Chapter 61

61

Lottie was developing an irritating itch about Gordon Collins. He had no clear alibi for John's murder because they didn't have a definitive time of death. In and out of the site all day didn't constitute an alibi. And when Kirby told her Shannon had spent time in rehab along with John Morgan, she wanted to see Cuan's records.

‘We haven't enough for a warrant,' she said.

‘Maybe a trip out there would work?' Boyd said.

‘I would have asked Collins about Shannon had I known more. Now that I've awoken the solicitor demon in him, there's no point going back to him until I have evidence that he's somehow involved.'

Kirby chomped on the end of an unlit cigar, like a cow chewing the cud. ‘If we could identify the dead woman, it might help tie things together. She has to have been killed by the same man as Laura.'

‘I agree,' Lottie said. ‘There's no way we have two killers stalking the young women of Ragmullin.'

‘Stranger things—' Kirby began.

‘Don't,' Lottie and Boyd said simultaneously.

She studied the board of photos. The room was silent except for the hum and rattle of the radiators struggling to generate heat. ‘What did you make of Plunkett, Kirby?'

‘He's a bit up his own hole. Enough of a twat to make him a murderer? I don't know. He seemed on edge, but that's to be expected. His girls are being murdered. And what he's doing is verging on illegal. He should be investigated by vice and?—'

‘The murders take precedence. Go back to him with the photo of the latest victim. If she turns out to be registered with his agency, then we rip his place apart. Did we get access to his database?'

‘Yes. He sent it without need of the warrant. I called the relevant men to confirm their alibis and then gave it to McKeown to go through it.'

‘Where is he?' Lottie asked.

‘He went to Redwood Court to find out from Diana if Laura was ever in rehab. Should be back by now. I'll give him a call.'

‘We should go ahead and publish the photo of the unidentified victim,' Boyd said.

‘You know I hate having to do that.'

‘What about her DNA? It needs to be checked to see if it throws up anything.'

‘Too soon for that, but we do need a starting point. I'll talk to Farrell again about the photo.'

Kirby ended his call. ‘McKeown's on his way back. Diana went out over an hour ago. To clear her head, according to Martina. She's not back yet and not answering her phone.'

‘She probably needs the headspace,' Lottie said, though she had a jelly-like feeling in her stomach. Was that all Diana wanted? Headspace. Or was she meeting someone? Had she had something to do with her daughter's death? ‘Where's Laura's son?'

‘With Diana.'

‘Ask Martina to check if she took any belongings with her. Just to be sure. Then do a background check on Diana.'

As Kirby got back on the phone, Lottie caught Boyd's eye. He had that look.

‘What?'

‘I know we need an identity for the woman found this morning,' he said, ‘and Shannon Kenny might yet be okay, but we should draw up a graph of anything and everything that links the victims to each other. Are we missing something? Something crucial.'

‘We're missing John Morgan's murder weapon, for one thing,' she said.

McKeown arrived and filled them in. ‘I'm sure Diana Nolan only wanted to escape from Martina's sour?—'

‘Enough,' Lottie said. ‘Anything else to report?'

‘Regarding Shannon Kenny, I found her on CCTV outside Danny's Bar. She was on her phone. Must be when she called her friend Jess. Then she pocketed the phone and headed off down the town. Alone.'

‘Check out CCTV from Fallon's for Friday night. A guy with a beard.' She told him what Jess had said, and the time. ‘Have you accessed any other footage along the route she'd take home?'

McKeown checked his iPad. ‘I almost forgot. I discovered this young lad on CCTV from the clubhouse across the road from where Laura's body was found.' He angled the screen to show Lottie the still he'd taken from the footage.

‘What time was that?'

‘After six a.m. They have no other footage because there was a power outage.'

Lottie examined the image. ‘The child climbs over the wall and into the grounds of the cinema complex.'

‘Who is he?' Boyd asked. ‘Why is he out at that hour of the morning?'

‘And why has no one brought him in? Laura's case is on all the news channels and social media outlets. The super has taken part in countless media briefings.'

‘Maybe the kid hasn't told anyone,' McKeown said. ‘Maybe he didn't even see the body.'

‘Show me the actual footage,' Lottie said, and braced herself.

The furniture in the superintendent's office was shining. The smell of polish caught the back of Lottie's throat as she explained about the boy on the CCTV footage.

‘It's a grainy image and he does nothing.' Deborah Farrell smoothed down her clip-on tie.

‘I know, but this is important. That little boy was on the site before Shane, the barista, discovered Laura Nolan's body. SOCOs found small footprints there. They must belong to the child. We need to put out an appeal for him.'

‘First you want to issue a death-mask photo to identify a woman's body and now you want to paste an innocent child's image all over the media. Do you even know what you're doing any more, Inspector Parker?'

‘Look…' Lottie paused. ‘We have numerous investigations on the go. Boyd is drawing up a document as we speak outlining how the cases intersect. The unidentified woman whose body was discovered this morning has a stab wound similar to those on Laura Nolan's body. It's possible they were killed by the same person. I'll have more information once the post-mortem is carried out. And?—'

‘Hold it right there.' Superintendent Farrell held up her hand and settled forward at her desk. ‘Weren't there signs that this latest victim had been incarcerated?'

‘Yes, according to the pathologist when she was at the scene. Jane has yet to?—'

‘And it seems likely Laura Nolan was abducted off the street or from a pub, seeing as she was out Thursday night.'

‘Yes, boss.'

‘How can you link her to a woman who may have been incarcerated somewhere for however long? You haven't even got confirmation that the wounds were caused by the same weapon. Come back when you have more.'

‘But we can't identify her. We need the public's help.'

‘Her body was only discovered this morning. We have issued an appeal for information via my media briefing and social media. Someone might yet come forward. Run her DNA, chase the pathologist and come back to me when you have the post-mortem report.'

Lottie decided to pedal back. ‘About the child. We have footage of him climbing over the wall close to where Laura's body was found. We need to identify him. If I draw up details, can you make a plea for him to come forward?'

‘You think a kid watches my press briefings?'

‘His parents might recognise him and bring him in.'

‘Show me what you've got.'

She felt a twinge of apprehension. All she had was the grainy footage, but she ran it for Farrell.

‘I want a very good reason why I should make this public.'

‘We need to talk to him. He looks no more than seven or eight and that's concerning. We have no footage of him coming back over the wall. He may have entered the housing estate that backs onto the cinema complex. I don't think we can ignore his presence at the scene.'

‘Do a house-to-house then.'

‘We're flat out as it is, and I haven't got enough people for that unless you can allocate me more.' Lottie knew Farrell would be thinking of costs and overtime without adding any more personnel to her spreadsheets.

‘Send me the best image you can grab from the footage and I'll consider it.'

‘Thanks, boss.'

‘And Parker?'

‘Yes?'

‘Find that missing Shannon Kenny woman before she ends up dead like the other unfortunates.'

Lottie escaped out the door. In the corridor, she leaned against the wall to catch her breath. She was glad Farrell hadn't mentioned John Morgan's murder, because she had absolutely nothing to tell her.