ‘Would you be able to enhance an old photograph that's faded and creased? I could send it to the tech guys, but I need it in a hurry.'

‘I can have a go at it.'

She handed it to him in a clear plastic folder.

McKeown peered at it. ‘I'll do my best, boss.'

As she went into her own office, she was glad he was projecting positive vibes for a change. She booted up her computer ready to launch into her day.