Page 115 of Her Last Walk Home

He left without another word, and she had the feeling he would not let her go that easily. Could he be a killer? Was she going soft? Or was he who he said he was? Just a photographer?

Rose sauntered into the kitchen. ‘What’s all the noise? You’d wake the dead.’

Katie lifted up Louis and smiled at her gran.

‘Don’t see any bodies rising up out of the floor here,’ she laughed, and ruffled Louis’ hair.

82

There was no way Kirby would enter the house alone. He indicated for Garda Lei to join him. Lei was good with kids.

The child brought them into a cramped living room. A dining table with six chairs at one end, and a tatty cream leather couch piled with cushions at the other. A flat-screen television took up most of one wall, the only item that looked any way new. Kirby perched on one of the dining chairs while Lei sat on the couch beside the boy.

‘Rex, you say your name is?’ Kirby said. The child nodded. ‘Where are your parents?’

‘Work.’

‘Okay. Shouldn’t you be at school?’

A shrug.

‘Are you often home alone?’

A nod.

‘What age are you?’

‘Seven.’

Kirby thought of Sergio, who was eight. There was no way on earth Boyd would leave him home alone. ‘Do you not have friends you could stay with when your mammy and daddy are at work?’

‘Not really. They’ll be home soon anyhow.’

‘What’s your mammy and daddy’s names?’

The boy shook his head. He wasn’t telling.

‘What’s your surname? Rex who?’

A shrug of a shoulder but again no answer.

‘Okay.’ Kirby glanced at Lei and hesitated. Should they wait for the parents? It might be nothing. The kid might not have seen anything. He might not even be the kid they were looking for. But he had to go for it and suffer the consequences later.

‘Rex, I don’t want to scare you…’

‘I’m scared of nothing.’

‘Good. I’m wondering if you were out early last Friday morning? You know, before your parents got up?’

The boy dropped his head and bit his lip. ‘I’m not supposed to do that.’

‘You’re not in any trouble. I think you can be a big help to us. How does that sound?’

‘Is it about the woman?’

Kirby felt his heart beat a little faster. ‘What woman would that be?’

‘The dead woman lying on the ground at the cinema.’

---