Page 23 of Three Widows

That added a whole new level of depravity, and it sickened her to her stomach.

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Frankie Bardon was so far removed from what Lottie knew of dentists that it took her a moment to compose herself. Over six feet tall, sun-kissed blonde hair and a smile she reckoned must have set him back upwards of twenty grand. Though now that she thought about it, he probably got it for nothing.

‘Apologies for keeping you. I had an orthodontic brace to fit on a child, and it was awkward. The child didn’t want it but the mother insisted. You can imagine the scene.’

‘The only braces I knew of growing up were those holding up my dad’s trousers.’ A lie, but she had decided on small talk to ease into the purpose of her visit. ‘You didn’t get that tan in Ragmullin.’

He laughed. ‘No, I spent a few years in Australia. The sun helped with a skin disorder, and now I have a sun lamp at home that helps with my psoriasis flare-ups.’ He removed his spectacles and seated himself on the edge of the desk, folding his arms. Defensive? ‘How can I help you?’

‘I’m here about Jennifer O’Loughlin. You phoned the station to say you thought she might be the woman in our appeal.’

‘Did you find her?’

‘I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but she was murdered.’

‘Oh God. How? Why? I can’t believe it. Was she that woman I heard about?’ He moved to sit behind the desk, knocking against a stack of boxes, which wobbled but remained upright. ‘When I made the phone call, I never contemplated that she might be dead. It was just the description in your appeal that clicked.’

‘Tell me about Jennifer.’

‘Believe me, there are things I wish I’d done differently when she resigned. I have regrets, but I admit I was a little relieved when she left.’

‘Why is that?’ Lottie studied him more carefully. Had he held a grudge against his former employee?

‘Now that she’s dead, I feel bad talking about her.’

‘Don’t feel bad. I need all the information I can get.’

He nodded. ‘Jennifer was difficult at times. I suspect she was struggling with grief. Her husband died, you see, two years ago. I don’t think she could deal with it. I think of myself as a sympathetic person, but she didn’t do anything to help herself.’

‘Did you help her in any way?’ Lottie recalled her own struggles after Adam had died. No matter how much people tried to be there for her, she had closed them out, until Boyd broke through her defences.

‘We weren’t close friends, if that’s what you mean. I suggested grief counselling, but she ignored my advice.’

‘So she didn’t attend counselling?’

‘I don’t know for certain, but if she did, it didn’t do anything to help her. Her timekeeping deteriorated and her work suffered.’

‘You told my colleague, Detective Lynch, that Jennifer was on a warning before she resigned.’

‘True. She hadn’t been in a good place for quite some time, though I thought she’d turned a corner when I heard she’d joined a group for widows.’

‘A group for widows?’ Lottie was a widow, but she’d never heard of such a group.

‘I think it was for women in similar situations to meet and share their grief. When Jennifer told me about it, I genuinely thought it would help her. But whatever they did on those nights turned her morose, and she usually failed to turn up for work the following day. To paper over the cracks, I changed her work schedule.’ He paused, staring at the ceiling, before returning his gaze to Lottie. ‘Recently she seemed to have lost all interest in her job. Made a few mistakes with clients. I had a serious talk with her a couple of months back; issued a verbal warning. Then her resignation letter arrived.’

Lottie watched Bardon as he ran his index finger between his eyebrows. Was he stressed or trying to keep his story straight?

‘You said you didn’t hear from her for a month. Why didn’t you call her, visit even, or report her missing?’

‘She had resigned her job. I didn’t know she was missing until I read your appeal online this morning. I phoned her then, but it seems her phone’s dead.’

‘What would you do differently, given the chance?’

He put on his spectacles, then removed them again. ‘I followed correct procedure, but maybe I’d offer her time off to sort herself out. I have a business to run, Inspector, so I did what I could until I could do no more.’

‘Was she friendly with any particular member of staff?’

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