p.m. and two a.m. on the night of October thirty-first?’
‘Right. You don’t have to make it sound quite so …
Columbo
, though.’
‘God, I love
Columbo
,’ Lesley said. ‘Always gets his man – or woman. At least in this case we know it’s a man.’
‘Yeah, that narrows it right down,’ Danny said dryly.
‘Just don’t make them feel like they’re being interrogated,’ Romy said to Lesley, who took a small pen from her back pocket.
‘Not … being … interrogated,’ she said as she wrote.
‘Um … you’re not going to take notes, are you? When you talk to people later,’ Romy asked.
‘Well, I thought it’d help – with the investigation, like.’
‘I told you, it’s not an investigation.’
‘God, I wish it
was
an investigation! That’d be brilliant, wouldn’t it? We could set up one of those incident rooms.’
‘Look, chances are there’ll be hardly anyone from David’s party here anyway. We don’t exactly mix in the same circles.’
‘And if we don’t find him tonight, we can set up an incident room.’
‘No, no incident room.’
‘Please,’ Lesley begged. ‘Just a small one? I’ll set it up in my house. You won’t even have to be involved.’
‘No,’ Romy said firmly. ‘Tonight is my last shot at finding out who he is. After this, I’m just going to put it behind me and get on with my life. I’ve been living in limbo for long enough.’
Lesley’s face fellabout half a mile. ‘You’re calling off the investigation? Just like that?’
‘I told you – there
is
no investigation. I’ve tried everything, but the trail’s gone cold. I need to move on.’
‘It’s like one of those cold cases – they get solved every day,’ Lesley persisted.
‘Lesley—’
‘And you haven’t tried everything. I think an incident room could really help. We just need to focus on the details, follow the trail … And there was the DNA testing,’ she said. ‘You haven’t tried that. And I’ve got lots more ideas. I was thinking if we could get our hands on one of those computer programmes that shows you what someone will look like when they’re older—’
‘Lesley, give her a break,’ Danny chided.
Lesley looked rebuked. ‘Sorry, babe,’ she said to Romy. ‘You’re right. You should move on. He’d probably turn out to be a gobshite anyway. You’re better off without him.’
‘Yeah, I’m just going to settle down to being a single mother, concentrate on Luke.’
‘Feck that!’ Lesley said. ‘You want to find yourself a nice man to love both you and Luke.’
Romy didn’t have time to argue as the doorbell rang, so she went to answer it. It was her tenants, all arriving in a clump. Glancing at the clock in the hall as they filed past, she saw that it was seven thirty on the dot, and she wondered if they had been waiting outside the door, timing their arrival to the second. May and Frank led the way, presenting Romy with a bottle of champagne and a tray of home-made muffins. They were followed by Sarah and Colm, the young couple from one of the basement flats, with Stefan, the gigantic Polish plumber from upstairs, bringing up the rear. He kissed her on both cheeks and pressed a bottle of vodka into her hands beforeheading straight for the table where she had laid out nibbles. Romy started handing out drinks, and introduced everyone to Lesley and Danny.
‘Hi, May, how are you?’ Lesley already knew May. She had helped her set up her blog, where she was currently writing about her and Frank’s experiences working through a popular sex manual as an elderly couple. They were methodically trying out all the positions, assessing their suitability for those with high blood pressure, arthritis and prosthetic joints, and working out adjustments that could be made to accommodate the less agile. A one-time agony aunt and sex therapist, May was still regarded as a bit of an authority on the subject, and Lesley was now building her a website devoted to all
‘Right. You don’t have to make it sound quite so …
Columbo
, though.’
‘God, I love
Columbo
,’ Lesley said. ‘Always gets his man – or woman. At least in this case we know it’s a man.’
‘Yeah, that narrows it right down,’ Danny said dryly.
‘Just don’t make them feel like they’re being interrogated,’ Romy said to Lesley, who took a small pen from her back pocket.
‘Not … being … interrogated,’ she said as she wrote.
‘Um … you’re not going to take notes, are you? When you talk to people later,’ Romy asked.
‘Well, I thought it’d help – with the investigation, like.’
‘I told you, it’s not an investigation.’
‘God, I wish it
was
an investigation! That’d be brilliant, wouldn’t it? We could set up one of those incident rooms.’
‘Look, chances are there’ll be hardly anyone from David’s party here anyway. We don’t exactly mix in the same circles.’
‘And if we don’t find him tonight, we can set up an incident room.’
‘No, no incident room.’
‘Please,’ Lesley begged. ‘Just a small one? I’ll set it up in my house. You won’t even have to be involved.’
‘No,’ Romy said firmly. ‘Tonight is my last shot at finding out who he is. After this, I’m just going to put it behind me and get on with my life. I’ve been living in limbo for long enough.’
Lesley’s face fellabout half a mile. ‘You’re calling off the investigation? Just like that?’
‘I told you – there
is
no investigation. I’ve tried everything, but the trail’s gone cold. I need to move on.’
‘It’s like one of those cold cases – they get solved every day,’ Lesley persisted.
‘Lesley—’
‘And you haven’t tried everything. I think an incident room could really help. We just need to focus on the details, follow the trail … And there was the DNA testing,’ she said. ‘You haven’t tried that. And I’ve got lots more ideas. I was thinking if we could get our hands on one of those computer programmes that shows you what someone will look like when they’re older—’
‘Lesley, give her a break,’ Danny chided.
Lesley looked rebuked. ‘Sorry, babe,’ she said to Romy. ‘You’re right. You should move on. He’d probably turn out to be a gobshite anyway. You’re better off without him.’
‘Yeah, I’m just going to settle down to being a single mother, concentrate on Luke.’
‘Feck that!’ Lesley said. ‘You want to find yourself a nice man to love both you and Luke.’
Romy didn’t have time to argue as the doorbell rang, so she went to answer it. It was her tenants, all arriving in a clump. Glancing at the clock in the hall as they filed past, she saw that it was seven thirty on the dot, and she wondered if they had been waiting outside the door, timing their arrival to the second. May and Frank led the way, presenting Romy with a bottle of champagne and a tray of home-made muffins. They were followed by Sarah and Colm, the young couple from one of the basement flats, with Stefan, the gigantic Polish plumber from upstairs, bringing up the rear. He kissed her on both cheeks and pressed a bottle of vodka into her hands beforeheading straight for the table where she had laid out nibbles. Romy started handing out drinks, and introduced everyone to Lesley and Danny.
‘Hi, May, how are you?’ Lesley already knew May. She had helped her set up her blog, where she was currently writing about her and Frank’s experiences working through a popular sex manual as an elderly couple. They were methodically trying out all the positions, assessing their suitability for those with high blood pressure, arthritis and prosthetic joints, and working out adjustments that could be made to accommodate the less agile. A one-time agony aunt and sex therapist, May was still regarded as a bit of an authority on the subject, and Lesley was now building her a website devoted to all
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