Read Online Unti Lucy Black Novel #3 by Brian McGilloway - Free Book Online Page B

warning, she hugged her, her body shuddering. Lucy embraced her lightly, could feel the thin bones of her shoulder blades through the brown cardigan she wore in spite of the heat.
    â€œThanks for coming,” the woman said, when they separated. “I’m sorry for bothering you. I’m sure you were on your way home.”
    â€œIt’s fine,” Lucy said. “You were burgled, is that right?”
    The woman nodded, holding the balled tissue in her fist up to her eyes to stem a renewed flow of tears. Lucy glanced around the living room, which appeared to be undisturbed. Normally, with a burglary, the place would be overturned.
    â€œWhat was taken?”
    â€œBennie’s watch,” Doreen said, then began to cry again. Bennie, Doreen’s husband, had been an accountant in Derry for years. He’d died of a heart attack five years earlier, long before Lucy had even come back to Derry, so she’d never known the man, save for what Doreen had said about him, which, depending on her mood, ranged from his being a saint to her expressing gratitude for peace now that he was gone.
    â€œHe bought me a watch for our silver wedding anniversary. It had diamonds in the face, one for each hour. It was far too nice to wear, but I kept it in my room. It’s gone. And a lot of the jewelry he bought for me over the years.”
    Lucy glanced around. Doreen’s television set still jabbered away in the corner, she noticed, though having said that, it was an analogue set and probably too heavy for someone looking for a quick snatch-­and-­run.
    â€œAnything else?”
    Doreen glanced around the room, as if taking a mental inventory for the first time. “Nothing obvious,” she said.
    â€œHow did they get into the house? Any signs of a break in?”
    Doreen shook her head. “I didn’t notice anything.”
    â€œHow about I take a quick look around, eh?” Lucy said.
    Lucy moved through the house, checking each window and examining the jambs of both the front and rear doors. In the main bedroom, the drawer of the wardrobe unit was lying on the floor, empty. A musical box lay upturned on the bed, again empty. By the time she came back downstairs, Doreen was sitting on the sofa, cradling herself.
    â€œYou wouldn’t have left a window open, would you? On account of the heat?”
    The woman shook her head. “I always close the windows,” Doreen said. “Force of habit since Bennie was here, God rest him.”
    â€œWere you in the house all day?” Lucy asked. A creeper burglary was a possibility if there were no signs of forced entry, though Lucy was reluctant to mention it lest the woman had not considered the possibility that someone had been in her house while she was there, without her realizing it.
    â€œNo. I’ve been away on holidays for the past week. To Blackpool with the WI. I only got back half an hour ago. I phoned as soon as I saw.”
    â€œDoes anyone else have a key to the house? Someone maybe who was going to check on it while you were gone?”
    Doreen hesitated, staring from the TV screen to Lucy.
    â€œWho has the key, Doreen?”
    â€œHelen has a copy,” the woman said quietly. “I don’t believe it was her who stole from me, though.”
    â€œHelen Dexter?”
    Doreen nodded.
    â€œWhy has she a key?”
    â€œShe does some light work around the house for me,” Doreen replied. “I pay her for it.”
    â€œSince when?”
    â€œSince the whole thing last year. She offered to do it.”
    â€œTo pay you back for the money you gave her?”
    Doreen nodded again. “Did she tell you about it? I asked her not to.”
    â€œNo, I guessed. She’d not a penny to her name to pay off what she’d taken. I knew someone had given it to her, and it certainly wasn’t her mother.”
    â€œShe offered to do some work to pay me back. I let her do it for a week, then told