Page 129 of Final Betrayal

Lottie stared at him. ‘Tell me how you know them.’

He made to fold his arms, but his girth restricted him in the confined space. A waft of stale cigarettes accompanied his movement, and Lottie regretted having just eaten the croissant. Her stomach churned. The lack of fresh air in their interview rooms was a constant bugbear.

Keegan chewed loudly on a piece of gum, squelching it between his teeth. ‘I saw Amy whenever I went in the pharmacy, which wasn’t often, because I try to avoid my ex-wife. She works there.’ He paused as if he had sucked something rotten into his mouth. ‘Then Penny, I only ever saw her if I was out at the clubs, which wasn’t often either.’

‘And Louise Gill?’

‘Never saw much of her. She never hung around the site. Don’t think there was much love lost between her and her daddy. I knew her lesbian lover to see. Though I doubt Mr Gill was aware of that relationship.’

‘So you think Cyril Gill would have objected to Louise’s choice of partner?’

‘Shit, yeah. He hated all that rainbow stuff. Out-and-out bigot he was. And not afraid to let you know either.’

‘You ever have any disagreements with him?’

‘Not really. No.’ The chewing continued.

‘How long have you worked for Cyril Gill?’

‘Since I finished school.’

‘Which was when?’

‘I didn’t hang around to do my Leaving Cert. I must’ve been about sixteen. That’d be nearly twenty years ago, give or take.’

‘It’s a wonder you never rose to the rank of foreman.’ On second thoughts, she doubted Keegan had the mentality for that sort of job. Without waiting for his reply, she said, ‘Marrying Megan Price must have been a step up the ladder for you. How did you meet her?’

Tony shifted uneasily on the chair. ‘My marriage has nothing to do with anything.’

‘I will decide that.’

The more he shifted, the more she wanted to get up and run. Search for Katie and Chloe. But she had to go through the motions in case Keegan knew something about them because of his connection to Dowling.

‘Go on,’ she said. ‘You were telling me about Ms Price.’

‘I wasn’t. You’re not even listening to me.’ He took a deep breath and sighed it outwards. She could see the gum stuck to his teeth. ‘Me and Megan, we were complicated.’

Aren’t we all, she thought. ‘Did you know her before her stepfather, Bill Thompson, was attacked?’

‘We hung out a bit. A gang of us. Including Conor. Megan was wild back then, even though she was in college. She always looked down on us, but I thought she was a goddess.’

‘You’d do anything for her?’

‘I fell in love with her. Doesn’t mean I’d do anything for her. Couldn’t believe she said yes when I asked her to marry me. When I look back on it, it wasn’t long after Bill Thompson died, so maybe I got her on the rebound.’

‘Rebound?’

‘You know. She loved the old man and then he was gone, so I was next in her line of fire.’

‘Strange choice of words.’

He whittled away at a piece of skin at the edge of a nail until he drew blood. ‘That’s what it turned out like in the end. I was always in her line of fire.’ He coughed, chewed and looked at Lottie. ‘I can’t see what this has to do with the murder of those girls.’

Lottie couldn’t see it either. Yet. But she couldn’t let Keegan know that. ‘So you would have done anything for Megan?’

‘Sure. Back then. Not now.’

‘You’d even help stitch up your friend Conor. Back then,’ she emphasised.

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