Page 58
Story: Hidden Daughters
‘Not me, if that’s what you’re insinuating.’
‘What about this imaginary friend you found here?’
She sighed loudly. ‘She was not imaginary. And I didn’t see her here. I heard her running and followed her to the convent. That’s where I found her. Youknowall this.’
‘I know that’s what you told me. I’m just not sure whether to believe you.’
‘What reason would I have to lie?’
‘Bryan O’Shaughnessy, for one.’
‘Bryan? Come on, Mooney. The man only wanted me to find someone he knew long ago. Don’t forget he was a victim in Knockraw. He’d have no reason to hurt anyone.’
But he would, she thought, wouldn’t he? Her mind was a jumble of inconsistencies. Imelda Conroy had spoken to him. He said he’d told her about the burned man. Was that even true? Had there been a man who’d abused young girls? Girls who’d taken their revenge by throwing boiling water over him. How had they overpowered him? Where had the nuns been? Were they involved too? Shit, why hadn’t she asked Bryan all those questions? But then he’d only heard rumours. That was what he’d said. But was it the truth?
‘I checked O’Shaughnessy out,’ Mooney said. ‘He may not be all that innocent.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Ask him yourself. When you find him.’
He marched over to the oil drum. A SOCO stood there carefully rescuing damp fragments of paper and placing them in an evidence bag.
‘Anything?’ Mooney enquired.
‘It’ll take some time to dry out, and most of it is destroyed. But we’ll try.’
‘Good. Let me know as soon as you can.’ He walked over to the caravan.
Lottie followed, averting her eyes from the activity around where Mickey’s body lay. The woman had said she’d tried to warn him. Warn him about who or what? She needed to find that woman.
The caravan was too small for both Lottie and Mooney to move freely inside. She found herself pressed up behind his back. She smelled cigarettes and his strong aftershave, or maybe he used cologne. Red hairs sprouted along the back of his neck, and she felt like telling him to take a razor to them.
‘Not much of a life, was it?’ he said.
‘He seemed content.’
‘But why did he remain here? That’s what I’d like to know. The convent was gutted by thieves. Fox didn’t do anything to stop that.’
‘He must have been eighty years old.’
‘He didn’t even report it.’ The resonance in Mooney’s voice showed he wasn’t for swaying. ‘No, either he was involved in the thefts or he was here for some other reason. If you ask me, it was no good reason.’
‘I didn’t ask you,’ Lottie muttered under her breath. Mooney was irritating her, but she was grateful to him for bringing her along. Even though she sensed he had an ulterior motive.
‘Were you in here with him?’ he asked.
‘No.’
‘Someone was. Two mugs in the basin.’
‘Maybe he didn’t wash his dishes after every use.’ She was apt to doing that herself at times. Most of the time.
‘You sure you didn’t have a cuppa here?’
‘I’m certain.’ She suspected it might have been the woman in the blue fleece but didn’t utter this aloud. Or maybe the killer. That would mean Mickey knew the person who had murdered him.
‘Your friend, then?’
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58 (Reading here)
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164