The One I Love Read Free Page B

the summer we spent in Kerry’ or ‘Tomorrow when the sun comes out we’ll sit in the hospital grounds and watch the people come and go and make up stories about who and what they are.’ She even planned her own funeral. She knew exactly what she wanted, the kind of coffin, the flowers, the priest, the prayers, the attendees. She asked me once if I would speak at her funeral and I said no. I’m sorry, Imelda, of course I’ll speak for you. I just was scared that I wouldn’t know what to say and I didn’t want to let you down. So I’ll just end by saying this: I miss my dad, my mum, my sister Nora and now I miss my Imelda and I’m so sorry because it should have been me, but I’ll see you all again and soon.”
    Leslie’s voice was cracking, her eyes streaming and her nose running. She walked towards her seat and, once she’d accepted a tissue from Jim, she sat with her head in her hands, attempting to regain her composure but finding it almost impossible to do so. Her hair was jet-black, she was slim and, although not a natural beauty, she was striking. The people sitting in the pews behind her felt nothing but pity for a young woman who was merely waiting for her turn to die. Later, by the side of the grave, she watched Jim grieve and if there was something she could have said to make him feel better she would have said it, but there wasn’t so she stood in silence waiting for the day to end so that she could disappear behind her closed door and wait forthe inevitable. It never occurred to her that she’d be still waiting for the inevitable twelve years later.
    Tom, 25 August 2007
Transcript of Liveline radio show with Joe Duffy
“I have a Tom Kavanagh on the line. Tom, are you there?”
“I am, Joe.”
“Tom, you’re trying to find your lovely wife Alexandra.”
“Yes, Joe.”
“She went missing on the twenty-first of June this year?”
“It was Thursday, the twenty-first of June.”
“Tell us about it, Tom.”
“I don’t know where to start. She was last seen in Dalkey and now she’s gone.”
“Okay, okay, all right. How about you tell us a little about her?”
“She’s funny, she’s giddy, she’s kind, she’s friendly, she’s fussy, she’s lovely, Joe.” Caller becomes emotional .
“The police have managed to retrace her steps as far as Dalkey. Can you tell us about that?”
“She left the house in Clontarf around two p.m. She said hello to a neighbour who verified the time. She walked to the station, and three teenagers who were there came forward to say that they witnessed her getting on the train. She’s also captured on CCTV footage on the platform at Tara Street at three thirty but she got back on the train. After the stations were canvassed, a woman came forward and identified her as getting off the train in Dalkey. She was captured on CCTV footage again there but after that …” Caller becomes emotional .
“And after that?”
“She was gone. She’s just gone.”
“Ah, God, that’s desperate. What time was that?”
“It was approximately four p.m.”
“And where were you?”
“I was working. We were finishing a project in Blackrock.”
“It says here you’re a builder.”
“I am.”
“So when did you realize she was missing?”
“I was supposed to be home by four. I’d promised to make dinner because Alexandra was meeting her friend Sherri to collect tickets for a gig from her. She had left a note saying she’d be home by seven thirty. But I was delayed on site. I didn’t get in until nine p.m.”
“When did you raise the alarm, Tom?”
“The next morning, Joe.” Caller becomes emotional . “I thought she’d stayed out with Sherri or maybe that she was pissed off I didn’t get home in time to make the dinner so went out again. I was exhausted so I fell asleep.”
“That’s understandable. What age is Alexandra?”
“She’s thirty-five. She has chestnut-brown hair, shoulder length. She was wearing black trousers and a black blouse with a bow on it. She