Chapter 91
Back in the incident room, McKeown was excited. Lottie hoped it wasn’t from viewing the shocking photos that had been discovered on Cameron Healy’s laptop. He was a dose, but not that immoral.
‘Boss, you were right.’
‘I’m always right.’
‘Thomas Clarke got a taxi last night. It brought him to Alice Quigley’s house.’
‘Must be after he took whatever was in the safe.’ She pondered the implications of this. Would there be a major fall-out because they didn’t find the Clarkes’ safe themselves? Time enough for recriminations later.
McKeown wasn’t finished. ‘He must be involved, along with Alice. If so, it’s possible Sadie is in the thick of it.’
‘We have no way of knowing that until we locate her. But I do think Thomas Clarke had either stored something in the safe that he had to bring to Alice, or he found something that made him go there.’
‘Why in a taxi?’
‘He’d been drinking.’ She recalled the bottle she’d seen through the kitchen window. ‘Did a taxi collect him from Alice’s later?’
‘Not that I’ve found.’
‘Her car is gone, so they may have left in that. We’ve yet to determine if they were in this together or one took the other.’
Boyd scratched his chin, and she noted the black circles around his eyes. ‘If things are closing in on them, where would they go next?’
McKeown was studying his screen. He whistled. ‘CCTV caught her car earlier this morning at the M4 toll.’ He showed them the screenshot.
‘We were on our way back from Eugene Tormey’s at that time,’ Boyd said. ‘We could have passed them on the road.’
‘What did I miss?’ Kirby said, walking into the office.
Lottie ignored him. ‘They might have been heading to see Eugene.’
‘Why?’ Boyd said. ‘He didn’t even know he had a granddaughter, let alone that his daughter was married to Thomas Clarke.’
‘When he saw her photo, he remembered Alice Quigley from the old days.’ She grabbed her damp coat and was at the door before she spoke again.
‘Boyd, you’re with me. McKeown, check CCTV and ANPR around the area where Eugene lives.
Ask the local guards to do a drive-by. See if Alice’s car is there. Our ETA is about forty minutes.’
Boyd stared at her. ‘At this time of day, if we had wings maybe.’
‘We have lights and a siren. Come on. We need to get there before anything happens.’
They were too late.
The roadway outside Eugene Tormey’s house was alight with squad cars, and two ambulances blocked the entrance to the narrow council estate. Boyd abandoned the car as Lottie hopped out.
She showed her ID, noticing blood on the footpath as she made her way to the door. After hurried introductions, she donned gloves and booties and went inside. Josie, Eugene’s carer, was seated on the bottom step of the stairs.
‘She won’t move. Won’t say a word,’ a paramedic said. ‘I need to see how badly she’s hurt.’
Hunkering down, Lottie took one of Josie’s hands in hers. The other was bleeding profusely. ‘You’re in shock, Josie. But this is very important. I need to know what happened. Eugene’s life could depend on what you tell me.’
The young woman nodded.
‘Is he hurt?’
‘Y-yes. N-no,’ Josie stammered. ‘M-maybe he was hurt.’
‘Where is he now?’
‘They… they took him in a car.’
‘Who did?’
‘The m-man and woman.’
‘Do you have any idea where they went?’
Josie swallowed her tears. ‘One of them said something about Mr Tormey’s granddaughter. If he wanted to see her, he had to go with them.’ She began to cry in earnest.
‘You’re doing great,’ Lottie said. ‘Give me another minute and then that hand will have to be stitched.’
‘No, no. No hospital.’
‘Don’t worry. A doctor can do it here.’
‘We have to bring her—’ the paramedic began, but clamped his lips shut when Lottie caught his eye.
‘Now, Josie,’ she said, ‘think back over the events. I know it’s difficult, but I need you to do this for me.’
‘Okay.’ Josie wiped her nose with her hand, streaking her face with blood. Lottie feared the young woman would freak out, but she remained calm.
‘What exactly happened?’
‘They threatened Mr Tormey with the knife. I tried to stop them. I got this.’ She held up her hand. ‘B-but I think they don’t hurt Mr Tormey.’
Lottie wondered about the blood on the path outside, but she hadn’t time to worry about it. ‘Was anything said about where they were headed?’
‘No.’ Josie shook her head vehemently, then stopped abruptly. ‘Wait. Yes. They said something like he would die in chicken shit. It all h-happened so fast. I’m sorry.’
Lottie almost fell back on her heels. ‘You’ve done so well, Josie. Do you have a phone?’
‘Yes.’
‘This is my number. You’re in shock now, but over the next few hours, things may come back to you. Can you call me then?’
‘Yes.’
‘Thank you.’ She glanced at the paramedic, read his name badge. ‘David here will look after you.’
Leaving the bewildered David with Josie, Lottie filled in the guard on duty and ran back to the car.
‘Where to?’ Boyd asked.
‘Dermot fucking Macken’s farm.’