Chapter 71
Lottie kicked off her boots under her desk. She was wondering if that had been a mistake, since she might never get them back on again, when Jane Dore rang.
‘I haven’t anything to add to what you already know about the Tormeys,’ Jane said. ‘Just that a belt from a dressing gown was the most likely murder weapon. You should go back over the Healy crime scene with a fine comb. The cord used to strangle them may still be on site.’
‘I doubt it, but we’ll check. Wasn’t there a tie in Cameron Healy’s pocket?’
‘Not the murder weapon.’
‘Okay,’ Lottie said. ‘Anything else?’
‘There are some similarities, but I don’t know if or how they are linked.’
‘Both houses had a birthday party earlier in the day. Ten-year-old Poppy and twelve-year-old Freya,’ Lottie said.
‘There must be someone else involved. Someone who straddles both cases because of the DNA on that lace collar.’
‘Yes, and it’s not Sadie’s. I have a few others in mind. But there’s no mention of Liam Scanlan, Christy Kearney or Dermot Macken in the Tormey file.’
‘Have you talked to any of them about that case?’ Jane asked.
‘No. I could bring them in about the Healy case and drop in the Tormey murders and see how they react.’
‘Better than nothing at this stage.’
She wandered into the incident room in her socks and felt an overpowering tiredness swamp her body.
The afternoon was blending into evening, and she had no idea which way to turn or what to do next.
They had three missing people. Liam Scanlan was wanted for attempted murder, and it was impossible to know whether Sadie Clarke was a victim or an orchestrator.
Then there was little Lily. Had someone abducted her? Could Liam Scanlan be that person?
‘This is a minefield,’ she said to Boyd.
He was biting into a Kit Kat and offered her a piece. She took it.
‘I did as you asked,’ he said. ‘Dermot Macken is in Interview Room 1.’