Bridie O’Donnell answered the door almost as soon as Kate knocked, drying her hands on a tea towel and pulling the strings of her pinafore more tightly round her waist.
‘Oh, it’s you,’ she said, sparing Barnard barely a glance. ‘I thought it might be your da.’
In view of the pinafore, which she was wearing over her dress, she had obviously been doing some cleaning. Her face was tired and there were dark-grey circles under her eyes, and Kate could see that her work-roughened hands were shaking. Her eyes swerved away from Kate as soon as she’d waved her into the living room.
‘This is Harry. A friend from London,’ Kate said as Bridie waved them into chairs, opting for an uncomfortable wooden one close to the door and kneading her hands together in obvious distress, making the dry skin crackle. As she had hardly reacted at all to the arrival of a stranger at her door – whereas usually her first question of many would have been to ask where he went to Mass – Kate knew this was not just her mother’s normal anxiety but a serious crisis.
‘I’ll make some tea,’ she said and busied herself in the kitchen aware of the strained silence next door. When she had given all three of them a cup of the strong brew her mother liked, she tried to kick-start the conversation, which had never really got going.
‘I saw da yesterday, mam,’ Kate said. ‘There was an accident at the site where he was working. He was worried about his boss, though I didn’t see how da could be blamed.’
‘Yes, I know all about that,’ her mother said. ‘He came round teatime yesterday. Said he was going away until the fuss dies down. I’m worried to death about him.’
‘Where’s he going?’ Kate asked. ‘Did he say?’
‘No,’ Bridie said. ‘He doesn’t often tell me much.’ Kate glanced at Barnard helplessly.
‘Going away isn’t such a good idea,’ Barnard said. ‘It more or less guarantees someone will come looking for him. He’ll be needed as a witness.’
Bridie slumped back on her chair looking completely drained.
‘So what makes you such an expert?’ she asked. ‘Frank’s been coming and going for years, ever since the war. One month he’s at sea, the next he’s just picking up work at the dock gates – and if you don’t know what that’s like, you need to talk to someone who does. I thought all that would change when he went to work for Terry Jordan on the buildings, but now this. Father Reilly tells me I have to stick by him, but I sometimes wonder.’ Barnard glanced at Kate for a second and she nodded.
‘Tell her,’ she whispered.
‘Tell me what?’ Bridie demanded.
‘I’m a policeman,’ he said. ‘A detective. In London, not here, so I know nothing about all this. But if you do see your husband, try to persuade him to go back to his job and help them sort it all out. If he doesn’t talk to the authorities, they’ll think he has something to hide.’
Bridie gazed at Kate and Barnard, a mixture of shock and fury chasing across her face.
‘What are you doing bringing him here?’ she flung at Kate. ‘You know the trouble our Tom has had with the bizzies.’
‘This is nothing to do with Tom,’ Kate said. ‘I just wanted to know where my father was staying, that’s all. I need to see him.’
‘And you bring a feckin’ policeman here?’ Bridie said. ‘Holy Mother, you are a stupid little cow!’
‘I was with da after the accident,’ Kate said. ‘He was worried about what his boss would say, but no one thought it was anything except an accident. I don’t know why he would think he had to run off.’
Barnard got to his feet with a shrug. He was, he thought, surplus to requirements and would be better out of the way.
‘I’ll wait for you outside, Kate, if you’d rather talk to your mother alone.’ Kate nodded gratefully.
‘It might be best,’ she said. They heard the front door close behind Barnard, then Kate turned on her mother, almost as angry now as she was.
‘Now will you tell me what’s going on with da?’ she demanded.
‘And will you tell him? A bloody copper?’ Bridie countered, her face flushed and her eyes full of unshed tears.
‘Not if you don’t want me to,’ Kate said.
‘Your father’s got his reasons,’ Bridie said. ‘You know what he’s like, he ducks and dives, wheels and deals, just like Terry Jordan used to, though it’s never made Frankie any money. As fast as he earns it, he drinks it and gambles it away. Terry’s a powerful man in Liverpool now, with friends in high places, and he won’t want Frank talking about where they both started.’
‘You mean Terry Jordan might have told him to disappear?’
Bridie’s lips pursed.
‘I’ll say nothing about that,’ she said. ‘But I reckon he’ll be out of the country by now if Terry Jordan wants him out of the way. It’s not difficult to get on a boat, is it? Not in Liverpool.’
‘Ireland?’ Katie asked, knowing that her father, of all the family, identified most closely with the Republic.
‘Ireland, New York, the South Pole maybe …’ Bridie said, her voice breaking. ‘Now get yourself and your policeman back to London and don’t bother about this anymore. There’s nothing you can do about your da. There’s nothing I’ve ever been able to do about him. I’m just scared we’ll never see him again.’
Kate sighed. ‘I wouldn’t worry,’ she said wearily. ‘You know he’s a survivor. I’ve no doubt he’ll survive this too, whatever’s going on. You could report him missing, but I don’t suppose you will as you’re so suspicious of the police. I’ve nearly got enough pictures now for my boss in London, so we’ll probably be going back on Sunday night. You’ve got my phone number at the flat. Even if I’m not there, you can leave a message with Tess.’
Her mother nodded, but Kate could see that this situation had upset her more than anything else she could remember.
‘Take care,’ she said, but Bridie merely nodded. There seemed to be no spark left in her.
Barnard was leaning against his car smoking. As she closed her mother’s front door behind her, he opened the passenger door for Kate.
‘Your family has a genius for getting into trouble,’ he said mildly. ‘The best thing I can do for you is pretend I never heard any of that. I don’t suppose I’ll be meeting any of the local police any time soon.’
‘I don’t understand why da’s in such a panic,’ Kate said. ‘But my mother’s right. If he wants to disappear, there’s no shortage of ways to do so round here. But he never said a word about it to me when I left him at the offices yesterday. But regardless of that, I need to go back there and see someone at Jordan’s company. I still need to pin down the buildings they’ve put up and match them with my old pictures of the ruins. Then I should have enough for Ken.’
‘Will there be anyone there on a Saturday?’ Barnard asked.
‘There might be after what happened yesterday,’ Kate said. ‘It would be worth a try if it’ll save me stopping over until Monday. The planning man at the Echo was quite helpful, but I need to confirm things with the builders to be sure. And at the same time I can ask if anyone knows where my da has vanished to. Knowing him, he might be sleeping off a heavy night somewhere. Though I suppose he could be in Dublin by now. It’s a long shot, but someone at Macdonald-Jordan might know. I’d like to put my mam out of her misery if I can. If she knows where he is, she’ll calm down.’
‘Fine,’ Barnard said. ‘Anything you like if it gets you on your way home.’ He glanced at her sideways as he pulled out from the kerb. ‘If my place is still home,’ he said.
‘I’d like it to be,’ she said, remembering what she had told Liam Minogue and wanted to tell Barnard. But she still found it hard to put anything encouraging into words, and she could hear how much strain there was in her own voice. She glanced at him as he drove on to the main road into the city and could see how tense he was too.
‘Let’s leave it until we get back to London to sort ourselves out,’ she said. ‘I don’t think I can cope with it just now.’
They drove to the office block near the docks where the day before she had stood with her father and realized just how firmly he was under his boss’s thumb. And how scared he was of him. The street was quiet and at first they thought Macdonald-Jordan Construction was closed, as it normally would have been on a Saturday morning, but when Barnard looked through the glass street doors he beckoned Kate over.
‘There’s a light on in there,’ he said. ‘Someone must be around.’ He tried the doors but they were locked, and there was no sign of a bell.
‘I don’t think you’re going to get any joy here,’ Barnard said, but even as he spoke a burly man in a camel coat and trilby marched up to the door and put a key in the lock.
‘Can I help you?’ he asked without much enthusiasm.
‘You might be able to,’ Kate said, quickly following the newcomer over the threshold and into the entrance hall. ‘My name is Kate O’Donnell. My father Frank works for you and I’m trying to track him down. He didn’t come home last night and my mam is very worried. Do you know him? Or where he might be?’
The man spun round to face Kate, an unfriendly expression on his face, but Barnard had followed closely behind her and whatever the man had intended to say seemed to freeze on his lips.
‘I do know Frankie O’Donnell. I saw him yesterday after the balls-up on our site near the hospital. But I’ve no idea where he went after he reported what had happened and the police left. No idea at all.’
‘And you are?’ Barnard asked. ‘We know Mr Jordan’s away, so we don’t really know who to talk to about Frankie. We know he was an old friend of his, from the war Katie says. Maybe we should talk to you instead if you’re in charge?’
‘The name’s Dunne, Michael Dunne. I’m deputy to Terry and in charge while he’s away in London. But as I say, I haven’t a clue where O’Donnell went after he left here, though I know Mr Jordan will want words with him as soon as he gets back to Liverpool. There’s no excuse for sloppy scaffolding.’
‘Should it have been checked by the foreman?’ Kate asked.
‘Of course it should,’ Dunne snapped. ‘It should have been safe, instead of which we find ourselves all over the front page of the Echo, which is certainly not where Mr Jordan will want to be when he’s negotiating in London.’
‘Did you threaten to sack him, my da?’ Kate asked.
‘I didn’t threaten him with anything,’ Dunne said. ‘I know he and Terry Jordan go back a long way. And the police merely said they would want to take a formal statement on Monday. That’s it for now. Now I really must get on. I’m sure your father will turn up over the weekend. Tell your mother not to worry. He’s probably just drowning his sorrows somewhere. We all know he’s good at that. It must have been a shock seeing a youngster die like that. But if anyone suggests he’s been drunk on the site he’ll be in trouble, both with Terry and the bizzies. There’s no excuse for that.’
‘I’m staying at the Lancaster Hotel,’ Kate said. ‘If you hear anything about my father’s whereabouts, perhaps you could leave me a message there? I don’t want to go back to London without knowing he’s safe. My mother’s in a bit of a state.’
Dunne nodded and turned away, leaving Kate and Barnard standing looking at each other in the echoing hallway.
‘It looks as if your father may have had a good reason to disappear,’ Barnard said quietly. ‘His mate Terry Jordan may not be best pleased with him, and from what you say Jordan may be a hard taskmaster rather than a friend when things go wrong. But the police won’t be very happy if he doesn’t turn up to make his statement on Monday.’
They made their way back into the street and got into the car.
‘What do you want to do now?’ Barnard asked. Kate shrugged dispiritedly.
‘Will you drop me off at my mother’s for a bit? I need to tell her what we found out, which isn’t much but might calm her down. If the bosses are expecting him back on Monday, then it’s quite possible that’s what he’ll do. He’s not going to want to annoy them more than they’re annoyed already, is he?’
Barnard reckoned Kate was being overoptimistic, but maybe it might make her mother feel better. He glanced at Kate with a rueful smile.
‘I need to find somewhere to stay tonight,’ he said. ‘I don’t suppose your place has got any vacancies, has it?’
‘I doubt it,’ she said without much enthusiasm. ‘I got given a poky little room with a single bed because they were so busy with people in town to see the Beatles. I was lucky to get squeezed in at all and most of them will probably stay over to Sunday. They’ll all try to pack into the Cavern tonight, and will be fed up because it’s so small and sweaty and whatever band is playing won’t be the Beatles by any stretch of the imagination.’
‘OK, I’ll take you back to Anfield and then try to find somewhere to stay. I’ll pick you up at your hotel about six and we’ll have a meal later. Will that do?’
‘Fine,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry to land you with my messy family in all its glory.’
‘It’s an education,’ Barnard said. Kate laughed and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
‘Thanks,’ she said.