No Safe Place(Detective Lottie Parker #4)(104)

‘This is about Lynn O’Donnell.’

His face paled and he bit the inside of his cheek. ‘What about her?’

‘Did you know her?’

‘No.’

‘Did you see her the day she disappeared?’

‘I’m presuming you read up on the case, so you know I saw her that evening when she got off the train.’

‘She dropped her bag on the platform.’

‘I helped her pick up her belongings. That’s the last I saw of her.’

‘Did you know her before then?’

He seemed to digest that, perhaps wondering if it was a trick question. But she was throwing out a line, hoping something might bite.

‘I knew her a little. Knew her brothers. They were avid train watchers. Obsessed with trains, those boys were. Still are. Both are on the railway preservation committee.’

Lottie filed away that snippet. ‘How did Lynn seem that day?’

‘Ah, sure it was a long time ago.’

‘Try to remember.’

He closed his eyes. ‘Flustered. She dropped her bag, didn’t she?’ He opened one eye and squinted at Lottie.

‘Was there any reason for that? Did she see someone or something to make her flustered?’

He closed his eyes again. Imagining that day ten years ago?

‘The platform was packed,’ he said. ‘Busy. Not as many trains running back then. There were more people crowded onto the few that were operating. All the men were flitting about with bunches of roses. Probably got them cheap on Moore Street.’

‘After you helped her repack her handbag,’ Lottie probed, ‘did you notice where she went?’

‘What did I say in the report?’

‘I want to know what you can remember.’

He sighed and looked up at pigeons nesting on a rafter. ‘My memory is not as good as it used to be.’

‘I’m sure it’s just fine.’

He smiled at the compliment.

‘She was red-faced. Embarrassed? I don’t know. She rushed through that gate from the platform and went outside. Most of the crowd had dispersed by then. I flagged the train on its way and closed the gate. I remember standing on the steps there, thinking I was almost finished for the day. That was the last train. And …’

‘And what?’

‘I never said anything before.’ He clasped his hands tightly, as if the gesture might keep his tongue quiet.

Lottie placed a hand on his arm. ‘You can tell me.’

‘I … I couldn’t tell anyone. You see a small fire started. I think it blurred my memory. The old waiting rooms round the back. It was beginning to blaze. I never told anyone. It was my responsibility. I was terrified of losing my job.’

‘What was your responsibility?

‘Keeping the place clean and free of rubbish.’

Lottie sighed. He was trekking off on a tangent. ‘Jimmy, you were telling me about Lynn O’Donnell?’

‘There’s nothing to tell.’

‘Was it a big fire?’

‘I thought so at first. But I put it out quick enough.’

‘How did it start?’

‘A build-up of rubbish caught light at the side of the building.’ He wrung his hands together, his lips quivering. ‘I never reported it as it was my job on the line. Can you understand that?’

She could, but she said, ‘What aren’t you telling me?’

‘I couldn’t say anything back then. And I can’t now.’

‘We found her body. Lynn. Did you know that? We think someone abducted her that day and hid her away for ten years until she died. Can you imagine anything worse? Was your job worth the heartache that family had to go through?’

‘He said nothing either. So it wasn’t all my fault.’

‘Who are you talking about?’ Lottie sat up straight. This was certainly new.

‘He helped me. To put out the fire. I couldn’t say anything or he might have dropped me in the shit, you know.’

‘Jimmy, you have to tell me what you mean.’

He stood up, pushed his cap back and scratched his forehead. He had his back to her, and his voice was so low she had to stand up to hear him.

‘You see, he was with her, collecting her or something. They were in the car. I think he saw the flames starting around the same time I did, because he came to help me. When we got it quenched with the extinguishers, I shook his hand to thank him and asked him to say nothing to no one, and he said …’

‘Go on, Jimmy.’

‘He said, I expect the same from you. Then he joined her in the car.’

‘Jesus!’ Lottie felt a tingle of anticipation catching fire in her belly. This had not appeared anywhere in Lynn O’Donnell’s file. ‘Who? Who was it?’

He looked back at her, his eyes half closed with sadness.

‘Her brother.’

Lottie gulped down her surprise.

‘Which one, Jimmy? Tell me! Which brother?’





Ninety-One





‘Carol?’ Terry’s voice echoed up the stairs.

If he wakes Mum and Dad, I’m going to kill him, she thought as she jumped out of bed. The contents of her stomach rose to her mouth. Grabbing a tissue, she threw up in the bowl beside the bed. When would it ever stop?