Chapter 83

83

Lottie was hammering on the door of the Right One agency when she heard a car pull up across the narrow street. She turned to see Greg Plunkett getting out of it. ‘The very man.'

‘What do you want with me now, Inspector? I've been cooperative.'

‘Just a word.'

‘A word? Harassment springs to mind.'

‘We can talk here or at the station. Up to you.'

He slowly opened the door, then led Lottie and Boyd up the stairs.

‘Alone today?' she asked.

‘I gave Cathy the day off. Hope that's okay with you, or should we have asked for permission?'

‘No need to be smart with me,' she said.

When Plunkett was seated behind the desk, Lottie ran her hand over the filing cabinet, leaving behind a streak in the dust.

‘Greg, we need your help with our investigations.'

‘Okay. What can I do for you?'

She wondered why he'd lost the belligerent tone of a moment ago. ‘I like that attitude.'

‘Yeah, well, I thought you were here to warn me away from your daughter.'

‘That too, but now's not the time.' She felt Boyd's eyes boring into her. ‘We've been looking at what links our murder victims. And you know what? We keep returning to you.'

‘I gave you everything. Do you want my blood too?'

She ignored his gibe. ‘Aneta Kobza.'

‘She wasn't on my books. I told you that.'

‘Did you ever take her photo then?' Lottie leaned over and slid Aneta's photograph onto his desk.

‘No.' He paused and glanced down at the image, then up with a faraway stare. He was remembering something. She fought down an urge to shake it out of him. He said, ‘Maybe I did, you know. Hold on.' He tapped his computer awake. ‘I didn't notice it before. I did some work for the local rag last year. Their photographer was on maternity leave. Seeing the photo up close, there's something about that girl's face that's familiar but not at the same time. I have an eye for beauty.'

Lottie rolled her eyes and turned to Boyd. He shook his head. Keep your mouth shut, he was silently telling her. The air in the small office was stifling, and she held in a sneeze.

Greg said, ‘Yes! It's her.'

‘What's her?' Lottie edged over behind him. A tight squeeze.

He pointed towards the montage of photos on his desktop screen. ‘It was a fundraising thing out at Cuan last year. That's the rehab place close to Delvin. Do you know it?'

‘Go on.' She tried to keep her heart in her chest and not in her mouth.

‘I took a lot of photos. Only one or two made it into the paper, I think. This one was of some of the staff.' Clicking an icon, he zoomed up the photo. ‘That's her, isn't it?'

Lottie leaned over his shoulder. ‘Have you any more photos from that day?'

‘Loads. I'll put them on a USB for you. Give me a minute.'

‘Is it Aneta?' Boyd asked.

‘Yes,' Lottie said. ‘It's different from the photo printed in the paper. Just put everything from that day on the USB, please.' She wanted to get out of the stifling office.

‘Sure thing. You're as prickly as Katie.'

‘Leave my daughter alone.'

‘That's up to her, isn't it?'

Before she could retort, she felt Boyd's hand on her elbow. She kept quiet then and waited for Greg to hand over the USB stick.

When she had it, she said, ‘We'll be in contact.'

Back in her office, Lottie read through the email from the lab. The clay found under Laura Nolan's fingernail matched the soil in Aneta's stab wound. It was possible that the killer had transferred it. It had to be that, she thought, otherwise how could the soil have got into the wounds, since it appeared not to be from where the bodies were found? The same killer was involved. She tried to read through the analysis, but it was way too technical for her brain.

Then, in the summary, she caught something she could understand. There was a trace of tomato seeds in the soil. Had it been used to plant tomatoes at some stage? Or was it an anomaly? They still had to link John's murder to the two women's deaths.

About to insert Greg Plunkett's USB stick into her computer, she glanced up to see Boyd at the door.

‘Shouldn't you get that checked for a virus before you put it near your computer?'

‘Boyd, if there's a virus on this, our system should be able to kill it, otherwise it's not worth the money the department forked out for it. Okay?'

‘I don't know why you're so hung up about the photos. We know Aneta was working there that day. It makes sense that she'd have been caught in at least some of the press photos, even if they weren't printed in the paper.'

‘We need to identify everyone in them. As far as we know, this is proof of one of the last times anyone saw Aneta Kobza.'

‘She may have been around after that.'

‘She was, because she went out on Valentine's night, and then puff! Gone. So until we get an eyewitness or some other verification, this is what we have to work with.'

‘It's diverting our focus from the other victims.'

‘If we solve the mystery surrounding Aneta, why she was taken and where she was held, I reckon we solve the other murders. And we'll find Shannon Kenny alive. I believe Aneta was held somewhere for almost a year and Shannon could have been taken to replace her.'

‘What about Laura Nolan?' Boyd countered.

‘She either fought back, or something went wrong and he killed her shortly after abducting her. It's the only explanation I can come up with until we get evidence to the contrary.'

‘Where does John Morgan's murder fit in?'

‘I don't know yet, but he was in Cuan when the others were there, so it fits in somewhere.'

‘Okay.' He looked unsure as he edged out to the general office.

She called him back. ‘I'm forwarding you this lab report. It mentions soil transference. Can you talk to someone at the lab to find out where this soil might have come from?'

‘Sure.'

After sending him the lab report, she slotted the USB into the computer port. The icons loaded one by one. There were 105 photographs. The date was two days before Valentine's Day last year.

Her phone vibrated and skidded across the desk. Kirby. You may wait, she thought, as she opened the first image.

Kirby felt bad leaving Garda Lei at Moorland with orders to notify him when Rex's parents arrived home. But it was imperative that he get McKeown out of there. He was liable to say the wrong thing and terrify the child into silence. He could also get them suspended for entering the house and speaking to a seven-year-old child without his parents being present.

‘It's a right balls-up,' he admitted to Lottie when he got back to the station.

‘You can say that again.'

‘I should have called social services.'

‘You should not have interviewed a child without parental consent. This is serious, Kirby.'

‘Would you have done any different?'

She thought for a moment. ‘In the circumstance, I'd have done the same. The child might help us identify Laura Nolan's killer and in turn save Shannon.'

‘I spoke to her brother earlier. George is a wreck. Her nephew, Davy, keeps asking for her. We have to get her home safe.'

Lottie nodded slowly. ‘What possible motive can someone have for killing those young people?'

‘When we catch the bastard, we can ask him.' He took his hands out of his pockets awkwardly and stifled a yawn. His phone beeped with a text and he checked it. ‘Lei says Rex's parents are home. The McGoverns.'

‘Okay, I'll go over there and see if they'll allow us to talk to their son.'

‘Am I in trouble, boss?'

She shrugged. ‘Possibly. I won't tell anyone, but I can't vouch for McKeown. Might be time to do a bit of sweet-talking in that direction. Or buy him a pint in Cafferty's.' She looked at Kirby. He knew he was one of her favourite people. ‘But I can't say what the McGoverns will do when they find out.'

‘I don't hold out much hope of sweetening McKeown up. There's not enough sugar in the world for that.'

‘That might be the case, Kirby, but I have every faith in you.'

Lottie threw a lingering eye at the photos she had saved to her computer and wondered if the answer to everything was contained among them. But first things first. They had a witness. She grabbed her bag and coat and left the detective patting his pocket for his elusive cigar.