Her White Lie Read online

  Chapter Thirteen

  Tara

  I’m sitting with a cup of coffee in my hand that Lucas made for me. The two detectives are sitting on the sofa in front of me. I’m nervous, my legs are shaking, my hands trembling. Thankfully, Lucas is in the room or I think I’d shrivel up and die.

  The male detective speaks first, introducing himself for a second time. Then he asks me to confirm that I am indeed Tara Moore. I wish I could say, no; that I’m Mary Moore or Annie Moore or Britney Spears, anything to get them out of here but I’m not. So I nod and take a sip of my coffee.

  ‘Do you know why we’re here?’ Detective Mullins asks. I shake my head even though I have a bloody good idea.

  ‘Well, it’s in connection with your residency at Huntley Lodge. You did live there, didn’t you? Do you have the exact dates?’

  ‘I… I… I was there three years ago.’ My brain is turning to mush. I can’t think straight.

  ‘It’s okay. Take your time.’

  ‘I know it was September because we moved in when college started but what year…?’ Numbers are dancing in my head, two thousand and… shit, what year did I start college?

  ‘Would that have been 2014?’ the detective asks. I nod.

  ‘Until 2016, maybe?’

  I nod again, wondering why they asked if they already knew.

  ‘September, we left at the end of September.’

  ‘And Tara, can you tell us who lived there with you?’

  ‘Yes, there were various people there at different times, some just while they were stuck for somewhere to stay but the main people paying the rent were myself, Andriu Fitzpatrick and Faye Connolly.’

  ‘Were they in college too?’

  ‘Andriu was working and Faye was in college. I dropped out the year before we left.’

  Detective Mullins is writing down everything I say. It’s making me even more nervous. What if I say something wrong? Or get a date wrong? Or— Jesus, I’m no good for this. I wish they’d just get on with it and leave.

  ‘My mam got sick and I couldn’t concentrate, so I packed it in for a year. I was going to go back but…’ I don’t actually have an end to that sentence, so I leave it there.

  ‘Andriu Fitzpatrick. Do you know where we could find him?’

  ‘Is this about the body?’

  ‘What?’ Detective Mullins says, lifting his head from the notebook. ‘The body?’

  ‘Yes, the body they found at Huntley Lodge?’ Shit, I hope I haven’t said something wrong but no one was mentioning it and I think I should know.

  ‘Do you know anything about the body?’

  ‘Just what I saw on the news. But it’s years since we lived there. Why do you want to speak to us? Has the body been there that long?’

  ‘It is about the body, but we haven’t got a time estimate yet so we’re just talking to anyone who has lived there in the past few years.’

  ‘But you must have some idea.’ I can hardly believe the words coming out of my mouth. I put the coffee cup down on the table, keeping my eyes fixed on the detective. ‘I mean, it must be pretty decayed if you think it could have happened when we lived there.’

  I can feel Lucas’s eyes boring a hole in the back of my head. I wonder what he’s thinking. Is he feeling sorry for me having to put up with this interrogation? Or is he worrying I might be getting dragged into something that could spoil the wedding? I hope he doesn’t think I was involved in any way.

  ‘At the moment, we can’t say anything until we get definitive information, but yes, I guess it’s already out there that the body is very much decayed. It has been lying there for a while. Exactly how long, we don’t know yet. So for now, we just want to talk to anyone who lived at Huntley Lodge.’ Mullins glances down at his notebook before looking back at me. ‘Can you think of anything suspicious you might have seen, anything that might help us find out what happened?’

  I shake my head.

  ‘Andriu Fitzpatrick, do you know where he is living now?’

  ‘Andriu lives in London, but he’ll be back here next week sometime. He’s coming home for my wedding.’

  ‘Oh, you’re getting married.’

  I turn my head to look at Lucas. He’s right behind me. Lucas winks at me and smiles.

  ‘Yes, to this man, Lucas Jones.’

  ‘Were you ever at Huntley Lodge?’ the detective asks, looking up at Lucas. Lucas shakes his head.

  ‘No, we met well after that,’ I say, smiling, believing my upcoming nuptials might lift the mood, but no. Detective Lee speaks next.

  ‘And Faye Connolly, where does she live now?’

  ‘I don’t know. I haven’t seen Faye for years… I know she’s a doctor now but we lost contact.’

  ‘Fine.’ Detective Mullins closes his notebook and stands. He holds out a card. ‘I’m going to give you my direct number. If you think of anything that might be of use to the investigation, ring this number.’

  ‘Is that it, am I done here?’ I take the card from his hand.

  ‘For now.’

  A wave of relief passes over me. That wasn’t so bad. They didn’t ask anything too difficult or anything that would have necessitated a lie.

  I look at the time and realise I’m going to be late for work. I’ll have to ring Muriel to let her know I’m on my way because the cafe can be very busy in the morning. But first I need to get rid of these two.

  Lucas is still standing behind me when my phone rings from the speaker stand that’s beside Detective Siobhan Lee. It rings a few times before she lifts it.

  ‘Do you want this?’ she says. I can see her reading the screen before she hands it to me but now the phone has stopped ringing.

  ‘It’s probably work. I’ll ring them back.’ I take the phone and walk towards the door. Relief washes over me when they walk outside.

  ‘I’ll ring if I think of anything,’ I say, closing the door behind them, hoping I never have to see their faces again. But something tells me I will. Especially when I look at my phone and see the missed call the detective read on my screen was from Faye Connolly.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The detective is going to think I’m a liar. I told her I hadn’t seen or heard from Faye Connolly in years and the next thing, she sees her name flashing on my phone screen. If I had known before the detective left that it was Faye who called I could have told her the truth. That Faye rang the previous day and I just saved her contact name in my phone in case she rang back. Which she hasn’t yet. But then the detective might say, why is she ringing now, all of a sudden, if you haven’t heard from her in years? Are you both trying to get your story straight, Miss Moore? That would have been worse. My face would have gone red and the detective would have known I was hiding something.

  * * *

  We’re like ships passing in the night. When I rang Faye back, I got a secretary with a very musical voice telling me that Dr Faye Connolly was with a patient. I told her it was personal and urgent and that I’d missed two calls from Faye already. She said she’d get her to ring as soon as she was free.

  I’m nervous. Those cops are not going to go away; they’ll keep asking questions, digging and digging, it’s what they do. But what if they end up digging in the right place? What will I do then? My thoughts are racing in the wrong direction. I need to calm down a bit but it’s hard with so much at stake. I wish I was already on the far side of this planet. I doubt they’d come all the way to Australia to ask if I could remember anything suspicious.

  I text Muriel to tell her I’ve been delayed and will get there as soon as possible. I don’t tell her why because the last thing I need is Muriel asking me questions. She texts me back to say it’s quiet and there’s no need to rush. So I don’t.

  Lucas waited with me until I’d stopped shaking then he had to run. He made me an omelette first, though. I managed to swallow the whole thing even though every time I thought of the detectives and the body and the fact that this was all happening three weeks before my w
edding, I felt like getting sick.

  It’s a busy time for Lucas, wrapping up things at the company before he goes back to head office. He tells me there are lots of things he needs to sort out and he’s training two people to take over his job. Not one. Two. I laughed when I heard that.

  I put my plate in the dishwasher. My eyes keep checking the phone which I have sitting on the kitchen island right beside me. I’m anxious to speak to Faye, to let her know that the cops called here. I need to give her the heads-up so she’s prepared in case they call to her too. I’m nervous to hear her voice again after all this time because I don’t know what to expect. Will Faye be friendly and act like nothing went wrong between us? Or will she bring up the past? Maybe she’ll tell me why she just disappeared out of my life without any explanation. I’d love to know why but I’ve no intention of mentioning it because I’ve enough to deal with. I’m still wondering what her reaction will be when my phone lights up. My heart quickens. It’s her.

  ‘Faye.’

  ‘Tara dear, can you talk?’

  The familiar sound of her voice stops my every thought. It echoes around my head, uprooting all the memories I have buried there. Faye’s smiles, her hugs, her words of comfort, her words of encouragement. They’re all flooding back now, reminding me of what we had, that special friendship, the secrets we have, the unbreakable connection… that broke.

  Tears begin to sting my eyes. I can’t let Faye know that I’m about to cry so I swallow hard and say, ‘Yes.’

  ‘Did you see the news?’ she asks, straight up. No beating around the bush for Faye.

  ‘Yes, I was going to ring you but I didn’t know if you’d want that so…’ I let my comment hang in the air between us hoping it reminds her of all the unanswered calls I made to her when she left Huntley. All the attempts to find out why she ended our friendship had been in vain. Faye never answered. She never even sent a text. Night after night I cried myself to sleep trying to make sense of it all but I never could. I wish I had the courage to ask her the question that haunted me for years. Why did you leave me Faye? Why did you walk out on me when my world was falling apart? My heart was broken. My mam had just died. You were my best friend and you disappeared out of my life. But I won’t ask. Not now. That storm has passed. I’m navigating calmer waters now. Well I was until the cops showed up.

  ‘Have you heard anything? Anything about the body? How long it’s been there?’

  I’m a bit disappointed that Faye has gone straight to the point without asking anything about me. I guess she really doesn’t care anymore. I wipe my eyes, feeling foolish for having got upset in the first place. I’m a big girl now. I’ve a big future ahead of me. Fuck the past.

  ‘Nothing concrete except that the body has been there for a long time.’

  ‘Anything else?’ she asks eagerly.

  ‘No… except that it’s female.’ I don’t want to tell her that I think it’s the woman who disappeared a few years ago and was never found, because I don’t know this for sure yet and she might panic.

  ‘I hope they don’t drag us into this, Tara. I can’t have cops coming in here asking questions. If they find out what we did, my license will be revoked. I’ll never be able to practice again.’

  I totally understand where Faye is coming from but I don’t know what she expects me to do about it. I’m about to ask when she says, ‘If for some reason the cops do contact you, I need you to do something for me, Tara.’

  I nod, letting her words filter through my head. This is not a choice for me. Faye knows that. I owe her big-time and now she’s calling in the favour.

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘I don’t want you to mention my name. Can you do that? Just leave me out of it?’

  Other than the sound of my heart bashing against the wall of my chest, I’m rendered silent.

  ‘Your name was on the lease, Tara, mine wasn’t, so there’s no need to bring me into it—’

  I interrupt her before she goes on. ‘It’s too late. Two detectives called here this morning, Faye.’

  Faye doesn’t answer. I can hear her breathing, slow, heavy.

  ‘Are you there?’

  ‘Did you give them my name?’

  ‘Yes. Sorry, I wasn’t thinking straight. I was in shock and… they’d have found out some other way. The registrar at college or someone else would have given your name. If I left you out and they discovered it elsewhere that wouldn’t look good…’

  She’s saying nothing, so I continue. ‘They probably won’t come back anyway, Faye. I got that impression.’ I didn’t get that impression but I don’t want to worry her any more than I already have.

  ‘What did they ask?’

  ‘Just who lived in the house and did I remember anything suspicious going down.’

  ‘And you said?’

  ‘I told them lots of people stayed there but only myself, you and Andriu lived there on a permanent basis.’ I realise that I forgot to tell the detective about Robin living there for a while.

  Faye is silent; I can tell she’s thinking.

  ‘Well, good luck to them trying to track Andriu down,’ she says.

  ‘Actually, he’s coming to Dublin next week.’

  The silence that follows is warranted. Faye will not be able to comprehend how I’m in touch with Andriu. Not after what he did to her. She’ll probably see this as a betrayal on my behalf. I want to explain to her that he was the one who contacted me but I don’t think that’ll excuse me.

  ‘Andriu… you’ve been in touch with him?’

  I feel awful now. I probably should not have engaged with him when he made contact but it had been months since I’d heard from anyone. I’d given up trying to contact Faye. She wasn’t replying to any of my calls or messages. Then when I saw the message from Andriu, I was delighted and replied straight away. We stayed in contact after that. Not every day or even every week, but now and then he sends a message.

  ‘Just a few little messages.’

  ‘But you’re meeting him next week, are you?’

  I can hear someone calling Faye in the background.

  ‘Hang on Tara, I have to go… I’ll be there in a minute,’ she says to whoever is looking for her.

  ‘Can you call back later?’ I say, sounding desperate. I want to explain why I’m seeing Andriu next week.

  ‘I’ll call you this evening, but Tara…’

  ‘Yes?’ I’m relieved she’s agreed to call me later.

  ‘If those detectives return, be careful what you say to them.’

  ‘I will Faye… don’t worry.’ I know that’s easier said than done.

  ‘Okay, got to go. Talk later.’

  And then she’s gone. Into her world of saving lives and easing suffering. I picture her rushing down a hospital corridor in a white coat to the next emergency room, her petite hand pushing open the door and waving her magic wand.

  When I put the phone down, I catch my own image in the mirror and see the tired, worried face of the bride-to-be. This isn’t right. I can’t be letting this body at Huntley Lodge ruin the most important day of my life. I should be enjoying myself.

  I move over to the cabinet with all the wedding paraphernalia and open up the box with the wedding pamphlets inside. The words on the white sparkling cover cheer me up. The wedding of… I lift the pamphlet and sniff it. There’s nothing beautiful about the smell of this paper except that it smells new, reminding me of the life that awaits me. The sun, the sea, the sex. The barbecues that I never liked going to in Ireland but will probably love in Australia with all my new friends. Lucas has lots of friends. I’ve met one of them in person when he came over to visit earlier in the year. Others I’ve met on Skype. They all seem nice, and some of the girls have already friended me on Facebook which is great. I’ll feel like I know them already when I get there. It’s a pity none of them will be at the hen party.

  Closing the lid on the box of pamphlets, I try to swallow the pain that surges inside me. It’s an even bigger
pity Faye won’t be there. How did this happen? Faye was always such a big part of my life; every plan for our future was made together, discussed, dissected and spoken about with such excitement and enthusiasm; we left no stone unturned. Especially when it came to getting married – we had some great laughs dreaming about that. And now she’s not even going to be at the hen party. I thought when I met Lucas that I could finally let her go. I didn’t think about her as much. I came to accept she was gone for good and I was able to quieten her voice in my head. But hearing her today has brought it all back.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Even though I didn’t get into work until after eleven today the day dragged on. The waiting game has begun. I’m so organised, the wedding arrangements are no longer dominating my time. The only thing outstanding on the list are the weddings suits – which is also the one element that Lucas is responsible for organising. He said there was no need to panic; that the hire shops are full of them, especially at this time of the year. I told him alterations take time and he had better get on it. Lucas eventually made an appointment for this evening. Lucas is the most laid back person I have ever met. So laid back I often have to put my hand out and pull him forward. How he managed to secure the job he has, which has something to do with IT and farm machinery and a greener future, I do not know. But he has and it pays well, and when he returns to the head office in Melbourne he’ll be getting a big promotion. This, he says, will give me time to get a job I like. If I want to. He’s not bothered one way or the other. Whatever I want.

  I asked Lucas not to mention the detectives calling to the apartment when he sees my father tonight. Dad is as bad as me for worrying. Lucas said he’d no intention of mentioning it and I should forget about it too. It will come to nothing. They were just doing their job. I hope he’s right. I feel bad that I couldn’t do what Faye asked me to do. If I hadn’t already spoken to the detective, I wouldn’t have mentioned her name. They probably would have found out anyway but at least I would have done what she asked. I would do anything she asked me to. I owe her big-time.