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‘I’m not Ann. I just have her phone.’

A trickle of dread tracked a cold line down the length of Lottie’s spine. It was a female voice, one she could not place.Still, she had a feeling she’d heard it before. ‘Who are you? Where is Ann?’

‘Too many questions at once. I can’t think. You’re confusing me.’

Lottie thought she heard a sob, and her training kicked in. She could not alienate this person who was in possession of Ann Wilson’s phone. ‘Don’t be upset. Please talk to me. I want to help in any way I can.’

‘No one can help me. Are you the detective Ann spoke to?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then you have to do something before someone else dies.’

‘How can I do that? Do you have information that can help?’

‘Find out all you can about Assumpta Feeney. She has to be the key to it all. She was first to die.’

A thought raced through Lottie’s mind. ‘Is this Imelda?’

The call went dead.

She looked at the phone in her hand. ‘I think that was Imelda Conroy. Why has she got Ann Wilson’s phone?’

‘Holy Mother of God,’ Kirby exclaimed. ‘I better call Mooney.’

‘Wait a minute. Let’s think this through.’

‘What did the caller say? You look puzzled.’

‘She said Assumpta Feeney is the key to everything. But Mooney said Assumpta lived abroad for years. How can we find out about her? Is there anything on those printouts he gave you?’

He opened his jacket and extracted a wad of very creased pages.

‘Jesus, Kirby, you need to get a man bag. Or an iPad.’

‘Nothing wrong with an inside pocket.’ He flattened the pages out on the narrow table. Lottie leaned over them. He was right, they were sparse. She realised why Mooney hadn’t told her much. It was because he really hadn’t got anything. Loads of DNA with only one hit, Bryan O’Shaughnessy.

‘Did Bryan ever know Assumpta Feeney, I wonder.’ She put a finger under his name.

‘We could go out there and ask him, I suppose,’ Kirby said, ‘but I don’t think I’d be welcomed.’

‘Why?’ She looked at him pointedly. ‘What did you do?’

‘Nothing. Why do you always think I did something wrong?’ He must have caught her look, because he said, ‘Okay, I get it. Anyhow, I only asked Bryan about Edie Butler and if he had a relationship with her. He didn’t remember her at first, but then he did. Said she always seemed to be on edge and left him suddenly.’

‘And that was enough to get you barred from the house?’

‘Not that, no. I was telling him about the awful way Edie had died just as poor Grace arrived with tea on a tray, which she dropped. Tea and crockery all over the floor. I made my excuses and left. But honestly, I don’t want to bother her again. I’d say this week has been hell for her.’

‘It has been worse for the victims of these awful crimes. I better ring Mooney.’

It felt like she’d hardly finished the call when Mooney arrived.

‘How did you get here so fast?’ Lottie asked, opening the door.

‘I was in the vicinity. I received a call from Denis Wilson wanting to press charges against Bryan O’Shaughnessy. I’m on my way to the Wilson house now. Probably another storm in a teacup for me to listen to when I should be in my office reviewing the evidence or out searching for his wife, if she really is missing. I sincerely hope she’s just upped sticks and left him.’

‘Come in. You’ve met Detective Kirby.’