Chapter 92
‘Are we looking at this all wrong?’ Lottie asked while Boyd drove at speed back towards Ragmullin and the farm.
‘Maybe Macken was pointing the blame at Alice to divert our attention away from himself.’
‘True. After seeing those photos the tech guys found, we could be looking at some sort of child exploitation. Could Sadie be behind it all?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘If Alice is on the warpath looking for her, she might suspect that Sadie killed her family. She nabbed Eugene in order to flush out his daughter. It’s possible Sadie killed her own family twenty years ago, when she was a teenager, and then for some reason we have yet to nail down, she killed the Healys.
The two crime scenes are a mirror image of each other, except for Cameron’s stabbing.
Also, the mark on Caroline’s back was made by a woman’s shoe. ’
‘Hell, Lottie. Sadie did it,’ Boyd said. ‘She did it all and ran.’
‘What about Lily?’
‘She got her somewhere safe. I’d bet my house on it.’
‘You don’t own a house.’ Lottie sighed. ‘The other scenario is that maybe it was Sadie who persuaded Thomas to nab Eugene.’
‘That’s probable.’
‘But why go after her father now?’
‘Things went pear-shaped somehow,’ Boyd said, switching lanes.
‘The images from Cameron’s laptop worry me. It’s possible some prints were stashed in the Clarkes’ safe. Sadie has to be involved. Did Thomas accidently stumble on what was in there? Or was he in on it all along? Jesus, I’m a sucker for a contrite man. Thomas and Dermot both.’
‘Maybe Caroline found out what was going on,’ Boyd said, indicating for the slip road.
‘If Liam Scanlan is telling even half the truth, then Caroline took the money from the account and was planning to run. To save her daughter, perhaps. She approached Sadie to help her. Sadie decided to play the good friend while planning a murder. Could be something like that.’ Lottie paused. ‘But it’s still all conjecture.’
‘At least we’ve identified the major players, not forgetting that Alice is slap-bang in the middle of it.’
‘All of them are involved in some way. Whether by choice, chance or coercion. Are we nearly there? I think I can smell the farm.’