by Val Collins
*
‘You don’t have to keep apologising, Maura. You do far too much for me already. It’s bad enough you have to take Amy four days while I’m stuck in Accounts. The last thing I want is to inconvenience you.’
‘I really want you to make friends at work. I feel so bad I had to drag you away.’
‘I can talk to Eilis any time. She was the one who wanted to go for a drink. I wasn’t bothered.’ Aoife gathered up Amy’s things and hurried from the house. This friend was obviously very important to Maura, and Aoife didn’t want to delay her. Maybe it was a man. Maura always said she’d never marry again. Maybe she’d met someone who could change her mind.
Traffic was unusually light and they were home within five minutes. Amy started fussing, and Aoife turned on the Kidzsongs app on her phone while she searched for Amy’s stuffed rabbit. She must have left the stupid thing at Maura’s. She had a key to Maura’s and could let herself in if Maura had already left but it seemed rude to do so without asking. Amy had no intention of relinquishing the mobile and Aoife couldn’t remember Maura’s number. Jason’s phone was in the charger in the kitchen. She grabbed the phone and rang Maura.
‘I don’t want to know,’ Maura snapped. ‘Do your own dirty work from now on.’
‘Maura?’
‘Aoife! I… I’m sorry, I thought…’
‘Is everything okay?’
‘Yes, yes, of course.’
‘It doesn’t sound okay.’
‘No, no, everything’s fine. Well, I’d better go now. Don’t want to be late. See you tomorrow.’
‘Maura, I—’
Maura had hung up. The rabbit would have to wait. She’d never heard Maura speak like that to anyone. What had Jason made her do?
*
The following day she asked Maura how her friend was.
‘What friend?’
‘The one you were meeting last night.’
‘Oh, yes, of course, she’s fine.’
‘Did you have a nice evening?’
‘Yes, yes. You should be leaving, Aoife, you’ll be late for work.’
Why did she have the feeling Maura was lying to her?
See, it was a big fuss over nothing. Everything’s sorted now.
TWENTY
Three days later, Aoife glanced up as she entered an account number. “Advance Recruitment” flashed on the screen. Robert’s voice said €18362. That couldn’t be right. The agency told her she was the first employee they had ever placed with DCA, and she was sure she was still the only one. She replayed the tape. It definitely said €18362. Had Robert meant to say €8362? Even that didn’t sound right. She looked around, but Eilis was nowhere to be seen.
‘Barbara, can I ask you something?’
Barbara shook her head. ‘No time. Eilis will be back in an hour.’
Aoife didn’t want to wait an hour. She phoned Lisa, who confirmed Aoife was the only DCA employee on their books and said the invoice couldn’t be from them.
‘Eilis, thank God you’re back. Something’s very wrong here.’
‘What?’
‘The tape says pay €18362 to Advance Recruitment. They’re the agency who employed me, so I knew something had to be wrong. I phoned them and they said they aren’t due any money. I can’t work out what I’ve done wrong.’
‘Don’t worry about it. It’s not your job to check for mistakes.’ Eilis put Aoife’s earphones in her ear, replayed the tape and looked at the computer. ‘You didn’t do anything wrong. The payment is to Advanced Recruitment, not Advance Recruitment. They’re an agency a lot of our clients use.’
‘Oh, the relief! I thought I’d messed up the entire system.’
‘There’s no way you could do that. Just keep entering as quickly as you can and you’ll be fine.’
At lunchtime, Aoife googled Advanced Recruitment whilst picking at a sandwich. The Stephen’s Green office was too small for a canteen, so everyone ate at their desk. ‘They don’t seem to have very many vacancies,’ she said to Eilis.
‘Where are they based?’
‘There’s no address. Just a mobile number.’ She took out her phone. ‘I must add them to my contacts. I might register with them some day.’
‘Isn’t it time you two went back to work?’ Tom said as he sauntered by.
Eilis scowled. ‘Tom and his little power trips. The sooner Robert comes back the better.’
So long as I don’t have to work for him, Aoife thought.
*
Amy was asleep, so Aoife left the buggy in the hall.
‘Laura shouldn’t be much longer,’ Gavin said. ‘She had to drop around her mother’s prescription.’ He turned in a circle, looking for somewhere Aoife could sit. ‘She phoned to say she was caught in a traffic jam, but that was’—he frowned at his watch—‘twenty-five minutes ago.’ He cleared a pile of unironed clothes from one of the kitchen chairs. ‘Sit down. I’ll make some tea. Cora’s hoping you’ll feed the ducks again.’
Aoife noticed the ironing board in the kitchen and the freshly ironed blue shirt hanging from the door handle.
‘Are you on your way to work?’
‘If Laura ever comes home. I’ve only just got the trips fed.’
‘Who?’
‘Huh? Oh, sorry, I meant the triplets.’ He ran his hands through his hair. ‘If I don’t leave in the next half hour I’ll be late.’
‘Why don’t you change? I can stay here until Laura comes back.’
Gavin’s face relaxed. ‘Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?’
‘Of course not. Did you have time for lunch?’
‘No, but I’ll eat a banana on the run. It will keep me going for a while.’
When Gavin returned in full uniform, Aoife had an omelette and a cup of tea waiting.
‘You have twenty minutes before you have to leave. Plenty of time for a quick bite.’
Gavin’s face lit up. He looked much younger when he wasn’t frowning. ‘Thanks, Aoife. There was no need to go to that trouble, but I really appreciate it. You’ll have to pop around more often.’
‘It’s nice to know someone appreciates me.’ It was out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Gavin looked at her curiously. She didn’t want to discuss her marital problems with him.
‘Work’s not great at the moment.’
‘Laura mentioned you’d been transferred.’
‘Yeah, I don’t like it, but I refuse to think about it on my day off. What about you? How’s your work?’
‘Never-ending. It feels like all I ever do is work, grab a bite to eat, work and sleep. The trips will grow up not recognising me.’
‘At least you don’t have to worry one of your co-workers might murder you.’
The frown returned to Gavin’s face. ‘Nobody’s going to kill you.’
‘I hope you’re right. Half DCA think Joe’s the murderer.’
‘How could he be? He was with Rachel and Laura in the pub, and then they went to McDonald’s together.’
‘Are you sure that was the night Delia was killed?’
‘Of course. I met them there when I came to pick up Laura.’
*
‘I didn’t realise… do you know the people working on the investigation? Have they made any progress?’
‘That’s not handled by my section, and I don’t ask. It’s best I don’t get involved.’
‘I suppose.’
Gavin stood up. ‘Time I was going. Thanks so much for minding the trips and for lunch, and don’t worry about work. Nobody else is going to die.’
*
‘Robert’s back.’
‘Already? On a Friday? Why didn’t he make a week of it?’
Eilis shrugged. ‘Tom’s so disappointed. He wanted—’
‘Aoife! What are you doing here?’
‘I was sorry to hear of your loss, Robert. Tom asked for somebody to cover his role while you were away.’
‘Without checking with me? Tom! Why did you move someone into the
department without my permission?’
Tom was standing outside Robert’s office, carrying a box of his possessions. How much stuff had he brought in there? He drew himself up to his full height.
‘I didn’t want to interrupt you, and you did put me in charge. Aoife’s quite competent. She’s entered most of the invoices already.’
‘You let her enter invoices? Are you out of your mind! This is a confidential department. We don’t let just anyone work here. You never, ever let anybody inside the door of this department without my express approval. Is that clear?’ Without waiting for a reply, Robert said, ‘Could I have your attention, please?’ Everybody looked up from their work. ‘The only person authorised to hire staff in this department is me. If I am not here, you can check with my father. If neither of us is here, you do not hire anybody under any circumstances whatsoever. I don’t care if half the department goes out sick on the same day. You do absolutely nothing without the express approval of my father or myself. Do you understand?’
Everybody gazed at him in astonishment, but they all nodded. ‘Good. Aoife, please return to your own department.’
‘I’ll just log out.’
‘Eilis will do that. Please go back to Dame Street right now.’
He stood over Aoife while she collected her belongings. Tom banged his box down on the desk and stomped out of the room. Eilis’ eyes were practically popping out of their sockets. Barbara and Mark bent over their work, but the usual clicking of keyboards was completely absent. Not one word was spoken. The office was so quiet Aoife could hear people breathing. Robert followed her to the door.
‘Your keys, please.’
Aoife handed them over. Robert held the door open, waiting for her to leave. He closed it so quickly it grazed her heels.
Why can’t he just stay out of it? I had it all sorted. Now what do I do?
TWENTY-ONE
‘You’re exaggerating.’
‘I’m not, Laura. Ask anyone. I’m sure the story will be all around the building by lunch.’
‘Maybe he’s still upset about his grandmother.’
‘He acted like I’d been caught stealing. He stood over me while I collected my things and walked me to the door. I’ve never seen anything like it.’
‘I’ll phone him tomorrow. He should have calmed down by then. I hope he doesn’t go complaining to Dan. That’s all I need.’
Laura’s mobile rang. She removed it from her bag, looked at the caller ID and put it back. ‘It can wait,’ she said. ‘What?’
‘Huh?’
‘You look stunned.’
‘I still haven’t got over the shock. I expected it to be Dan on the phone.’
‘That’s my personal mobile.’
‘Where did you get the cover? I haven’t seen one like that before.’
Laura took the phone from her bag and examined the black cover with the green fluorescent writing. ‘I never looked at it. My cover was falling apart, so I took Gavin’s old one. I don’t know where he got it. Probably some freebie given out by Jameson’s.’
*
Gavin had the same mobile phone cover as the man who had entered the building the night Delia was murdered. Why would Gavin want to kill Delia? No. That was stupid. Gavin wouldn’t murder anyone. The phone cover meant nothing. The police said loads of people had them.
‘Oh, Aoife, before I forget, Gavin wants to make it up to you for looking after the triplets the other day.’
‘There’s no need. It was nothing.’
‘He insists. I told him you were upset the IT system was launching on Maura’s birthday.’
‘It can’t be helped. Maura understands I can’t miss the launch. She says she doesn’t mind having Amy, but I know her friends normally take her out that day.’
‘Well, it’s the triplets’ birthday that week. I hadn’t intended to do anything about it, but Cora was horrified at the idea, so we decided to take them to the zoo. Their birthday is Monday but they won’t know any different. I’ll tell them it’s on Friday. Why don’t you let us take Amy too? I know she’s a bit young for the zoo, but Maura would be free to go out with her friends and you wouldn’t have to feel guilty.’
‘That would be great.’
‘I’ll collect Amy from your house at seven. You don’t want to be late the day the system launches. She can stay at ours for the morning and we’ll go to the zoo in the afternoon.’
‘You’re sure it’s not a problem?’
‘Not at all. Cora’s high as a kite about the trip. Her school’s taking part in some sponsorship thing the zoo is running. She’s been talking about some damned baby rhino for weeks.’
Laura and Gavin were doing her a huge favour, and there she was suspecting Gavin of murder. She really had to get a grip. What reason could Gavin possibly have for murdering someone he’d never even met?
*
‘He stood over you while you packed? Is this the guy who drove you to work that day?’ Maura asked. ‘Was he high or drunk or something?’
‘He wasn’t drunk. High might explain it. His eyes were bulging and, now I think of it, there were beads of sweat on his forehead.’
‘That’s it, then. I’d be careful around him in future. If he’s using drugs, he might be unstable.’
‘Believe me, I don’t intend to ever speak to him again.’
‘Talking of not speaking. I know it’s none of my business and you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I hear things are a bit tense between you and Jason.’
‘Jason said that?’
‘Ryan mentioned it.’
‘So that’s where he’s been every evening.’
‘Things are that bad, huh?’
Aoife nodded. ‘He wants me to have another child.’
‘You don’t?’
‘Not yet. He says when we have a second child I have to give up work. I’m not ready for that.’
‘I’d love to look after another grandchild.’
‘Jason’s right about it not being fair on you. He says we need to have a second child straight away because he wants four kids altogether.’
‘When did he decide that? Only last month he told me I was mad to have five kids and he would never have more than two.’
‘Well, now he wants four. Imagine your white kitchen overrun by four toddlers. They’d wreck the place.’
‘Never mind the stupid kitchen. Do you want four kids?’
‘I don’t think so. I never even considered it. We’d agreed on two. I had no idea he wanted more.’
‘When did you find out he’d changed his mind?’
‘He just sprung it on me. We were going to agree a budget, but Jason said first we needed to decide when we would have our next child. When I said there was no rush, he said he wanted four altogether.’
‘What were you budgeting for?’
‘We need a plan. Jason takes care of the bills and I try to spend as little as possible. I want us to agree on a budget so I know exactly how much spending money there is each month.’
‘You don’t know that now?’
‘I know we’re broke but not exactly how broke. Jason’s tried to protect me from all that, but it’s time I knew the worst.’
‘This is the first time you ever suggested a budget?’
‘Yes. Well, I suggested it a while back, but Jason had to meet Ryan that night and then he had an urgent project at work, so I hardly saw him. When we finally got around to working on it, we had this big argument.’
‘So you still don’t know how much money you have?’
Aoife shook her head.
Maura sipped her tea. She looked at Aoife, opened her mouth, then changed her mind.
‘What?’ Aoife said.
‘Nothing.’
Maura took another sip. ‘You know, you’re right,’ she said at last. ‘A career in journalism is the answer to all your problems. Couples shouldn’t argue over money, and when you’re earning a good salary, you won’t need to. Have you told
Jason about your journalism plans yet?’
‘No.’
‘Good. Don’t.’
‘You were the one who said he had to know.’
‘Eventually, yes, but you haven’t even been published yet. Say nothing for the moment. It would only upset him.’ Maura put down her cup. ‘The thing about Jason is he doesn’t take to change easily. He never did. Even before his dad left.’
‘He’s the one insisting on it. It was his idea we get married immediately and his idea we have Amy. Now he’s pushing for another baby. If he doesn’t want change, why can’t things stay as they are?’
‘It isn’t that he doesn’t want change. He was desperate to marry you. It’s all he spoke about from the day you met. He was so excited when you moved in together, but I could see he wasn’t comfortable there for months. He’s had too much change in a very short time—marriage, a new home, fatherhood and now you going back to work. He needs time to adjust.’
‘What’s that got to do with a new baby?’
‘If you had another baby you’d give up work and that would be one less change for him to cope with.’
‘You’re saying when he gets used to me working he won’t want another baby immediately?’
‘I think so.’
‘So what should I do?’
‘Nothing. Just give him time. He’ll come around eventually.’
‘I just ignore him?’
‘Act like everything’s okay, go ahead with your plans to break into journalism and things will sort themselves out.’
*
The launch of the new computer system went well and Aoife was able to finish work earlier than expected. She took the Luas to Heuston and walked to the zoo. It was fifteen minutes to closing time, and as she approached the gates a large crowd were leaving. From the number of kids in school uniforms, she guessed Cora’s wasn’t the only school involved in the sponsorship programme.
‘Aoife?’
‘Irene, hi. How are you?’
‘I’m fine. Were you in the zoo?’
‘No. I’m collecting my daughter?’
‘Your daughter is old enough to go the zoo by herself?’
‘Some friends brought her. Is this Ellen?
‘This is my Ellen. She was at the zoo today as well. Weren’t you, darling?’
