The Silent Speak

by Val Collins

  ‘Where are you sending her?’ Derek asked.

  ‘I don’t know yet. I’ve her name down for half a dozen schools, but there are so many things to consider. I’d prefer she went to a private school, but her dad’s not keen. Even Conor doesn’t seem to think it’s a good idea.’

  ‘Our girls started off in the local national school, but they’re going to the convent now.’

  ‘But don’t make the mistake we made,’ Derek said. ‘If I were you, Aoife, I’d put her straight into the convent. I’ve seen what goes on with young kids these days, and the longer you can keep her away from boys, the better.’

  Jenny grinned at Aoife. ‘This is what happens when you marry a policeman. They see danger everywhere. If Derek had his way, the girls would have a police escort every time they left the house.’

  Derek smiled. ‘I can’t say I wouldn’t like it. But, as that’s not an option, the convent’s the next best thing.’

  ‘Wouldn’t Amy be better off in a mixed school, at least until she reaches her teens, especially as she has no brothers?’

  ‘That’s what I thought,’ Jenny said. ‘And it’s why the girls went to a mixed primary school, but Derek thinks we made a mistake. Caoimhe decided this boy in her class was her “boyfriend” when she was eleven. She’s fourteen now and they still claim they’re in love.’

  ‘That’s my point,’ Derek said. ‘Fourteen is far too young to have a serious boyfriend, and Caoimhe would never have met him if she’d gone to the convent from the beginning.’

  ‘She’ll probably get tired of him pretty soon and move on to some other young lad.’

  Derek frowned. ‘I doubt it. Caoimhe’s her mother’s daughter. Once she commits to somebody or something, she’ll stick with it to the bitter end.’

  ‘The bitter end! My God, Derek. Don’t be so gloomy. Come on, let’s dance.’

  ‘Jenny, no! You know I’m a terrible dancer.’

  ‘Anyone can slow-dance. Just put your arms around me and shift from one foot to the other. You’ll be fine.’

  She dragged a reluctant Derek onto the dance floor. Aoife was just thinking Derek had quite a good sense of rhythm when two hands landed on her shoulder. ‘Come on! Quick!’ Conor led her on to the dance floor.

  She put both her arms around his neck and swayed to the music. ‘You know you can’t avoid Derek all night?’

  ‘I know. I’ll go back to the table with you. Mike’s promised to rescue me after fifteen minutes. Give me a sign if you need a break, and I’ll tell them I have to introduce you to somebody.’

  ‘No, I don’t get enough opportunity to talk to Jenny, and Derek is okay. He’s not exactly the life of the party, but he means well.’

  ‘Yeah, I know.’ Conor waved at Derek and Jenny as they left the dance floor. ‘I’m glad he’s on my team, but I can’t spend an entire night with him. He’s so proper, I have to censor all our conversations. Last year I said one of the lads was driving me crazy and Derek looked shocked. He said the guy’s wife had just given birth to twins and, very subtly because he never forgets I’m his boss, gave me a ten-minute lecture on tolerance.’

  Aoife laughed. ‘That will teach you.’

  ‘He was right, of course, but I haven’t been able to have a non-work-related conversation with him since. I can’t live up to his standards.’

  Aoife drew away to look at him. ‘That’s it! I’ve been trying to work out the dynamics between Derek and the team. He’s like the grandfather, isn’t he? He’s not in charge, so he doesn’t feel the need to be involved. Everybody respects him, but they’d rather play with their friends.’

  ‘Oh my God! You see us as little boys?’

  ‘Not you. You’re more like an older brother—older and wiser than your years but you’re still one of the lads.’ She nodded over at a group of Conor’s colleagues who were now nudging each other and pointing at a young girl a few tables away. ‘When some of that lot have a few drinks on them, they act like ten-year-olds.’

  Conor laughed. Drawing her closer, he said, ‘You may have a point there, but it might be as well not to say it too loudly.’

  They stayed on the dance floor until it got to the stage where their continued absence might be viewed as a deliberate attempt to avoid Derek and Jenny. Derek stood as Conor approached and offered his hand.

  ‘Detective Inspector.’

  ‘Conor, please. We’re not on duty now, Derek. I’ve never seen you dance before. You’ve been holding out on us.’

  ‘Thank you!’ Jenny said. ‘I’ve been trying to convince him he’s a good dancer for years.’

  ‘My dancing years are far behind me, darling.’

  ‘Derek Lehane, in the sixteen years we’ve been married, the only time you voluntarily danced with me was on our wedding day. When exactly were your dancing years?’

  Derek smiled but he didn’t reply. ‘This might be a good time for me to give you an update on your cases, Detective.’

  Aoife held her breath, but Conor shook his head. ‘I don’t think this is the place, Derek.’

  ‘Oh, don’t worry about me,’ Jenny said. ‘Derek tells me everything.’

  ‘Really? Conor doesn’t even mention his work to me.’

  ‘I don’t tell you everything, darling.’ Derek looked a little uncomfortable. ‘I answer your questions.’

  Aoife sniffed. ‘Conor certainly doesn’t answer mine.’

  ‘Well, you’re not married yet. Jenny and I have been a team for a long time. She takes care of our kids, our finances and’—he patted his slightly protruding stomach—‘my middle-aged spread. I know I can trust her not to talk about my work.’

  ‘You don’t trust me, Conor?’

  ‘I trust my partner,’ he said. ‘I’m not so sure about the reporter.’

  ‘You’re a reporter? Jenny said you worked in an office.’

  ‘I’m a part-time office worker and a part-time freelance journalist.’

  Derek gave her a wary look. ‘That’s completely different. It’s a conflict of interest. It’s something that will always be between you, I’m afraid.’

  ‘I’m sure they’ll work it out, Derek. Come on, Aoife. Let’s go to the bar and have a drink. We’ll leave these two to discuss their cases in peace.’

  *

  ‘They’ll be discussing the Grogan case,’ Aoife said when they had finally managed to attract the barman’s attention. ‘How well did you know Shane?’

  ‘Not very well. He hardly ever came to our meetings. Fiona must have talked him into joining. I think he felt odd being the only guy in the group.’

  ‘I often meant to ask you about that. Why aren’t there any guys?’

  ‘It was originally set up as a women’s literary fiction group, and I guess that doesn’t have a lot of appeal for men.’

  ‘Did Fiona come to the meetings often?’

  ‘About once every three or four months. She was desperate to join a book club, but I don’t think ours would have been her first choice. She didn’t really share our taste in books. Whenever she turned up, she tried to convert us to genre fiction. It’s a good thing Ruth wasn’t at most of those meetings. Blood would have been shed.’ Jenny covered her mouth with both hands. ‘I can’t believe I said that.’

  Aoife winced. ‘It doesn’t bear thinking about.’ She sipped her drink. ‘I didn’t even know Conor and Derek were investigating the case. Did you?’

  ‘Yes. A case like that wouldn’t go to anybody else. Conor is the lead investigator. He gets all the big cases.’

  Aoife felt a tiny glow of pride. ‘He is very good at his job.’

  ‘They both are.’

  ‘Yes, of course. I didn’t mean—’

  Jenny put a hand on Aoife’s arm. ‘Don’t mind me. I’m prickly where Derek is concerned. Mostly guilt, I think.’

  ‘Guilt?’

  ‘I was the one who talked Derek into moving to Dublin. If he’d stayed in Limerick, he’d be the one in charge.’

  ‘You couldn’t have li
ved in Bodyke forever, Jenny. It’s barely a village.’

  ‘I know, although Derek’s commute was a lot shorter than it is now. Still, if we’d stayed there, the girls would have left home at seventeen and we’d barely ever see them again. Now they’ll live with us while they’re in college and probably until they’re a few years in their first job. It was the best decision for the family, but sometimes I wonder if I gave enough thought to Derek’s feelings.’

  ‘Derek is a detective in Harcourt Street. Every detective in the country would kill to work there. You can’t compare it to a garda station in Limerick.’

  ‘He’s a small fish in a big, flashy pond. It’s not the same as being in charge, is it? Sometimes I wonder if he resents me.’

  ‘That’s silly, Jenny. Anybody can see he adores you, and sometimes you have to take a step back in your career in order to move forward. It will all work out in the end.’

  ‘I hope you’re right.’

  ‘Conor said Derek did a brilliant interview last time and, according to one of the interview panel, there were only two points between them. Derek almost became the Detective Inspector. The next time there’s a promotion, he’s bound to get it.’

  ‘I really hope so. Derek’s career is very important to him.’

  ‘It’s always difficult when you feel your career has stalled. Or in my case, when it’s barely started. Although I have some good news. I’ve been offered an exclusive interview with the Grogan family.’

  ‘That’s brilliant, Aoife. I’m glad to see you pushing ahead with journalism. How did you get them to speak to you? I thought they refused to give any interviews.’

  ‘They’re doing it in return for me finding Shane’s killer.’

  ‘But Shane killed himself.’

  ‘His sister doesn’t think so.’

  ‘Yes, well, I can understand that. I barely knew him and I was absolutely stunned. Shane was always so happy and outgoing. Not at all the lunatic type.’

  ‘I’m going to have to interview everyone they ever spoke to. I thought I’d start with the book club.’

  ‘You want to interview me?’

  ‘At some stage, yes. Or do you want to do it now?’

  Jenny glanced over at Derek. ‘They look very serious. I think they’ll be there for a while.’ She put her drink down on the bar. ‘Ask away.’

  ‘What can you tell me about Shane?’

  ‘He hated literary fiction, and I never heard him say a single negative thing about any member of his family.’

  ‘What did he say about them?’

  ‘Not much. His eldest wanted a dog for Christmas, but Fiona wasn’t keen on the idea. He asked me if we had ever considered getting a dog and if I thought they would be a lot of work. Once he said his god-daughter was turning thirteen and what did teenage girls like these days. Other than that…’ Jenny shrugged. ‘He only came to the book club a few times.’

  ‘When was the last time you saw him?’

  ‘A few weeks before the murder. It was their turn to host the book club, so they were both there. Fiona had spent months trying to talk us into reading Gone with the Wind and that was the week we were discussing it. When she was a teenager, she had got all caught up in the romance of it and she still loved it. Shane said it was racist crap. The discussion started on WhatsApp, but it almost got out of control at the meeting. I thought some people were going to come to blows. In the middle, Shane disappeared and came back with a birthday cake and champagne. It was the day before Fiona’s fortieth. We had a small, impromptu party. It was a nice evening. I really enjoyed it.’ She laughed. ‘Actually, I enjoyed it a bit too much. I was on my third glass of champagne before I remembered I was driving. I had to get Derek to collect me.’

  The bartender passed them and Jenny motioned that they would like a refill.

  ‘You know, Aoife, the more I think of that night, the harder it is for me to believe Shane could have killed Fiona, let alone the kids.’ She shrugged. ‘But I guess you can’t ever know another person or what’s really going on in their minds.’

  ‘Do you have photos of the party?’

  Jenny took out her phone and opened WhatsApp. She quickly flicked through a bunch of photos. ‘Here.’

  In all there were about twenty photos. Different groups of women smiling for the camera. There were two group photos, one of women with their arms around each other, laughing into the camera, and another of them raising champagne flutes while sitting on a sofa, balancing plates of cake on their knees.

  ‘Which one is Fiona?’

  ‘She isn’t there. These are the photos she took. Shane took some of us too, but I don’t know where they ended up.’

  ‘Do you have a photo of Shane?’

  Jenny flicked through the pictures and handed the phone to Aoife. Shane was better looking than Aoife had imagined. He had Lisa’s chocolate-brown hair, and his eyes were a grey-blue colour. He held a champagne bottle in one hand and was leaning over Jenny’s shoulder to get into the photo. Jenny was holding up a knife that had bits of chocolate cake stuck to it. Both their mouths formed an ‘o’.

  ‘Were you singing?’ Aoife asked.

  Jenny looked at the photo and gave a sad smile. ‘Yes. Shane forgot to get birthday candles, but he had one of those huge round candles left over from Christmas. I cut the cake, Shane popped the champagne, Jenny blew out the candle, and we all sang “Happy Birthday.”’ She picked up her drink. ‘I’ve looked at that photo so many times, trying to see if there was anything in Shane’s eyes that I missed.’

  ‘He looks a lot younger than forty.’

  ‘He was thirty-four. Fiona used to joke she was the only one of us who had a toy boy.’

  ‘Is there anybody in the book club who knew them well?’

  ‘A lot of us knew Fiona, but not Shane. Ruth might be able to tell you about him. She vets all the members. The first time I met her, she said, “Oh, the detective’s wife. I hope you’re not into thrillers.” If there was anything worth knowing about Shane and Fiona, you can be sure Ruth has all the details.’

  *

  Mike came to rescue Conor, and Aoife and Jenny returned to the table. The wary look on Derek’s face settled any doubts Aoife had that he now knew of her planned investigation. There was no chance of getting information from Derek tonight. She would arrange an official meeting for next week. In the meantime, she would work on trying to establish a more relaxed relationship with Derek.

  ‘What made you decide to join the police force, Derek?’

  ‘It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was a child.’

  ‘What appealed to you about it?’

  Derek put his palms together as if he was about to pray. He thought for a few minutes, then said, ‘At first, it was just a kid’s dream, but as I got older, I realised that all the problems in the world were because people don’t obey the law. If nobody ever committed any crimes, the world would be such a peaceful place. Obviously, that will never happen, but I want to do my bit to improve the world by ridding it of as many law-breakers as possible. Of course, in our current system, I can only send them on to the courts, and half the time they’re released in a few years, but if people like me didn’t try, what kind of a place would the world be?’

  ‘So you want to make the world a better place?’

  Derek nodded. ‘Better, and also safer for my family and every other family out there.’

  ‘When you think about it, our jobs are pretty similar, aren’t they?’

  Derek frowned. ‘In what way?’

  ‘We both investigate crimes. We both try to make sure criminals are brought to justice and innocent people are safe in their homes.’

  ‘The difference, Aoife, is that the police are trained to handle investigations. Journalists make our jobs harder.’

  ‘I certainly have no intention of making your job harder.’

  ‘The best way to achieve that is by staying out of the investigation. As Detective Inspector Moloney’s future wife, I want
to offer you all possible assistance. Therefore, when we have apprehended the murderer, I’ll tell you everything I’m at liberty to share with the public and you will have ample information to write a great article several hours before the information is released to the press.’

  ‘Perhaps we could have a brief meeting first? Conor and I have decided it’s best we never discuss this case. I was hoping you could go over the facts with me sometime next week.’

  Derek nodded. ‘Of course. Any information Detective Inspector Moloney clears me to share with you, I’ll be very happy to pass it on.’

  NINE

  Mornings were always a rush for Aoife, so as soon as she came home from work, she changed her clothes and left out her outfit for the following day. The two rooms Amy was drawn to were Aoife’s bedroom and her office. Aoife had put a latch on the office door that Amy couldn’t reach. She didn’t want to deny Amy her bedroom, so she had put a similar latch on the door of the spare room and laid her clothes out each night on the bare mattress.

  It had been after midnight on Thursday when Aoife got home from Conor’s function. Friday morning, she slept through her alarm. As soon as she woke, Aoife jumped out of bed and ran to the shower. Four minutes later, barefoot and wrapped in a towel, she unlatched the door of the spare room. She blinked twice before it registered. The only thing on the bed was a pair of socks. Blaine had struck again.

  Aoife dug through the ironing hamper until she found something crumpled but clean. She dropped off Amy at kindergarten and arrived at the Kildare library just as Lisa approached.

  The library was one of Aoife’s regular haunts. She waved at the librarians as she passed and led Lisa to a long table in a secluded corner. She didn’t know Lisa well enough to invite her to her home, so the library seemed the best option. They had at least an hour before the local primary school kids arrived to choose their book of the week, and they were unlikely to be disturbed by the older kids who had already started their summer holidays. Aoife switched on her computer.