by Val Collins
Eilis ran, but before she reached the landing the voice said, ‘What are you doing here?’ A young man in paint splashed jeans was looking up at her.
‘You scared the hell out of me,’ Eilis said, putting a hand to her throat. ‘I didn’t expect anyone to be here at this hour.’
‘We just moved in. My shop is opening on Monday, so I’m working all hours trying to get everything sorted. You must work in DCA. Do you usually work this late?’
‘I forgot my phone. I was in a pub on Baggot Street, so I thought I might as well drop in and get it. I never feel right if I don’t have it with me.’
The man smiled. ‘I know. It’s hard to believe people lived for centuries without them. I can’t manage five minutes without mine. Well, I’d better finish up here if I’m going to get any sleep tonight. See you around.’
‘Bye.’
‘You don’t think he’ll tell anyone, do you?’ Aoife whispered when Eilis joined her.
‘He doesn’t know anyone yet. I think it’ll be okay. Come on, let’s get this over with. I’ll take Robert’s office, you do Dan’s.’
Aoife exchanged the extension lead in Dan’s office and the air freshener in the general meeting room and went to help Eilis. Eilis wasn’t in Robert’s office. She found her checking all the desks in the open-plan area.
‘What are you looking for?’
‘I can’t find the second air freshener.’
They rechecked Dan and Robert’s office and every corner of the open-plan area, but forty minutes later, they still hadn’t found it.
‘Maybe Robert took it home,’ Eilis said.
‘Why would he do that? Robert wouldn’t even notice an air freshener.’
‘Where is it, then? Nobody’s going to come into Robert’s office and steal it.’
‘Josie must have moved it.’
‘Where?’
Aoife sighed. ‘I don’t know. Can we risk leaving it behind? Wherever it is, it can’t be recording anything useful.’
‘What if someone picks it up and starts fiddling with it? They night notice—the gents! Of course.’ She went flying down the corridor and returned waving the missing air freshener. ‘I just have to collect the stuff I left in Robert’s office and then we’re finished.’
Aoife unlocked the office door and waited in the corridor for Eilis. ‘I wish Josie had left the air freshener in Robert’s meeting room. I bet all the interesting meetings are held—’
The stillness was shattered by the screeching of an alarm.
*
‘That guy must have turned it on when he left.’ Eilis had to shout to be heard over the din. ‘I forgot it would ring if we left the office. Let’s get out of here before the security company turn up.’
She ran into Robert’s office, grabbed the bugs she had left on the table, locked the door and returned the key to the secretary’s desk.
‘The lift is faster,’ Aoife said when Eilis headed for the stairs.
‘It’s turned off at six.’
They ran down the stairs.
‘The security company will probably think the new guy set the alarm off by mistake, but they might call the police.’ Eilis locked the main door. ‘Walk as fast as you can, but try to look normal. We don’t want to attract attention.’
Neither spoke until they were back at the Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre.
‘That’s it now, right?’ Eilis said. ‘We never have to go into that building again.’
‘That’s it. My car’s here. I’ll give you a lift home.’
They sat outside the house in Rathmines that Eilis shared with two other girls and sorted through their loot. Aoife stuffed five items into her bag.
‘I’ve taken the extension leads and the air fresheners. That leaves you the calculator.’
‘I can take more if you want. I told my friends if this didn’t work out I wouldn’t be able to go to Peru with them and they all offered to help.’
‘No, that’s fine. There won’t be anything on the second air freshener, and I have plenty of time. Call me if you hear something interesting.’
It was almost 2 a.m. when Aoife got home. Although the house was in darkness, she knew Jason was listening for her. It surprised her she didn’t feel guilty. If Jason wanted to know where she was, all he had to do was ask. He wouldn’t have been able to get any information from Maura. All Aoife had told her was she was meeting a friend from work. Aoife wanted to check the recordings immediately, but she needed a few hours’ sleep before she had to collect Amy.
*
Maura offered to listen to the USBs, but Aoife knew she didn’t really mean it. Hours of listening to Annette had dampened her enthusiasm for intrigue. When she got home, Aoife brought the laptop into the kitchen, removed the USBs and plugged one into her laptop. She would listen to the recording while she made breakfast, fed Amy and cleaned up. Hours later the recordings droned on and she was barely listening. It was all drivel. Dan and Robert were in and out of each other’s offices, but they were rarely alone and their private conversations where short and unenlightening. Several “Did you get that done?” and “That’s sorted now.” They could be talking about anything. Maybe the next USB would be more informative. Aoife listened with renewed interest, but it was just one pointless meeting after another. God, those people loved to hear themselves speak. There was barely fifteen productive minutes in any of the meetings she listened to and they all ran for hours. She was about to take a break when Laura’s name was mentioned. Aoife replayed the recording and listened carefully. Dan and Robert were discussing budgets. The new chairman was querying their level of expenditure and they needed this year’s figures to show a massive improvement.
‘We’ll save on Delia’s salary. That will help,’ Robert said.
‘Good. Do you think we can trust Laura?’
‘More than we could trust Delia. Laura hasn’t threatened us.’
‘I told you, Robert, Delia was just chancing her arm. If she had known anything specific she would have said so. She was on a fishing expedition, that’s all.’
‘Yeah, I guess. I don’t think we need worry about Laura. She warned us about Aoife, didn’t she?’
WHAT?
‘Yes, but she was curiously reluctant to get rid of her.’
‘Not everyone would have warned us Aoife was in touch with Delia’s sister. When it comes to it, Laura knows what side her bread is buttered on.’
‘I hope you’re right. I—’ The phone rang. ‘That’s the Chairman. We’ll finish this later, Robert.’
Aoife didn’t even hear the rest of the recording. Laura had warned them she was meeting Irene? Why would she do that? They were friends. Laura had saved her life, for God’s sake. But why would Robert and Dan lie? They couldn’t know they were being taped. Could they? Aoife spent the next hour mulling it over, but she just couldn’t make any sense of the conversation. Only one thing was certain. She needed to steer clear of Laura.
*
After a short lunch break, Aoife returned to the recordings. Two hours later she heard a female voice say, ‘You can use our meeting room, Detective Moloney. I’ll get Tom.’
The door closed and Tom said, ‘You wanted to speak to me, Detective?’
‘I have some further questions concerning Delia.’
‘Of course. What would you like to know?’
‘How long had you two been in a relationship?’
*
Aoife’s coffee went down the wrong way. She had a fit of coughing and coffee splattered everywhere. Ignoring the mess, she replayed the tape.
‘How long had you two been in a relationship?’
‘What?’
‘We’ve found CCTV footage of you and Delia in a café near the Excelsior Hotel. You were clearly arguing, and when we checked your bank records we found a receipt for a Friday night at the Excelsior. Delia regularly stayed there on Fridays.’
‘Not with me she didn’t. We spent one night there, but that was over two years ago. You
can’t think—look, Detective, I had nothing to do with Delia’s death.’
‘You were arguing with her in a café the week before she died.’
‘Yes, but I hadn’t seen her in years. I mean, not socially.’
‘When did your relationship begin?’
‘It wasn’t a relationship. I’m not even convinced it was a one-night stand. My wife and I—things have been difficult for a long time.’ Short pause. ‘It’s my own fault. Everyone told me not to marry beneath me, but I wouldn’t listen. At first everything was fine, but by the time the girls came along, the cracks had begun to show. You know how it is. I’m sure you’ve seen it all.’
The detective didn’t reply. Aoife could imagine those cold grey eyes boring into Tom.
‘It was because we had a fight,’ Tom said at last.
‘You and Delia?’
‘No! With my wife. I gave her everything and then she—’ The outrage was becoming apparent. ‘She—can you believe it?—she told me that I wasn’t good enough for her. Her family had nothing. I took her away from all that, and what thanks do I get? I don’t have enough ambition, she said. She had worked her way up from cashier to senior management and what was I doing with my life?’ He sniffed. ‘I’d like to see her get ahead in an organisation where the only people promoted are related to the CEO.’
‘You must have been very angry.’
‘I was furious. I’d been drinking for hours when Delia came into the pub. She wasn’t long back from maternity leave and she was in bad shape. We ended up sobbing in each other’s arms. She told me all about some guy she’d loved since she was a teenager and how it was his fault she didn’t have a father for her child and that she’d have to compete with her sister for the rest of her life.’
‘Compete with her sister?’
‘Yeah. She said everyone, even her parents, preferred her sister and now her sister was trying to steal her baby because she couldn’t have one of her own. Her sister wasn’t going to win this time. Over and over she shouted, “She’s a bloody childminder. That’s all she is.” It’s a wonder we weren’t thrown out of the hotel. We were both pretty far gone by then. Eventually she calmed down and I told her about my marriage—such as it is. She wasn’t at all like I had imagined—soft, sympathetic, kind. I was only half-awake when she left the hotel room the next morning. When I sobered up, I was appalled at all the personal things I’d told her. On Monday I went to Dame Street. I wasn’t sure what to say, but I met Delia coming out of the canteen and she looked at me like I was a stranger. I was grateful, really. The last thing I wanted was my wife finding out. There’s the girls to consider. They’re adults now, of course, but girls always side with the mother, don’t they?’
‘When did you see Delia again?’
‘I didn’t, except at work of course, until the week before she died.’
‘What happened?’
‘My wife walked out. I remembered how sympathetic Delia had been. I waited until Friday, when I knew she’d be alone in Dame Street, and I went over to talk to her. I was halfway down the street when I saw Delia leave the building. By the time I caught up with her, we were near the café and she dragged me inside. I got the feeling she didn’t want to be seen talking to me. She was so—different. I mean, she practically attacked me. How dare I assume she’d be interested in a middle-aged nobody like me, she said. She acted like I’d planned our night together. According to her I’d waited until she was vulnerable and talked her into my bed. She looked like the memory of it made her want to puke. The cheek of her! She thought she was so special. Couldn’t bear to be touched by the likes of me. I told her she was a terrible shag. Truth to tell, I’m fairly sure I was far too drunk to do anything, but she obviously had no memory of the night either.’
A longer silence.
‘What happened then?’
‘My wife came back. She’s threatening to leave again now.’
‘When did you next see Delia?’
‘At work a few days later. I walked straight past her. She didn’t even deserve a ‘hello”.’
‘Where were you the night she was killed?’
‘I was in the pub. You know that. Eilis sat beside me the whole night. Didn’t she tell you?’
‘She did, but when I spoke to your colleagues, Eilis talked to most of them that night and none of them were near your table. It would appear that Eilis isn’t one to sit still for very long. By my calculations she spent less than half the night at your table. And several people reported seeing you outside the bar between five and six.’
‘I was on the phone. My wife rang. I can’t even remember whether she was coming or going that night. Whichever it was, we argued for ages. Then I went back to the pub. I have a position to maintain, so I couldn’t drink much in front of the staff, but as soon as possible I escaped and spent the rest of the night in O’Connor’s, drowning my sorrows.’
*
The detective asked who Tom had seen in the pub and what time he left.
The interview ended.
Tom and Delia! Even Tom drinking himself into a stupor was difficult to imagine. Aoife would have to completely rethink her opinion of Tom. He wasn’t at all the person she had thought he was. And he was clearly outraged by Delia’s treatment of him.
Outraged enough to commit murder?
Had Tom any involvement in Robert and Dan’s scam? Come to think of it, if Tom was involved, why would Dan have been shocked when Robert called him a murderer? Robert must have known about the affair. Was he just assuming Tom was the murderer? But if so, Robert couldn’t be the murderer. Unless he wanted Dan to think the murderer was someone else?
*
The tapes droned on. Aoife had her eyes closed and her head on the kitchen table when Jason came home that night. He glanced at the computer, ignored Aoife’s “hello” and made himself a sandwich. Aoife picked up the USBs, which were spread all over the table, and shoved the laptop to one side, giving him space to eat. Jason took his sandwich into the sitting room and turned on the TV. He wasn’t speaking to her at all now. Probably because she had been out until the early hours of the morning. If he wanted to know where she was, why the hell didn’t he just ask? Her fingers ached, and she realised her fists had been clenched since Jason had entered the house. Good thing USBs didn’t break easily. She laid them on the table. Shouldn’t there be four? Where had the fifth come from? She had kept them all in her laptop bag so they wouldn’t get mixed up with any lying around the house. She must have taken back the USB Eilis was supposed to listen to. Eilis was probably tearing the house apart, thinking she’d lost it. She sent a quick text. ‘Took your USB by mistake.’ A few minutes later her phone rang.
‘I have it,’ Eilis said.
‘How did we end up with five?’
‘I must have picked it up with the stuff on Robert’s desk. Do you think he’ll miss it?’
Aoife had been plugging in all the USBs while they were speaking. ‘I’ve found the extra one. It’s got several spreadsheets, but it’s not password protected so it’s probably nothing very confidential.’
‘I wouldn’t bet on it,’ Eilis said. ‘We’re not allowed to send anything with a password to Dan. He can’t open them.’
‘We’ll have to bring the USB back tonight.’
‘I’m not going back there. We’ve nearly been caught twice now. How much longer can our luck hold out? Besides, Robert’s probably changed the locks already.’
‘We have to at least try, Eilis. Maybe that new guy will be working late and he’ll let you in.’
‘And what will I say? I left my key behind this time? He’ll get suspicious.’
‘Let him. At least we’ll have returned the USB.’
‘I have a better idea. Drop the USB around to me tonight. I’ll go to the Stephen’s Green office at lunchtime. When the first people leave the office, I’ll walk right past them. I’ll say I want to have lunch with my old friends. They won’t have the nerve to stop me.’
�
�How will you get into Robert’s office?’
‘I won’t. I’ll leave the USB on the secretary’s desk. Hopefully Robert will think Dan took it and left it lying around. At least it will be out of our hands.’
‘All right. I’ll leave in a few minutes.’ Aoife was about to remove the USB when she realised it might be the evidence she had been searching for. She opened the spreadsheets and stared at them. They meant nothing to her.
‘I need your help with something, Jason.’ When he didn’t answer she went into the sitting room. ‘Jason! It’s important. It could be a matter of life and death.’
Jason turned up the volume on the TV.
‘I’m talking about my life, Jason … okay, fine. Your concern for your wife’s welfare is touching. I’ll sort it out myself, as usual. I’m going out. Take care of Amy.’
‘Where are you going?’
Aoife didn’t reply. Two could play at that game.
She copied the USB, drove to Rathmines and left the original with Eilis. On the way back, she realised there was someone else who would understand the spreadsheets.
TWENTY-NINE
At 9 a.m. Aoife had the phone in her hand, waiting to make the call. She forced herself to wait until 9:15.
‘Niall? Hi, it’s Aoife. I know this sounds a bit strange, but would you mind meeting me for lunch? My treat.’
‘Today?’
‘If you’re free. I’ll fit in with any time that suits you.’
‘Twelve-thirty? I’ll see you in Shanahan’s.’
Aoife made another copy of the spreadsheets. She hid the duplicate USB in the kitchen and dropped Amy at Maura’s.
*
‘This is an unexpected pleasure, Aoife. Is something wrong with Jason?’
‘No, no. I have a problem with some accounts and I hoped you could help me.’
‘Can’t Jason help?’
‘I don’t want to involve him. I think I might have found evidence of corruption in this organisation I used to work for. Jason wouldn’t like me following up on it. He’d think I was putting myself in danger. He’d probably panic and refuse to let me out of his sight.’
