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‘I’d say you’re right.’

Lottie said, ‘You need Imelda to hand over her research and her recordings.’

‘She claims they were all taken that night. Presumably by Wilson. She reckons he dumped it all in the sea.’

‘I think she is being economical with the truth. She told me she has them hidden, but wouldn’t say where. She probably had everything on a USB. I bet she’s waiting until the right time to launch her documentary.’

‘She better not or she may well interfere with our case against Wilson. We have very little physical evidence to tie him to any of the murders. I’m hoping for a confession.’

‘The chances of that are?—’

‘Slim to none. I know.’

‘I’ll talk to Imelda.’

‘No, she’s a witness. Don’t interfere.’

‘Me?’ Lottie said in mock shock. ‘I’d never do that.’

He groaned. ‘I’m so glad I don’t work with you, Lottie Parker. You’d put me in an early grave.’

She laughed then. ‘You are a good detective, Matt. Let me know how things progress.’

‘I might, and then again, it might be safer not to.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Look, I shouldn’t tell you this, but with those notebooks and that DNA familial match for Bryan… No, I better shut up.’

‘For God’s sake, don’t leave me hanging on that.’

Mooney sighed, relenting. ‘I have reason to believe that Imelda may be Bryan’s sister.’

Lottie leaned her head to one side in disbelief. ‘No, she can’t be. His sister was murdered in the laundry, wasn’t she?’

‘I’m not talking about the wee girl known as Gabriel.’

‘Mooney, you better tell me what you suspect.’

‘Look, you can’t say anything to him until it’s verified, but I think Imelda was the baby that was born when Bryan’s mother died in childbirth. Assumpta wrote as much in her notes. Which means she’s his youngest sibling.’

‘Holy shit.’

‘Yeah. Holy shit.’

Mooney walked off with a slow wave of his hand behind him.

88

RAGMULLIN

Kirby was working late. He and Martina were updating the incident board with facts and timelines. Now that he had a description of a car to search for, it made for a much easier job. They knew the make, model, colour and registration number.

McKeown first found Wilson’s SUV on the M6 toll booth CCTV on the Friday, travelling east. Dash-cam footage from a taxi caught it going past the carwash facility down the road from Edie’s apartment at 16.00 hours on the same Friday. This was the last day Edie Butler had been seen alive.

‘There it is,’ McKeown said.

‘Great work,’ Kirby said with grudging respect. ‘Keep trawling the footage. We should be able to place his car in Ragmullin on Sunday night also, as that’s when we believe he dumped Edie’s body in the river. If he disposed of her earlier than that, she would have been found before Monday. But check each day.’