Chapter 49

FORTY-NINE

The Mondeo was dragging on one side and Lottie swore that if she had a flat tyre she was going to abandon it and run. Wind buffeted the vehicle, while the wet leaves on the road caused it to skid. With no time for a shower or change of clothes or even a bite of food, she’d tried the girls’ phones from Sean’s as she drove. Both were off. She swung round by the hospital and gave a description of her daughters to the security team there. But she knew it was unlikely Chloe and Katie had even been there.

She eventually pulled up at the station. Charging inside and up the stairs with adrenaline-filled energy, she reached the incident room. The night shift team were working the phones and writing up house-to-house reports from both murder incidents. No sign of Kirby or McKeown. She raced to the CCTV room. McKeown had been right. It was an airless cupboard. Struggling for the breath to speak, she motioned them both outside to the corridor.

‘What’s up now?’ Kirby said.

‘I need you to put a trace on these two phones.’ She handed over Katie and Chloe’s phone numbers. ‘I want to know their locations. ASAP.’

‘You need paperwork for that?’ McKeown said.

Lottie dug her nails into the palms of her hands. There was no point in ranting at him. ‘These are my daughters’ phone numbers. They were together in town a couple of hours ago. And I can tell you, they never switch off their phones. So I want to know where they are.’

‘Overprotective?’ McKeown said, raising an eyebrow.

‘Shut it,’ Kirby said.

‘No, I’m not being overprotective.’ She didn’t know if she should tell them about Bernie’s threat. ‘We’ve had four young women murdered in pairs this week. Some woman met my daughters and said she would take them to me, and now I can’t locate them. That sounds fairly suspicious to me, don’t you think?’

She eyed McKeown. She read the doubt written in his eyes.

‘Not really,’ he said.

She’d have to explain. ‘I’ve been a target before. Bernie Kelly, who claims to be my half-sister, has escaped from a secure unit, as you already know. She called to my mother’s house the other night and threatened my family.’

‘I saw the news report about Kelly being your half-sister,’ Kirby said.

‘Not now, Kirby,’ Lottie wheezed. Fear was catching in her breath. ‘What is important is that I think this is her work. Every district in the country is looking for her, with no results so far. I believe she took my girls to get back at me for incarcerating her a year ago.’

McKeown whistled. ‘Gee, sorry. I have a contact who will work on these numbers straight away.’ He hurried down the hall.

‘McKeown?’ Lottie called.

‘Yeah?’

‘This is higher than urgent.’

‘Got it.’

When he’d disappeared, Lottie felt Kirby taking her by the elbow and steering her towards their office. ‘Do you think we need to notify the super?’

‘No. I’ll only get a lecture, and I’ve had one of those from him already. I want you to go to the Joyce Hotel. Talk to Leo Belfield. We need to discover if he knew what Bernie was planning. I don’t trust him. For all I know, he could be in on this with her.’

‘I’ll do that straight away. And boss, I’ve yet to source that Thompson file. Will it wait?’

‘Yes. Finding my girls is top priority.’ She marched around the desks. ‘I could do with Boyd’s expertise.’

‘Am I not enough for you?’

She glanced at Kirby, but he was smiling. ‘Talk to Belfield.’

‘I’m already gone.’

Leo Belfield was a wreck. Kirby found him sitting at the bar in the Joyce nursing a brandy.

‘And you haven’t seen Bernie since?’

‘No. I woke up and she was gone. I told all this to Lottie. I’ve scoured the town. Drove to the old family place. Walked the lake shores. She’s vanished.’

‘People don’t vanish.’

‘They do where I come from. Into the East River, most of them.’

‘This is Ragmullin, not New York.’ Kirby could feel the colour rising up his face. He felt like shaking Belfield into action. ‘And Lottie’s two daughters have apparently gone missing. So I could do with your help.’

‘I told you, I’ve looked everywhere.’

‘Did she say anything to you when you got her out on day release? Any clue about what she was planning to do?’

Belfield shook his head. ‘She never said anything.’

Kirby didn’t believe that line for a second. He hustled Belfield off the stool. ‘You’re coming with me. Grab your coat.’

‘Where?’

‘To face Lottie Parker. And I’m warning you, you’d better tell her what you know.’

Lottie walked to the incident room and, ignoring the bowed heads of the detectives and uniformed officers working hard on the murder investigations, studied the board.

Before and after photographs of the four victims. Killed in twos. She felt her heart sink deep down in her chest, and blood pounded a sinister beat behind her eyes. The photos blurred. Had the person who’d ended the lives of these young women so violently now got their hands on her daughters? That thought made her sway, and she leaned back against the desk. Surely not. No, she was certain that Bernie Kelly had taken them, and that she wasn’t the killer they were looking for.

Kelly could not be responsible for those murders because she had been behind locked doors when the first two girls were killed. So which was worse? The idea that the unknown murderer could have her girls or that Bernie Kelly had them? She knew what Kelly was capable of. Hadn’t she murdered indiscriminately to a point where she’d drowned her daughter’s best friend in a barrel of water? A girl who’d turned out to be Bernie’s own niece.

Lottie sighed deeply and tried to figure out which way to turn next while she waited for McKeown to trace their phones.

Boyd. She needed his wisdom and clear thinking. She turned to leave the room.

‘Lottie, I came as soon as I heard.’ Boyd grabbed her by the arm and steered her out to the corridor.

‘You’re a sight for sore eyes,’ she tried to joke, but sobs lodged in her throat and she gulped them down. She leaned against the wall while he tipped up her chin. ‘How did you hear?’

‘Kirby swung by the hospital and brought me here. I tried to call you,’ he said. ‘Why have you got your phone switched off?’

‘Don’t talk to me about phones. Mine is lost and I got one from the stores that I can’t figure out how to work.’ She paused. ‘You shouldn’t be out of hospital.’

‘Don’t, Lottie.’ He held up a bandaged hand. ‘I’m a little bruised, and very sore, but nothing life-threatening. Tell me about Katie and Chloe.’

She bit her lip. Emotion welled up and she was afraid that if she spoke she would break down. And she had no time for that.

‘Go on,’ he said gently.

She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut, unable to utter a word. She felt his arms go around her shoulders and he pulled her into his chest.

‘Oh Boyd.’

‘Shh. It’s delayed shock. You’ve been through a traumatic experience. Your girls are missing. Cry if you need to.’

‘I think Bernie Kelly might have taken them.’

‘How can you be sure?’

‘I’m not sure. Both their phones are off. McKeown is trying to get a trace on them.’ She told Boyd what she knew so far.

‘Perhaps they’re still down at the courthouse?’

‘Kirby said it’s all sealed off and onlookers have been moved on. Bernie Kelly visited my mother the other night and made a threat to harm my children. That’s why I’ve had a squad car parked outside and a taxi taking Sean and Chloe to school.’

‘But you said a coin fell out of Louis’ pocket. That’s not Kelly’s calling card. That’s … you know … from our current murder sites.’

‘I don’t know what to think.’

‘We’ll put our heads together and come up with a plan.’

‘You need to rest.’

‘Like hell I do. We have to find your girls.’

She linked his arm and went back into the incident room. She felt that if anyone could find her daughters, it was Boyd.

Moments later, Acting Superintendent McMahon burst through the door.

‘I thought you two were under medical observation,’ he said. ‘What are you doing here?’

He looked more dishevelled than Lottie had ever seen him, and stress lines inked their way around his eyes like dinosaurs’ feet.

‘We are perfectly able to work,’ she said, though her voice was a low whisper.

‘Right then. This major emergency just got worse. Apparently there are gas lines at risk, though it should be sorted in the next few hours, and we still haven’t recovered all the bodies. I have a list of the dead identified on site, and their families need to be informed. I also want to know who is still missing and presumed dead at this stage. The chief fire officer is in charge of an incident centre at the council offices and I’m his second in command, along with the county manager. We’re still awaiting the lifting equipment from Dublin so we can see what’s beneath the crane and discover why and how this accident happened.’

Lottie stared at her boss. She could do with a quarter of his adrenaline at this moment.

‘Sir,’ she said, ‘we have another situation.’

‘I know.’

‘You do?’

‘There’s still a murderer on the loose. Four young women and we haven’t a single clue.’

Boyd said, ‘We’ve been working flat out on it. Conor Dowling is our number one suspect, but he may have been killed in the accident.’

‘His name is not on the list of dead,’ McMahon said.

‘That’s not the situation I’m referring to,’ Lottie said. Exhaustion seeped into her bones, exacerbating the aches, but she remained standing. She had to fight to find her daughters.

‘What then? Spit it out.’

She knew he was going to give her short shrift. ‘I have reason to believe that my daughters, Katie and Chloe, have been abducted.’ Her heart began to palpitate at an alarming rate and she took a couple of slow, deep breaths.

‘Explain,’ he said, but he’d already turned his back.

‘Sir, they went into town to look for me. They suspected I was caught up in the incident but they didn’t know I was all right because my phone was buried. They met someone there who said she would bring them to me.’

‘Parker, I am dealing with at least ten dead people, an unknown number missing, and a possible gas leak with potential to blow this town to kingdom come, and you come in here telling me you can’t find your daughters. Get real. They’ve gone shopping. Went for a drink. Probably smoking dope somewhere. They have been known to do that, am I right?’

You’re a prick, Lottie thought, but she said, ‘I need to find them. I can’t concentrate on anything else at the moment.’

‘Inspector, I am ordering you to get your act together. First, get some sleep. You look like something a cat would find in a bin. Be back here tomorrow morning, and I want the killer of those four young women in a cell.’

You’re just like a broken record, she thought.

‘You’re like a broken record,’ Boyd said. Despite her pain, Lottie smiled. Their synchronicity was astounding at times. ‘We need to take Inspector Parker seriously when she says her girls are missing. We have reason to believe that Bernie Kelly may have abducted them.’

‘The same Kelly woman who is related to you, Parker. This is family stuff. I don’t intend to waste garda resources on it. There’s a country-wide alert for Kelly. She will be found. And, may I add, you still have a lot of explaining to do on that score.’

‘That rest you mentioned,’ Lottie said. ‘I’m going to take it now.’

McMahon stared at her with his jaw hanging open. She turned and left. Boyd followed.

In her office, she bumped into McKeown.

‘Any news on the phones?’

‘Nothing. The last triangulation I can get – off the record, only because I know someone working with the network provider – puts them in the vicinity of Gaol Street, where the accident happened.’

‘And nothing further?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Okay. What do we do next?’

Boyd said, ‘From what we’ve learned about Bernie Kelly, she will want you to know she has the girls. She will make contact.’

‘So you think we should sit and wait?’

‘Yes, I do.’

‘But if she tries to ring me, I’ve no phone. Unless …’

‘What?’ Boyd and McKeown spoke together.

‘My mother. She visited her already. She may try to do so again.’

Kirby walked into the office. ‘You’re forgetting one thing.’

‘What’s that?’

‘It may not be Kelly who has the girls.’

Behind him, Leo Belfield trailed in, his head low, his demeanour that of a condemned man.

‘What do you mean?’ Lottie said.

Leo shrugged his arms out of his coat. ‘Gee, but it’s hot in here.’ He slumped into the nearest chair. ‘If it is Bernie, I think she’s just trying to get your attention.’

‘She certainly has it now, so where is she?’

Boyd said, ‘You need to find your phone.’

‘Or you can have your number directed to the new phone,’ Kirby said. ‘McKeown can do that.’

‘Thanks,’ Lottie said. Why hadn’t she thought of that? Why hadn’t she thought of a lot of things.

She turned her attention to Belfield. ‘Has she made contact with you?’

‘No.’

‘And you’ve seen no sign of her anywhere?’

‘No.’

Lottie paced up and down the office, the motion making her head feel worse. ‘She’s out there with no mode of transport, no money and?—’

‘She might have money.’

Stopping in front of Belfield, Lottie stared down at the top of his head. ‘What do you mean?’

‘My wallet. All my cash was taken. The cards are still in it, but no?—’

‘And you never thought to tell me that nugget of information before now?’

‘You never asked.’

‘Jesus.’ Lottie pulled on the ends of her hair. ‘And you’re an NYPD captain? God give me strength.’

Belfield just shrugged and kept his head down.

‘Your number has been redirected to the new phone,’ McKeown said.

Lottie pulled the phone from her pocket to make sure it had battery charge. It seemed okay. What to do now? Wait? She couldn’t do that.

‘Boyd, do you still have your phone?’

He tapped his trouser pocket. ‘Yes, though the screen is smashed.’

‘You have Cynthia Rhodes’ mobile number?’

He squinted between the cracks and brought up his contacts. ‘Yeah. Why?’

‘Phone her. See if she knows anything.’

‘What would she know?’

‘She’s a journalist.’

Boyd hit a number and moved to his desk. Lottie didn’t listen in. She concentrated on Belfield.

‘Leo, she must have said something to you.’

‘She only wanted to see the old family house. I’m sorry, Lottie. I can’t help you.’

Boyd held up a hand as he ended his call. ‘Cynthia says she’ll try to put something on the nine o’clock news bulletin, but she can’t guarantee it.’

‘McMahon will blow a gasket,’ Kirby said.

‘Fuck him,’ Lottie said.