The Doll's House

‘Well, Isabel, I’m still hoping to speak to your daughter.’


‘In good time – my daughter is vulnerable right now. In spite of everything, she loved the bastard. Of course, she was far too young when she married him. Some men like younger girls. They find them less threatening.’

O’Connor shot her a glance of surprise.

‘Don’t look so shocked. I may be old but I’m not stupid. I know all about my late son-in-law’s reputation. The reason I’m talking frankly with you, Detective Inspector, is so you can gain an understanding of how our family deals with things. We live in a wicked world, and for all the trappings of wealth, which, no doubt, you have already observed, we have our own torments, even if we hide them well.’

‘Torments?’

‘Yes. Torments. Our world is full of subterfuge. Take this dress, for example.’

‘Your dress?’

‘Yes, my dress. Detective Inspector, please try to keep up.’ If Isabel Blennerhasset heard his next grunt, she paid no heed. ‘Just before I came in here, one of them out there,’ she pointed to the door to the hall, ‘said she loved me in it. Do you know what that means?’

‘That she loved you in the dress?’

‘No, Detective Inspector. The very opposite. What she meant was that I have worn this dress far too often.’

‘I see. At least I think I see.’ Three minutes.

‘What I’m trying to explain to you is that our kind lives by a different language. I know this because I wasn’t born into it. People, our people, they talk in riddles. I never trusted Keith Jenkins but, because of my daughter, I tolerated him. Much like my overly worn black dress is tolerated by that gang out there. The house has been full of wannabe celebrities since my late son-in-law’s demise.’ Isabel made no attempt to hide her bitterness.

‘So I take it, Isabel, you’re not like them.’ O’Connor sat forward. ‘You’re a straight talker.’

‘I’m the queen of straight talkers, Detective Inspector.’

‘So if I was to ask you about your son-in-law’s business interests or friends you would tell me what you know?’

‘I know enough not to trust them. I swear if he’s messed things up for my daughter financially, even if he is dead, I’ll kill him all over again.’

‘Did you know a Jimmy Gahan?’

‘The name is familiar. Keith was friends with him from a long time back.’

O’Connor stopped counting the minutes. ‘And how do you know that? It doesn’t sound as if you and your late son-in-law got on particularly well.’

‘I’d be worried about your observational skills if you hadn’t picked that one up, Detective Inspector.’ Again the wry smile. ‘My daughter told me about him. She and Keith met him recently. In Temple Bar, I think.’

‘And why did your daughter share this story with you?’

‘She was quite taken aback. You don’t expect to meet an old friend of your husband and for him to be a vagrant.’

‘And you’re sure it was Jimmy Gahan?’

‘I’m excellent on names. In our world names matter a great deal.’

‘You say they knew each other from years back?’

‘Jimmy Gahan completed the same business degree at Trinity as Keith. Keith would have been a number of years younger. I think Jimmy got Keith a summer internship at one point.’

O’Connor remembered Kate’s remark about older connections. ‘Are there any other names you’d like to throw into the hat from back then, Isabel?’

‘A couple, but one does come to mind, considering how my son-in-law died.’

‘Go on.’

‘Adrian Hamilton.’

The name Hamilton spiked O’Connor’s interest, the same name as Jenkins’s investment company. ‘What about Adrian Hamilton?’

‘It’s of no relevance, really. The man has been dead for at least thirty years.’

‘Yet his name is the first that came to your mind?’

‘I understand from my daughter that my son-in-law, that Jimmy Gahan fellow and Adrian Hamilton had been good friends at one point. Jimmy and Adrian Hamilton met at Trinity. I understand they were also business partners. I guess my son-in-law thought both of them would be useful to know for future career development. He was right, as it turned out. When Keith’s career took a very different direction, it was Adrian Hamilton who got him his first break into television. RTé was a very closed shop back then. It still is to some extent. It was all very tragic, really.’

‘What was?’

‘Adrian Hamilton’s death – a dreadful accident.’

‘What happened?’ O’Connor locked eyes with Isabel Blennerhasset.

‘As I said, it was a very long time back. But it’s the reason he came instantly to mind. The man drowned. Some said it was suicide, but people say a lot of things. Either way, he left a young wife and two children. I knew Lavinia, Adrian Hamilton’s widow. She was a member of the tennis club in Rathmines. My daughter’s on the committee. In truth it was a double tragedy.’