Free WHYTE LIES by KC Acton Page A

money I’ve put into refurbishing the place,” wrote Daniel. “It wouldn’t be worth half what’s it’s worth now if it wasn’t for me. Greed is that woman’s biggest motivator. She’s money-mad.” A few days before they left, Daniel mentioned his plans for their last-minute trip to Killarney. “I’m stressed out. I can’t wait to get away.”
    Faith wondered why Daniel had taken the girls on holiday, knowing that they would have missed the start of the new school term. She made a note to follow it up later.
    The messages ended two nights before the family departed for Killarney. In their final exchange, Daniel asked Steven to keep an eye on the house while they were gone. In the message, Daniel said he was worried about something happening to the house. Their exchange ended with their usual “goodnight, sweetheart.” One week later, the Gleesons were dead.
    Faith skimmed through the Facebook photos on Daniel Gleeson’s account; Amira didn’t have an account of her own. It was obvious that Daniel was mad about his children. Their smiling faces beamed from the photos: gap-toothed and innocently happy. There were photos of the girls’ birthday parties, visiting Santa, first day at school, and many more, but Amira appeared in few photos.
    The final photographs had been retrieved from Daniel’s phone which charted their journey from Dublin to Killarney. Faith studied each photo, hoping to spot something, or someone, suspicious in the background. Daniel had taken hundreds of photos on that last fateful trip. The album began with the girls eating ice cream by the side of the car. Megan’s ice cream was all over her face and hands. Next were photos of the girls at the campsite exploring their holiday surroundings. There was one photo of the girls with their mother feeding swans, another of them colouring, and finally, their two heads together — one dark, one fair — as Lucy read her little sister a story. Looking at the two of them reminded Faith of her own little brother, but she swallowed the memory; she seldom allowed herself to go back there.
    A copy of the Gleesons’ Irish marriage certificate was attached to the email, along with an earlier Australian marriage certificate in the name of Amira al-Nin and Max Edwards. According to Kelly’s report, Max owned a car rental company located at Sydney Airport. Also attached was an Australian divorce certificate, dated twelve months after her wedding to Daniel. Faith let out a long, low whistle; when Amira married Daniel, she was still married to another man. Amira was a bigamist. She wondered if Daniel had found out and if the discovery had sent him over the edge.
    Faith studied the photos of Amira and Max. In their wedding photo, Max was a short, round, barrel of a man, with broad shoulders and a wide red face. He was bald with a white goatee and looked like he was poured into his too-tight suit as he stood proudly beside Amira, who was at least a decade younger than he was. Her curly hair was piled high on her head. She wore a long, fitted cream dress that clung to the curves of her slender body. They looked happy, their smiles beamed out of the photo.
    In other photos of the couple together, Max and Amira looked like they were having fun. One photo showed Amira feeding Max in the kitchen, a second photo showed them play-fighting by the pool, another tender photo showed Max kissing her on the neck while she smiled into the camera. She looked just as happy and carefree sitting in the garden with a woman and an older man, who Faith assumed to be Max’s siblings as they were the image of each other.
    By contrast, in the recent family photos, Amira wore little make-up, she had gained weight, and looked distant, almost dead behind the eyes. Faith couldn’t help wondering if there was some truth in Layla’s assessment of the Gleesons’ marriage.
     

16

The first light of dawn had already risen over the horizon by the time Faith glanced up from her iPad. Her