“Right, well, thanks again,” Carrie said. “We’ll get back to you if we need more.”

“Any time,” Evelyn said. “Any time at all.”

They left her there, in the break room. Carrie could see that Niall wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. He would probably give her an earful as soon as they were on the street. She stopped at the reception desk on the way out.

Sheila Carmody was alone. She looked up at Carrie’s approach.

“Did you get what you need?” she asked.

“Yes, thank you.” Then Carrie came close and dropped her voice. She didn’t want to be overheard. “Laura and Evelyn, were they close friends?”

Sheila shook her head slowly. “No. I wouldn’t say that.”

“They didn’t have lunch together? Go for drinks on a Friday?”

“No. I don’t think they had much in common. And I suppose the fact that they were in competition didn’t help.”

“Competition?”

“For a permanent position here.” Sheila gestured around the salon. “I made it clear to both of them when I took them on as trainees. There would be a permanent position at the end of it for whichever girl showed the most talent and commitment.”

“I can see how that might have made things awkward.” Carrie’s eyes were on the door to the backroom. Evelyn hadn’t emerged yet.

“Yes,” said Sheila. There was a troubled look in her eye. “I suppose it did.”

Thursday, November 4, 2004

Chapter Thirteen

Carrie

Carrie made it home from her night shift at eight a.m. Aifric was in the kitchen, finishing up her toast and coffee.

“God, that smells good,” Carrie said. It smelled like comfort. Like home. Carrie stripped off her jacket, and dropped it on the back of the couch, wincing a little as she did so. She was tired now, and everything hurt.

Aifric flicked on the kettle. “I’ll make you some, if you like.”

“Thanks,” Carrie said. She came into the kitchen and pulled out a chair. The Robert Collins file was still sitting on the table. Aifric took out two slices of bread and put them in the toaster, then pushed the lever down.

“I read it,” Carrie said. “Your file.”

“Did you?”

“You knew I would.”

Aifric gave her a self-satisfied grin. “Well?”

“I went to see Evelyn Ross tonight.”

The smile dropped away fast. “You did not.”

“I did.” Carrie took a mug and added a spoon of coffee.

“Jesus, Carrie.”

“Don’t you want to know what I found out?”

The kettle had hissed its way to boiling. Aifric brought it to the table, filled Carrie’s coffee cup, and sat down.

“You weren’t supposed to go and see her. I just wanted you to read the statement. Tell me what you thought. That’s all.”

“Well, you were right. She’s a Looney Tune,” Carrie said. She added milk to her coffee and stirred. “And she’s scary with it. If you ask me, she’s lying through her teeth. In her statement, she claims to be Laura O’Donnell’s best friend, but they’d only known each other a couple of months. And they were competitors, not friends. I had a quiet word with Sheila Carmody—that’s the boss—and she said she didn’t think they got on at all.”