Girl Targeted

by Val Collins

‘He killed Eilis. He didn’t kill Delia.’

  ‘He must have.’

  ‘He said he didn’t.’

  ‘He’s a liar and a murderer, Aoife. Of course it was him.’

  ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘Oh God, you’re not going to start this again? Haven’t we been through enough? For God’s sake, let it go.’

  ‘I didn’t say I was going to start anything. Why don’t you want to know? You’re the one who’s working with a murderer.’

  Laura pushed back the sheet and eased her feet onto the floor. Aoife tried to help her, but Laura waved her hand away. ‘That’s what I’m talking about. Stop saying things like that. Delia’s dead. There’s nothing we can do about that now, and nobody else is going to die, so just leave it.’

  ‘That’s what Gavin said. “Nobody else is going to die.” How can you both be so sure? Do you know who killed her? Was it Joe? Was he part of the scam too? Did he kill Delia because she found out about it? At one stage I thought he’d killed Eilis, but maybe he was following her because he wanted to protect Dan and Robert.’

  ‘No. When Dan and Robert threw everyone out of the office, Joe wanted to know what they were up to. Delia had tried to set him up and he was afraid they might do the same. He asked me to come with him. I told him he was nuts and to stay away from the place.’

  ‘Okay, so it’s not Joe. Who is it?’

  ‘It was Robert.’

  ‘No, it wasn’t, and you don’t believe that either. You know something. I’m sure of it.’

  Laura lay back down on the bed and reached for the sheet. ‘I need to sleep now, Aoife. I’m very tired.’

  ‘You can sleep later. How could you know who the murderer is? Why wouldn’t you say anything? Are you covering for someone? Oh my God, it’s Gavin, isn’t it?’

  *

  ‘No!’ Laura screamed.

  ‘Gavin killed Delia. He could kill you.’ Aoife turned towards the door. ‘You could be in danger. I’ll tell the police. Gavin need never know you were involved.’

  Laura reached out and grabbed Aoife’s arm. ‘I’m not covering for Gavin. He didn’t kill anyone.’

  ‘I don’t believe you. He was having an affair with Delia, he was in the building the night she died. They must have argued. It all fits. You talked Joe and Rachel into providing him with an alibi, but you’re the only one who saw him that night.’

  Laura’s grip tightened. Her face was only a few inches from Aoife’s. ‘I am the only one who saw him. That’s why you can’t tell the police. You’ll turn him into the main suspect and he’s completely innocent.’

  ‘Stop defending him. I’m not letting you and the kids live with a murderer.’ Aoife yanked her arm free and headed for the door.

  ‘Aoife, wait! Gavin didn’t murder Delia. I did.’

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  ‘What?’ Aoife turned. ‘You couldn’t have. You were in the pub with the others. Karen saw you.’

  ‘I—’ Laura perched on the edge of the bed. ‘That’s the way I planned it. I went to the pub at four-thirty and bought several people drinks so they’d remember me. Twenty minutes later I went back to the office. I put the sleeping pills in a mug, dissolved them and added coffee and lots of sugar. I took the coffee to my desk and made sure Delia heard me moving around. She never wanted anyone in the office on Friday, so I figured she’d tell me to leave. I knew she didn’t work late because Gavin always said he had to do the night shift on Fridays. Even on the nights he actually worked, Delia left early. A friend of mine often saw her on the six thirty-five bus.’ Laura plucked the sheet with both hands, twisting it tighter and tighter. ‘Delia was desperate to get me out of the office so she could leave. I said I’d just get rid of my coffee but she practically pulled it out of my hands and rushed me out the door. I knew she’d drink it. She always hated making coffee for herself. I sneaked back into the office and waited. I was on my way to check on her when Rachel came back. I never expected that.’

  ‘She was printing e-mails to prove Delia’s allegations were unfounded.’

  ‘I found that out later. At the time I couldn’t understand it. It scared the hell out of me. I waited fifteen minutes to make sure nobody else turned up. By then Delia was asleep, head down on the desk. At lunchtime I’d bought a lamp with a heavy base and I used that to—’ Laura shuddered. ‘When I thought Robert was dead, it brought it all back. I thought—I can’t believe I’m doing this again. I’m a serial killer!’

  ‘You’re lying. You’re covering for Gavin. You couldn’t have done it. You’re not strong enough to stage the suicide.’

  ‘I didn’t do that bit.’

  Aoife covered her mouth with her hand. ‘You mean—you both—you murdered her together!’

  *

  The colour drained from Laura’s face.

  ‘No! I told you Gavin had no part in it. I killed her.’ Laura began to pace the room. ‘Somewhere in the back of my mind, it registered that Delia’s phone was ringing, but it never occurred to me Gavin was outside the building. He’d never come there before. When Delia didn’t answer, he slipped inside. He wore a hat and covered his face with an umbrella. He didn’t want anyone from DCA to recognise him but, of course, he didn’t worry about being seen by strangers.’ Her voice shook. ‘I have to lie down.’

  She lay on top of the bed with Aoife looking down on her.

  ‘I don’t know how long Delia was dead by the time Gavin got into the building, but I couldn’t walk away. It wasn’t that I felt guilty, that came later. At the time I just kept staring at her, not really thinking anything at all. It was like I was glued to the floor, couldn’t move, couldn’t take my eyes away from her face. That was how Gavin found me. I knew he was there. I could even answer him, but nothing felt real. When Gavin spoke it was like he was pulling me out of a dream and I went right back there the second he stopped speaking. I remember him looking at the—the wound. His face was ashen and he turned his head so I wouldn’t see him cry. Not that he was concerned about my feelings. It was like—like what was between them was so intimate my very presence was contaminating it. All I could think was, See? That proves I did the right thing. I don’t think I said anything, but next minute Gavin was screaming at me. He grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me so hard the room spun. I don’t remember anything else until I woke up in my own bed. My first conscious thought was, Oh my God, you’ve lost your mind. I couldn’t believe I was a murderer. I couldn’t believe I’d once thought killing Delia was the right thing to do. I could hear Gavin downstairs with the kids, but he didn’t come near me all day and I couldn’t face anyone. That night he came into my room and said he was going back to the office. He said he had to do something to make it look like I couldn’t be the murderer. I tried to say something, but he wouldn’t even look at me. We never really discussed what he did. Other than alibis, of course.’

  ‘Why did Gavin lock the office door?’

  ‘I’m so used to locking the door, I must have done it automatically. I’d always been afraid Delia would discover Josie left the spare key in the canteen, and I’d often complained to Gavin about it, so he knew where it was. When he was leaving, he remembered his fingerprints were on it. He could have wiped them off, but he was afraid he might leave behind traces of his DNA.’

  ‘Why didn’t he wear gloves or overalls like the forensic guys on TV? Then he wouldn’t have to worry about DNA or fingerprints.’

  ‘He couldn’t. His DNA was already all over the office, so we had to come up with a story to explain that. All the offices were painted last year, so I told the police Delia was unhappy with her new colour scheme and that she had phoned me from Florida on Friday, insisting I had it repainted by the time she returned. I said no painter would work over the weekend, so I asked Gavin to do it. Gavin needed to leave as much DNA and fingerprints around the place as possible, but what reason would he have for touching the spare key? He thought about making up some excuse, but it’s safer to keep the lies we have to tell to a
minimum. We counted on the detectives not suspecting a guard, but Gavin’s DNA on the key might be one coincidence too many. He took the key with him. We got rid of it later.’

  ‘Why didn’t he leave the door unlocked?’

  ‘It seemed more likely the murderer would lock the door than take the key for no apparent reason, and if we were lucky, the locked door would create more confusion.’

  ‘Gavin loved Delia but he strung her up like a piece of meat?’

  ‘He loved his kids more. And I don’t think he ever really loved Delia. If he’d been single I’m sure he wouldn’t even have noticed her.’ She paused. ‘He cared too much to have to see her like that, though.’

  ‘Wouldn’t it have been easier to get rid of the body?’

  ‘Gavin thought about that, but what if the police found out about him and Delia? He destroyed the SIM cards on both their phones, and he knew he’d never been seen in any of the hotels they stayed in because he always came in by the delivery entrance. But he went to Delia’s house a few times. If someone had seen him and told the police, they’d check his boot and find Delia’s DNA. He strung her up because it gave the impression the murderer was a man. It was the best he could do to protect me.’

  ‘And you just moved into Delia’s office and carried on as if nothing had happened.’

  Laura’s lip quivered. ‘I’m a monster now?’ When Aoife didn’t reply, she continued, ‘It wasn’t like that. I thought I was going to crack up for a while. I spent most of the next week crying. I couldn’t even get out of bed. Mum came by every day. Eventually I told her the whole story and stayed with her until I could act normally around the kids.’ She sniffed, took a tissue from the box on her locker and wiped her eyes. ‘The strange thing was I lost all interest in keeping my marriage together. It was weeks before I realised Gavin had risked imprisonment to protect me. I knew then how lucky I was to have him. Of course, he didn’t feel that way. For ages he wouldn’t have anything to do with me, but eventually he bought Mum’s story that I only did it because I was suffering from postnatal depression.’ Laura gripped Aoife’s wrist. ‘You can’t tell anyone Gavin was involved. All he did was try to protect me and his kids.’

  ‘I can’t believe you killed Delia because she was having an affair with your husband. That’s no reason to murder someone.’

  ‘I thought I had no choice. I lied when I said Gavin was losing interest before she died. He wasn’t. I knew he’d leave me. Maybe later he’d find out Delia wasn’t all he imagined, but what good would that be to me? Once he left, he wouldn’t come back, and what would happen my kids? Where would we even live? Gavin has to work overtime to pay the mortgage as it is. Do you think he’d do that if he was living with someone else? We’d be homeless. I wouldn’t even have a job. I could hardly work for Delia when she was living openly with my husband. I would have no job, no home, no husband. My kids would grow up without a father.’ She leaned forward, eyes blazing. ‘And that bitch would have a good job, a nice home, my husband and an occasional father for her child.’

  Aoife backed away. Laura took a deep breath and laid her head back against the pillow.

  ‘I told myself I’d manage. Lots of single mothers do. I kept telling myself that. Until—that day—when she said if I worked harder I could earn more money and she was sure my husband would appreciate the extra income. Then she gave me this knowing smile. I could picture them so clearly. Lying in bed, him complaining how lazy I was and her encouraging him. Telling him I was useless at work too. That’s when I decided I couldn’t just wait for my life to fall apart. I had to do something. I’d intended dropping off Mum’s sleeping pills on my way home. When I saw them in my bag, I realised how easy it would be to slip them into Delia’s coffee. I’d read somewhere of a man who tried to commit suicide but the pills didn’t kill him immediately. He died of liver failure eventually but he was fully conscious in hospital for a few days. I couldn’t risk that. She had to disappear so I could forget she ever existed. I decided to wait until she was unconscious, then make sure she never woke up. I thought it was the only way to keep my family together.’

  ‘She was a human being, Laura. She shouldn’t have had an affair with Gavin, but she didn’t deserve to die. She had a daughter who needed her.’

  ‘I didn’t think any of that at the time. It was like my brain stopped functioning, or at least it wasn’t functioning normally. I thought about what I was doing, and at the time it seemed perfectly logical, but I never once considered the consequences for me and my family. Not until the following day. Then I couldn’t believe that only twelve hours earlier I’d been convinced murdering someone was justified. I’d taken a human life and left a child motherless. My own children had a murderer for a mother. They’d grow up visiting me in prison. How could I have thought I was helping them? And how could I not have realised that you can’t take someone’s life and not become a different person? The old me would never have warned Dan you were in touch with Irene.’

  ‘You wanted him to fire me?’

  ‘When I saw you meeting with Irene, it worried me, but when you said you were investigating Delia’s death I knew I had to involve Dan. If I’d said I was letting you go, you’d have asked questions. You knew the pressure I was under to complete the IT project. And you’d have had more time to investigate. Sooner or later you’d have wondered why I wanted you out of the building. Nobody expects Dan to act rationally. You wouldn’t think twice if he fired you.’

  ‘You could have said Dan insisted you let me go.’

  ‘I thought of that, but you were friendly with Eilis and she saw Dan and Robert every day. She could easily discover I was lying, and then what would you think? It seemed safest to tell Dan you were asking questions about Delia’s death. I thought he wouldn’t want to risk you finding out about him and Delia.’ She sighed. ‘It was all so frigging complicated. I couldn’t risk telling Dan myself. He’d tell Robert, and if Eilis heard about it, it would get back to you, so I told Barbara about the sleeping pills and said you’d heard it from Irene. Barbara told everyone, of course, but she was so excited about the pills she didn’t even mention you, so eventually I had to tell Dan myself. Even then he didn’t react the way I’d imagined. He didn’t want to delay the IT project, so he said he’d get Robert to warn you off.’

  ‘So you never actually told him you couldn’t do without my IT expertise?’

  ‘No. I made that up so you’d think he wanted you fired. I was determined to talk him into it, but then you were transferred to Stephen’s Green and I thought everything would be okay. They’d keep you, and there was no danger you’d discover anything that incriminated me. Most of the staff in Stephen’s Green barely knew Delia.’

  ‘And then Karen was poisoned.’

  ‘That was the end of my hope that the police would have to transfer resources to more urgent cases. And with the police treating you like a suspect, even firing you wouldn’t be enough to stop your investigation. As if all that wasn’t bad enough, by then Gavin had told you he, Rachel, Joe and I were in McDonald’s the night Delia died, although I’d told you we were in the pub. I still thought getting you out of the building was my only option. At the very least it would slow down your investigation. I nearly passed out I was so relieved when Dan insisted I let you go. Of course, I pretended to put up a fight because I knew you were in the outer office listening.’

  ‘But you stayed in touch after I left so you could keep tabs on me.’

  ‘Partly. Partly to make sure you were all right. I’d done you so much damage and—’

  ‘What damage?’

  ‘It was my fault you went into labour early and Amy almost died. That’s another thing I never considered—the effect on the person who found Delia’s body.’

  ‘You said partly. Why else did you stay in touch?’

  ‘Once I accepted I couldn’t stop your investigation, my only option was to tell you the truth and beg you to keep it to yourself.’

  ‘That’s why you told
me about Gavin and Delia. You wanted me to feel sorry for you.’

  ‘I wanted you to understand why I’d killed her. I introduced the subject that night. I’d intended to bring it up next time we met and eventually tell you everything, but Gavin wouldn’t let me. He said we’d both end up in prison. When you stopped taking my calls, I figured you suspected me, but Gavin still wouldn’t let me tell you. Then Eilis died. Two murders and a suspected poisoning in one organisation. The police phoned Dan. They planned to interview everyone again. And you wouldn’t take my calls. I was convinced you’d worked it out. I had to speak to you before you talked to the police. I went around to your house. That’s when I saw Robert in your car. I followed you. When you headed for the mountains, I knew you were in trouble, so I phoned Gavin. I was in a complete panic. I couldn’t let Robert kill you and Amy. Two more murders on my conscience. When he put Amy on the ground, I thought, “At least I can save her life.” Later I figured out how to save you.’

  ‘I don’t know what to say, Laura. I—’

  They were interrupted by a knock on the door. A middle-aged, balding man entered, flashing his police ID.

  *

  After introducing himself, the detective pulled up a chair beside Laura and sat down. ‘You’re both here. Great. That will save me some time. Now, Laura, the doctor says you’re well enough to speak to me today.’

  ‘I—’

  Aoife interrupted. ‘She’s a little upset. We’ve been talking about yesterday and it brought it all back. Why don’t you start with me? It’ll give Laura a chance to get herself together.’

  Laura covered her mouth with her hands, then, realising what she was doing, she folded them in her lap. A few seconds later she was pulling at her chin.

  The detective pulled out a chair and sat down. He fumbled in his pockets and withdrew a battered notebook.

  ‘Right. Aoife, I understand you suspected Robert for some time.’

  Aoife nodded. ‘I guessed he was stealing from DCA and was trying to kill me because he knew I suspected him. He poisoned one of my colleagues and murdered Eilis.’