“Oh yes. The soap opera.”
“Yes. I seem to have mixed up a few things that I heard yesterday so I just want to clarify them.”
Charles spread out his hands in an open gesture. “Go ahead.”
“You told us about a man who came to basketball really angry because he thought Ian or Mark should have stopped his wife running away with another man who had a child at the club.”
Charles said, “He was a big shot.”
Isobel nodded. “I remember that. You said that he drove a Mercedes.”
“Yes. His wife used to drive another fancy car – because I’m less involved with the training I was watching. She started talking to a man. He wasn’t actually the father; he was an uncle of one of the kids. He would only ever be there occasionally but obviously after he met this woman he came every week. They went off for coffee while the practice was on. Then the wife changed her car and she started driving an older car. It was a Ford Focus, from 2004. My wife and I used to have one. It reminded me of happier times.”
“What colour was it?” Patricia asked.
“Dark red, burgundy. I got chatting to the woman one day. I asked if she had got rid of the new car. She said no, that this car reminded her of who she used to be and that it was good for her to drive it. She seemed kind of sad.”
“And it’s this woman who ran off to Australia?” Isobel asked.
“So it seems, with the kids. Hey, what’s this got to do with the murder? You think there’s some connection?”
“Just speculating,” said Isobel. “Leaving no stone unturned. So, then her husband, in the Merc, came to the practice, angry with you and blaming you?”
“Yes, but Mark calmed him down. He apologised to Mark and that was the end of it – he never came back.”
“And that was how long ago?”
“About eighteen months ago. I think she left just after Christmas.”
“Who was she?”
“Sorry now but I don’t know her name. I might have been observing and exchanged the odd word with her but I didn’t really know her.”
“I don’t suppose you know the registration number of the car?” Patricia asked.
“No, but the year of registration of the older car was 2004 and it was registered in Limerick.”
Patricia pulled out a notebook and wrote that down.
“Are you sure you’re not a detective?”
Patricia smiled. “I would love to be.”
Isobel said, “Thanks, Charles.”
“Any time,” he said, looking perplexed.
As Isobel drove off Patricia asked, “Why do you think that’s important?”
“Because Charles was a soldier. As he said himself, he knows men. When we were talking about some of the other suspects he discounted them. But then he mentioned that man being violent.”
“But –”
“I know, I know. It’s not much. But he blamed the basketball club for his wife running off, not himself, to the point that he arrived at the practice session angry.”
Patricia made a face. “That’s very tenuous.”
“The time frame is right. Nicky was attacked within a few weeks.”
“OK, but lots of men in the city could have had relationship problems that Christmas.”
“True but they are not all associated with the basketball club.”
Patricia shrugged.
“I know,” said Isobel. “I’m chasing a bat.”
Patricia turned in her seat. “A bat?”
“I dreamed about a bat last night and I think it relates to The Shadow.”
“How?”
Isobel shook her head. “Something yesterday triggered the dream. I’m following up on a few things that I heard. Just bear with me. Let’s call on Nicky. I spoke to her yesterday too and I want to check something.”
Patricia shrugged. “OK.”
Isobel laughed.
Chapter 49
Patricia contacted Nicky’s office and found that she wasn’t in court today. They waited until she had finished with a client and then went up to her office. Nicky was waiting at her door for them and ushered them in.
“Another visit, Isobel. Has something else happened?”
Isobel smiled. “No, but I need to ask you something.”
Nicky smiled encouragingly.
Isobel said, “I would like to talk to your sister.”
Nicky frowned. “Why? What relevance does she have to the case?”
“Maybe none.”
“Well, then, why do you want to talk to her?”
Isobel said, “I want to talk to someone on the outside of the investigation, just run a few things past them. She’s your sister so I figured that she might be open to a confidential chat. I’m afraid to ask these questions of just anyone.”
“But you don’t need to ask my sister.”
“No, but I want some background to the city in general from someone I can trust. I thought that she might be willing to help because of what happened to you.”
“I don’t understand the relevance of this.”
Patricia laughed. “Trust me, this often happens with Isobel but usually she turns up something.”
Isobel straightened her shoulders. “I am right here.”
Nicky shook her head. “I don’t understand this at all, but I’ll trust you. I’ll ring my sister and see if she’s agreeable.” She took her mobile phone and stepped out of the office.
Patricia leaned towards Isobel and whispered, “That was the worst excuse I’ve ever heard you come up with.”
Isobel whispered back, “I don’t want anyone to know what I’m thinking, yet. There has already been a leak and if this is wrong it will be a mess.”
They heard the door handle turning and they both sat back in their seats.
“Mary is in the Crescent Shopping Centre. I’ll give you her number. When you get out there, ring her and she says you can meet her for coffee.”
Isobel stood up. “Thanks, Nicky. I really appreciate this.”
Nicky shrugged, looking worried.
Mary looked very different from her sibling. She was five foot three and blonde. She smiled openly at Isobel and Patricia, with none of the suspicious and questioning mind of her sister.
“Nicky said you wanted to talk to me, although she was a bit vague about why. I hope it’s not about that awful attack on her. I hate even thinking about it and especially with what has happened recently.” She shivered.
Isobel smiled. “No, it’s not about that attack.”
Mary exhaled.
“It’s about your friend, Brian Fitzwilliam’s wife.”
Mary drew back.
“I believe she lives in Canada now.”
Mary leaned forward. “Shhhh!” She looked around the coffee shop. She leaned towards the middle of the table. “Who told you that?” She stared at Isobel with wide-open eyes.
Isobel leaned forward. “I’m sorry, Mary.”
Mary leaned back and shook her head. There were tears in her eyes.
Isobel said, “I promise that I don’t want to get anyone into trouble or to give away any information. I just need to be clear about what is going on.”
Mary looked down at her hands.
“You were friends with Brian’s wife?”
Mary frowned, waited a few moments then said, “Yes, we met in College.”
Isobel smiled. “College days, when everything is so simple and such fun.”
“Yes, Janet and I had loads of fun.”
“Like what, what did you get up to?”
Mary shook her head. “Nicky was the studious one. Me, I went to college to have a good time. Janet had a car and we used to cruise around and meet boys.”
Isobel smiled. “What sort of car was it? Something cool?”
Mary laughed. “Not really. It was a Ford Focus. They’re great cars. Janet loved that car. She kept it even when she got married.”
“I know. It reminds you of good times.” Isobel glanc
ed at Patricia who raised her eyebrows.
“Exactly, of who we were before marriage and kids.”
Isobel moistened her lips. “Was Janet’s marriage unhappy?”
Mary’s narrowed. “Why do you want to know?”
“I met her ex-husband yesterday.”
Mary shook her head. “He seemed so good initially but he was a control freak and so concerned with his position. Janet and I barely saw each other. She had a miserable life until –” She bit her lip.
“And then one day she met a man when she was waiting for her son to play basketball.”
Mary nodded.
“He made her happy,” Isobel said.
Mary lifted her head. “Yes, he did. He didn’t want to control her.”
“She remembered who she used to be.”
“Yes, she even started driving her old car.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but apart from reliving the past, she was convinced that Brian could track the other one, the fancy one, the one he had bought her. She put her old car in Brian’s mother’s name because she has a licence and doesn’t use it. Actually, she’s in a nursing home.”
“Then after Christmas they ran away to Canada.”
Mary frowned. “I suppose Nicky trusts you. She said you came to warn her to be safe.”
Isobel nodded. “I wouldn’t be asking any of these questions unless I thought they were really important.”
“You have to be circumspect about who you repeat this to. I let it slip to Nicky that Janet was in Canada. She wanted everyone to think that she was in Australia. Well, mainly Brian. She was afraid that he would come after her or try to get the children back. If he couldn’t find her then he couldn’t trouble her.” Mary looked up. “He’s looking in the wrong country so she’s safe for now. I let it slip to Nicky one day that she was in Canada and I suppose she told you?”
Isobel nodded. “And what happened to her car?”
“Oh, I imagine Brian scrapped it immediately. He would want to destroy anything that allowed Janet to get away.”
“Do you remember the car registration?”
Mary smiled. “Easy. 04 L 247.”
Patricia said, “How do you remember that, after all this time?”
“Number one, because I loved that car. We had great times in it and, number two, because it’s easy to remember, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”
“Do you think that Janet is right to be so careful about Brian knowing where she is?” Isobel asked.
Mary nodded. “Oh yes. He knew that I used to know her so when she left he came to see me.” She shivered again. “Thank God my husband was there and he used to play rugby. Brian was convinced that I knew where she was. I was scared but my husband saw him off. At that stage I didn’t know where she was, thank God. In the end Nicky sent Brian a legal letter warning him that if he bothered me again that she would instigate proceedings. He never came near me again. Nicky says that he’s as nice as pie to her now.” Mary grinned. “It’s amazing what a solicitor’s letter can do.”
“Thank you so much for clearing all of that up for me. I promise that I will keep it very secret.”
“And I’ll have another word with Nicky. She shouldn’t have mentioned Canada.”
Isobel and Patricia took their leave and made their way to the car.
“So you think that this solicitor Brian Fitzwilliam might be the man, Isobel?”
“Yes. It took me a while to figure out what my brain was telling me but I think I have it now.”
“Go on.”
“Well, I think the image of a bat thing is because I always think of solicitors as having those long black cloaks.”
Patricia laughed. “Peter never wears one of those.”
Isobel smiled. “I know, but I think that’s why it was like that in the dream. The bat had a lump on one of its wrists.”
“And that was the scratch you gave The Shadow.”
“Yes, I think his wife left him after Christmas. He went to get information from her friend and he got turned away by her husband and then he got a legal letter, from her sister. He went to the club where his wife met the new man and raged at the people there but they also sent him away. Then, I think, he attacked the friend’s sister who had sent him the letter. She fought him off and after that he went after the other mothers in the club, as if he was punishing his wife for what she’d done. He wanted to destroy them, destroy their attractiveness, make them afraid to go out, afraid of everything.”
Patricia opened and closed her mouth. Eventually she said, “God, when you explain it like that it all sounds very plausible. But is there one shred of proof or any evidence that it’s him?”
“No – and I’m talking about a well-known solicitor in the city who is very good at his job.”
“So?”
“Someone who knows the law and is respected. For now I don’t want anyone to know about this theory, which is really all it is, until we see if we’re on to something.”
“OK, that makes sense but what about Eoin and Alanna?”
Isobel sighed. “We need some evidence for them, not just a hunch and a good theory.”
“What sort of evidence?”
“Well, it would be good to have a look at that list of cars that Mark gave Eoin.”
“Do you think that Brian’s car will be on it?”
“Maybe. It would at least be some corroboration for this theory but not exactly damning evidence. Anyway, we don’t know the number of his car. I wonder if he is still driving the Merc that Charles told us about. How could we find out the registration number of his car?”
“Eoin and Alanna could find out in a minute.”
“Yes.”
“Eoin seemed happy to discuss the results of the search with you but that seemed to be it. He wasn’t exactly looking for help checking the names.”
“I know, I thought that too, which means we’ll only hear the conclusions and won’t know if Brian’s car was there.”
“Why don’t we get the list from Mark? Malcolm might know how we can find out Brian’s car registration.”
Isobel chewed her lip. “True, or we could ring Brian’s office and see if we could cajole it out of his secretary.”
“If she knows it.”
“True.”
“Get the list first and we’ll figure something out. Could you ring Mark? He might give it to you.”
“I suppose I could. I’ve been involved in the case.”
“It’s worth a try.”
Isobel rang Mark. “Hi, Mark. This is Isobel McKenzie. I hope that everything is going back to normal for you?”
“Yes. I’m busier than ever. I think everyone is trying to let me know that they always believed in me.”
“I’m glad. You were brave to do what you did.”
“Are you OK, Isobel? After the attack?”
“Yes. I’m doing fine, more determined than ever to find this man. In fact I wanted to check something on the list of car numbers you gave us. I’m not with Eoin and Alanna at the moment. Do you think you could email that list to me? I hate bothering them when they’re busy working.”
“No problem.”
“Could you send it now?”
“Yes. Give me your email address and I’ll send it immediately.”
“Thanks, Mark. Talk soon.”
“Bye.”
Isobel opened her emails. It took a while to appear.
“Are there many cars?” Patricia asked.
“Yes, about twenty-five.”
Patricia made a face. “That’s a lot of checking. We will have to find out his number. Let me look up his office.” She typed on her phone.
Slowly Isobel went down the list and there it was, a Ford Focus 04 L 247.
“Patricia, look! The old car – it’s there on the list.”
“No way.” Patricia took Isobel’s phone and scanned the list. “I can’t believe this. He’s using his wife’s car?”
“It looks like it
.”
“Why would he do that?”
“As part of his revenge. Because he didn’t want to use his own. Who knows? It’s a start at tying him to these crimes but it’s not enough.” Isobel tapped the steering wheel with her finger. “And the attack on me, the DNA would prove he did that but not all of the rapes. We can only prove those if we find his trophies.”
“And how are we going to do that?”
“That I don‘t know. But before we didn’t know who to look for and now, we have to figure out how to get evidence. Let’s ring Malcolm. We need to put our thinking caps on.”
Chapter 50
Malcolm met them at Hot and Spicey in Annacotty, a small village on the outskirts of Limerick, nestled around the Mulcair river. The Indian restaurant was in a beautiful stone building with narrow cut windows overlooking a weir over which the salmon jumped when they swam upstream to spawn.
“Where’s Bella?” Patricia wanted to know.”
Malcolm laughed. “She’s sleeping on the back seat in the shade with the windows open and a bowl of water. She really enjoyed our walk today in Killaloe. So did I. And I’ve got news for you.” He grinned.
“Us too but let’s order first.”
As they tucked into some papadams, Malcolm said, “I’ve found a car that was parked near the walkway and might be related to your attack, Isobel.”
Isobel raised her eyebrows. “Where? I thought the police checked.”
“This one wasn’t in the car park. I walked on past the place you were attacked. I noticed that lots of the driveways had big entrances where a car could be left and the people in the houses wouldn’t even see it.”
“And?”
“And using my detective skills, honed over a lifetime on the force, along with my natural charm and also Bella’s ability to make friends, I went and talked to all of the houses between where you were attacked and the hotel. Bella was very thirsty.” Malcolm shrugged.
Patricia shook her head. “Unashamedly using your dog.”
Malcolm touched his chest. “She was assisting me in my inquiries, as she always does.”
Isobel laughed. “And you found?”
“And I found that a car was parked in one of the entrances, not blocking it, on the night you were attacked. The house owner only saw it because she needed to go out. She took the number in case it became a regular occurrence but needless to say it hasn’t been back. She did wonder if it might have had mechanical problems because the car was older.”
Broken Silence: A tense psychological thriller Page 28