Orchids And Lies by Fiona Gartland

Author:Fiona Gartland
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Mystery, Kindle Unlimited, Dean Koontz, Irish Fiction Crime, Irish Crime, Thriller
ISBN: 9781781993941
Publisher: Poolbeg Press
Published: 2020-08-25T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Friday, March 10th

On Friday morning I awoke gasping from a dream about pelargoniums and the sound of my mother singing. The purple petals of the plant had moved on a breeze from the windowsill in my childhood kitchen to the floor of the Palm House in the Botanic Gardens and they lay on the stone path around the head of Paddy Hogan. It was a strange sensation to wake up catching my breath and still to feel like the child who heard my mother’s singing. What could that have been about?

I got out of bed, put on a dressing gown and stood for a while at the window. The sea outside was calm and grey, reflecting a uniformly dark sky that sat over the city. And though the view had the power to lift my spirits no matter what the season, it didn’t seem to have that effect this morning. I was glad Gabriel had suggested the weekend trip to the Burren. I considered calling him then to tell him about Kaya and Celine but decided it would be better to wait until the drive down. A part of me feared, given the way things were between us now, that I might becoming too reliant on him and I didn’t want that.

I went downstairs, had some breakfast and, without getting dressed, set up my laptop on the kitchen table. Still no offers of work. I knew that demand for stenography had waned but, even so, there were still companies managing to survive. Where was I going wrong? Had I lost my reputation for excellence? Had my involvement in the Stephen O’Farrell trial three years before meant I was sullied by it? If that was the problem, I decided, there was nothing I could do about it. I examined the knuckles of my hands. How would I manage anyway, I asked myself, if I was commissioned for a lengthy trial now?

I went upstairs, got dressed and began to think about Kaya and Celine and Bob. My mind was fizzing with questions and I decided to call Gabriel after all. Sitting on the edge of my bed I pressed his number. I let it ring twice, three times, four times before stopping it and letting it drop onto the duvet. As I did, it buzzed. I picked it up expecting something from Gabriel – an explanation perhaps, a message saying he’d call me later. But it was a text from Ava saying she’d drop by with Paddy’s drawings sometime in the afternoon. I gave her my address, pleased that I’d have something new to focus on. In the meantime,

what I needed was a long walk by the sea to help me think. I put on my warmest wool coat, wrapped a red scarf round my neck and went out the door. I didn’t bring a bag but put my phone in my pocket and set off in the direction of the Wooden Bridge. I walked parallel to the sea beside the low wall that edges it.

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