Chapter 82

82

There was no way Kirby would enter the house alone. He indicated for Garda Lei to join him. Lei was good with kids.

The child brought them into a cramped living room. A dining table with six chairs at one end, and a tatty cream leather couch piled with cushions at the other. A flat-screen television took up most of one wall, the only item that looked any way new. Kirby perched on one of the dining chairs while Lei sat on the couch beside the boy.

‘Rex, you say your name is?' Kirby said. The child nodded. ‘Where are your parents?'

‘Work.'

‘Okay. Shouldn't you be at school?'

A shrug.

‘Are you often home alone?'

A nod.

‘What age are you?'

‘Seven.'

Kirby thought of Sergio, who was eight. There was no way on earth Boyd would leave him home alone. ‘Do you not have friends you could stay with when your mammy and daddy are at work?'

‘Not really. They'll be home soon anyhow.'

‘What's your mammy and daddy's names?'

The boy shook his head. He wasn't telling.

‘What's your surname? Rex who?'

A shrug of a shoulder but again no answer.

‘Okay.' Kirby glanced at Lei and hesitated. Should they wait for the parents? It might be nothing. The kid might not have seen anything. He might not even be the kid they were looking for. But he had to go for it and suffer the consequences later.

‘Rex, I don't want to scare you…'

‘I'm scared of nothing.'

‘Good. I'm wondering if you were out early last Friday morning? You know, before your parents got up?'

The boy dropped his head and bit his lip. ‘I'm not supposed to do that.'

‘You're not in any trouble. I think you can be a big help to us. How does that sound?'

‘Is it about the woman?'

Kirby felt his heart beat a little faster. ‘What woman would that be?'

‘The dead woman lying on the ground at the cinema.'

‘Jesus.' He had the word out before he caught it. ‘Yes, Rex. I'm wondering if you saw her?'

He looked towards the window with its heavy curtains drawn, blocking out the natural light. ‘She was just lying there. She wouldn't talk to me because she was dead.'

‘Okay. Good lad. What did you do?'

The boy leaned his head to one side and looked at Garda Lei beside him. ‘Are you Chinese?'

‘I'm Irish, but my grandparents are Chinese.'

‘That's so cool.'

Kirby nodded for Lei to continue the conversation, all the time fretting that they should not be quizzing a child without his parents' knowledge. But hadn't they left the lad to fend for himself?

‘You're such a brave boy,' Lei said. ‘How would you like to help us find out what happened to the poor lady?'

‘Can I go in a squad car? With the sirens on?'

‘We could arrange that for you sometime, if your parents allow it.'

Rex dropped his head and fiddled with his nails. Kirby noticed they were clean. The boy appeared well cared for, but he wasn't at school and was home on his own.

‘They'll say no,' Rex said eventually.

‘Why would they say that?' Lei asked quietly.

‘They're always fighting. I'm just a nuisance.'

‘No you're not. You're a great kid and you're able to help the guards.'

‘Really?'

‘Sure you are.' Lei inclined his head towards Kirby without verbalising his question. Kirby nodded.

‘We'll need to call your mam or dad now,' he said, ‘to see if it's okay to talk to you.'

Rex sprang up quickly.

‘You better go,' he said. ‘Mammy will kill me for letting you into this house.'

The way he said it, Kirby figured the child did not like his home. ‘Why do you say that? Did you live somewhere before?'

Rex sat back down and curled up into himself. ‘Leave me alone.'

Kirby felt they had to leave, even though the child was a viable witness. Should he call social services? He didn't know what to do, but the boss would.

‘Don't worry, Rex, we're going now. We'll come back later when your parents are here. Okay?'

The brown eyes bored into him. ‘Don't tell them I let you in. Don't tell them. Please.'

‘I won't say a word.'

Out on the pavement, Kirby saw McKeown storming towards them.

‘Here comes trouble,' he whispered to Lei.

‘Where did you two lugs disappear to?' McKeown's face was purple, incandescent.

‘We found the boy,' Kirby said.

Staring from one to the other and back again, McKeown threw his hands in the air. ‘Where is he, then?'

‘He lives in there, but we need to wait until his parents come home to question him.'

‘That's a load of bollox. Phone them. What are their names?'

‘Rex wouldn't say.'

‘Who the fuck is Rex? The dog?' The top of McKeown's head looked like someone had set a match to it.

‘No. The kid is called Rex. That's all we know.' Kirby eyed Lei with an expression that told him to say nothing.

‘How do you know he's the kid we're searching for if he said nothing?'

McKeown wasn't stupid. Kirby toyed with what to tell him. ‘Look, we need to speak to the boss first. Okay.'

‘What did you do, Kirby? What the fuck did you do?'

‘I need to talk to the boss.'

He waddled down the path, waving his phone in the air. He headed towards where McKeown had parked the car. A few neighbours were pulling up in theirs. There was no sign of anyone going into the house where Rex sat on his cracked cream leather couch. Alone.