Page 95 of 56 Days
“And to think you started off the daybutt-nakedin handcuffs.”
“So you’ve been thinking about that, have you?”
“Is the elder Balfe here in Dublin? Could he identify the body for us?”
“Dalkey. And he’s going to call the brother.” Lee’s face must immediately convey her concern because Karl adds quickly, “I made it clear we don’t know who’s in there yet, don’t worry. Said I’d call him back when I knew.”
“I don’t want the brother getting a call from anyone else first.”
“I don’t think Balfe will be spreading the news. He seemedveryconcerned that his wife would find out about him not only employing a convicted child killer, but giving him a place to stay as well.”
“Did you ask Balfe why no one missed him?”
“He took unpaid leave a couple of weeks back. The firm was encouraging it to help with overheads while construction is stopped. He’d have been due back Tuesday.”
“He wouldn’t have been in contact with him otherwise? Socially?”
“Apparently not. The guy was doing his son’s friend a favor. Beyond that... I don’t think they were exactly bosom buddies.”
The door leading to the stairwell opens then, directly opposite, and Garda Declan Casey steps out.
“The pathologist has finished his initial survey of the scene,” he says to Lee. “Asked if you wanted awalk-throughbefore they start on removing the body?”
“I do,” she says. Then, to Karl, “Get Lois Lane’s prints, would you? And whatever else you can get out of her. You never know, she might just admit she went in and took photos. Give them to you, even. Stranger things have happened.”
“Got it from the context,” he says, “but am I supposed to know who Lois Lane is?”
“Really, Karl?” Lee pauses. “She used to be the host ofCrimecall.”
Declan frowns at this, and Lee indicates with a jerk of her head that he should set off back down the stairs before he corrects her and ruins it.
He turns and goes, and she follows him.
Tom Searson, deputy pathologist, is waiting for her in the lobby along with her old friend, the stench.
He’s in a full forensics suit—white disposable coveralls, gloves, mask—and holding out another one to her, still folded and wrapped in plastic.
She takes it with one hand while pulling her face mask off with the other.
“Lee,” Tom says with a smile in his voice. “Long time no see.”
He’s a short man with a bit of a beer belly, so the suit is stretched across his middle but baggy and loose everywhere else.
“I know. How are things?”
“Oh, you know.” He rests his hands on his belly and rocks on his heels a little. “Can’t complain.”
Lee rips open the plastic pack and starts pulling out the contents.
“You got here in record time,” she says. “Are you near?”
“Donnybrook. Could’ve cycled over.” Tom nods in the direction of apartment one. “Have you been in?”
“Yes, unfortunately.”
“It’s particularly unpleasant in there, I must say.”
“Definitely in my Top Ten. Maybe even Top Five, with the maggots.”
