Chapter 56
The stomping of feet carried from the corridor into the incident room.
‘She’s on the warpath,’ Boyd said.
‘Don’t blame her,’ Lottie said.
Superintendent Deborah Farrell entered to the angry beat of her march. Her voice was just as dominant.
‘I can’t believe the absolute shambles you’ve made of this, Parker.
’ Her face was shaded tomato red, as if she’d lost the battle to keep a lid on a bottle of ketchup and it had suddenly exploded.
She swiped off her clip-on tie and bundled it into her skirt pocket.
‘Let me get this straight, and don’t dare correct me if I’m wrong.
You started out with a murder-suicide that turned into a triple murder.
Then you let a child vanish into thin air, and if that wasn’t bad enough, the child’s mother goes AWOL too.
And now you have a young member of your team fighting for her life in hospital.
Explain all that to me, because I sure as hell can’t. ’
‘It’s a complicated case and we’re trying to sort through the evidence.’ Weak, Lottie knew, but what else could she say?
‘What bloody evidence? Give me one solid lead you’re working on.’
‘We know Liam Scanlan attacked Garda Brennan in his apartment and then fled the scene.’
‘Can you prove that?’
‘We will.’
‘Tell me why he attacked an unarmed lone garda. And don’t get me started on why she was out on her own.’
‘I don’t know why he did it, but he is a person of interest in the Healy murders.’
‘Evidence of that?’
‘He worked for Cameron Healy.’
‘Working for a murder victim is not evidence enough for arrest last time I checked.’
‘We’re still digging through Healy’s finances. I’m sure there’s something illegal there that Scanlan is involved in. Plus he neglected to tell us he was at the Healy house on Sunday.’
‘Many reasons for that, I’m sure, but I’m still waiting for you to provide me with one solid piece of evidence for any of these crimes.’
Lottie lowered her head. She was getting close to the nub of everything, but she had nothing tangible.
Farrell walked forward. She was so close Lottie could smell the odour from the perspiration-stained armpits of her white shirt. She could see the freckles on the woman’s nose, her neck veins pulsing in anger.
‘You don’t have an answer for me after nearly a week?
I’m standing out there every single fucking day looking like a clown, talking through my arse because I have nothing to tell the media or the public.
’ Farrell paused, taking a breath, and some of the colour in her face ebbed.
‘I want a detailed report of your progress or lack thereof by tomorrow morning. And send flowers to that poor guard. And I want to know what the hell she was doing talking to a suspect on her bloody own.’
With that, she marched out, even more angry than when she’d entered the room.
‘You survived that onslaught,’ Boyd said.
‘Only just,’ Lottie said. ‘Any update on Martina?’
‘Kirby said she’s getting a blood transfusion. He’s waiting to see the surgeon to find out the level of internal injury.’
‘Have her parents been informed?’
‘Yes.’
‘Where is McKeown?’
‘No idea.’
‘Does he think this is a summer camp? Find him. And where’s Lei?’
‘I sent him home and told him not to come in until the morning. I don’t know if he’s more shocked at what Kirby did to the door without a warrant or coming across Martina in such a state. He thought she was dead.’
‘He’s a good lad. If he didn’t talk so bloody much. But we need him here tomorrow.’ Then she thought how Lei must be feeling. ‘Make sure he’s okay and debriefed, and ask if he needs time off or wants to see our shrink.’
‘I think I know the answer to that. He’ll be back before first light. He’s a trouper.’
‘Talking about me again, I see,’ Kirby said, dragging his feet across the floor.
He sank into a chair. It creaked under his bulk.
His shirt and jacket were bloodstained. ‘Martina will pull through. The surgeon had to remove some of her intestine and she’ll be out of it for a while. But he’s confident about her recovery.’
He began to cry.
Lottie rushed to his side and took his hand. She could see flecks of blood on his knuckles and splinters of wood clinging to his trousers. ‘It’s okay, Kirby.’
‘If I hadn’t broken in, she’d have died. And it would have been my fault. I went home for a bite to eat while she was off on her own talking to that fucker.’
‘We all have to eat. We need to rest too. It’s not a crime, Kirby. And Martina knows the rules. She took a chance. I’m glad you used that noggin of yours and got to her in time. Now bag those clothes for forensics and go home. I don’t want to see you until morning.’
‘Amy will kill me. She loves Martina.’
‘Everyone loves Martina.’
A darkness crossed Kirby’s eyes. ‘What about McKeown? Did anyone tell him?’
Lottie looked up at Boyd. ‘Any sign of him?’
‘No. He’s probably out sourcing CCTV.’
‘Martina can’t stand him,’ Kirby said.
‘I don’t want another of my team getting hurt or worse. Find him.’
Kirby stood.
Lottie put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Not you. Go home. See you in the morning.’
‘I’ll change in the locker room and then I’m going back to the hospital.’
‘Okay, okay. Go on then.’
When the room had emptied, Lottie was left standing alone with Boyd.
‘Where do we go from here?’ She pulled at her hair still able to smell the goddamn chicken shit.
‘I have to pick up Sergio,’ he said. ‘Lottie, I’m grateful for being able to stay at yours while I get the ceiling fixed.’
‘When they finish at your place, maybe I could get a price to repair the roof on my house. It’s a creaking, leaking relic at this stage.’
‘I was going to say that at least you have a roof over your head, but that wouldn’t be entirely true.’
She smiled. ‘Go on. We’ll sort this lot out tomorrow.’
‘I keep thinking of young Lily.’
‘We’ll find her. What I can’t figure out is Sadie’s disappearance. I had the feeling she was lying to me. It nagged at me. The fact of her past, buried so deep even Thomas says he didn’t know about it. I wonder if Cameron knew about Caroline’s past.’
‘What are you thinking?’
‘I don’t know what to think, but maybe the two women were enemies rather than friends. What if their past came knocking on their doors, ending up in murder and abduction?’
‘Leave it. We can do more probing tomorrow. You need rest, Lottie.’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘And you need a shower.’