Page 112 of Three Widows

Smart-arse, she thought.

‘Did you know Éilis Lawlor?’

‘She might have been a client. I’ll have to check.’

Lottie tapped her phone and turned the screen towards him. ‘Jog any memories?’

‘She is a startlingly beautiful woman.’

That wasn’t the answer Lottie wanted, and anyway, she didn’t really agree. Éilis was pretty, but not startlingly so. ‘Did you know her?’

‘I gather you know she attended Smile Brighter, hence your questions. But I’m not the only dentist there.’

‘You still haven’t given me an answer.’

With a half-smile, he said, ‘You are persistent, aren’t you?’

Lottie glared.

He raised his hands before dropping them to his lap. ‘Okay, yes. I think I did some work on her teeth. I can’t tell you when I last saw her, though. I’ll have to check at the office. Is there anything else?’

‘Did you give her any advice like you gave Jennifer?’

‘I can’t even remember the woman, so how would I know what we might have talked about?’

‘Tell me about Orla Keating.’

For the first time, he appeared unsettled. Stretched out his legs and leaned back into his bean bag cushion.

‘I just worked on her teeth.’ He paused as if considering how much to reveal. ‘But I knew her husband, Tyler. Quite a bit of work, he was.’

‘Was?’

‘He’s still missing, isn’t he?’

‘How did you know him?’

‘He was a client of mine.’

‘Why did you not like him?’

‘Erm, this is awkward.’ He looked more unsettled than a moment ago.

‘Go on.’

‘Tyler Keating was homophobic, if you must know. He heard about my relationship with Owen and asked to see a different dentist, because he didn’t want to catch AIDS from me. Like, this is not the 1980s. And in case you’re wondering, I am not HIV positive.’

‘I wasn’t wondering that at all. Times have changed a lot since the phobia of the eighties.’

‘The attitude of some people hasn’t changed.’

‘Were you interviewed when he went missing?’

‘No.’

Lottie made a mental note to talk to Kirby. ‘Did he succeed in changing dentists?’

‘I told him to grow up. It was me or no one.’

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