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THURSDAY

The morning light peeked through the thin curtains at around 6 a.m. Boyd was already up and had gone downstairs. Lottie hadn’t heard him rise, such was the soundness of her sleep. She supposed it was because she’d offloaded some of her worry by asking Kirby to check out Bryan O’Shaughnessy. Boyd would be mad, but she felt no guilt. She could deal with him if he became incandescent because she needed to be sure about his future brother-in-law. After that, she would let love take its course, and all that shite.

Her phone blared as she stepped out of the shower. She wrapped a large towel around her body and sat on the bed.

‘Mooney. Good morning. You’re up early.’

‘We got the DNA results for the dead woman at the cottage. It’s Assumpta Feeney.’

‘You’re sure?’ She tried to hide her surprise that he was once again confiding in her.

‘Don’t even go there.’

‘Shit. Why was she murdered?’

‘If I knew that at this stage, I’d be chief inspector.’

‘Sorry. So according to Mickey Fox, she’s linked to the convent. What about the other woman?’ She qualified this by adding, ‘The woman who fled my car.’

‘It has to be Imelda Conroy. She had the cottage rented in her name, though the owner never met her. All online.’

‘Have you got any DNA from my car to match to?—’

‘We got a preliminary result. And yes, there is some that matches to Imelda Conroy. We believe it’s her DNA on the computer cable and phone charger that were left at the cottage. It’s possible that she killed Assumpta and went into hiding or on the run.’

‘I don’t buy that. She told me she tried to warn Mickey Fox. God, it’s all very confusing.’

‘You’re not wrong.’

‘And why are you telling me all this?’

The silence dragged down the line like a vibration. She waited him out.

‘I honestly don’t know,’ he said softly. ‘Maybe I just want to share with someone who understands how an investigation develops. Someone who is on the outside looking in.’

‘I get that.’ She thought of her call to Kirby last night. ‘What can I do to help?’

‘I don’t want you involved, but I’d appreciate if you could try getting more out of O’Shaughnessy. He wasn’t saying much yesterday when I brought him in. He said he knows nothing about any murders, but he did consent to a DNA swab and fingerprinting. That was something at least. It’s gone into the system and I’m awaiting the results.’

‘Surely you don’t think he is a killer?’

‘He could be. His DNA will tell a tale.’

‘He told me he lifted up that piece of timber at the ruin. There will be transference on it.’

‘I know all that. Yeah. But what if he was at the cottage where Assumpta Feeney’s body was found?’

‘Now that you’ve identified her, you need to backtrack, check out her movements. Why was she at the cottage? Had she something to tell Imelda? Or did Imelda draw her there. And where is Imelda? Did she kill Assumpta, but then what about Mickey Fox? And?—’

‘Yeah, yeah, my team is over all that. Anyhow, talk to O’Shaughnessy and see if you can learn more from him than I did.’

He ended the call before she could say anything else.

She shivered, tightened the damp towel around her and peered out at the beautiful day that had dawned.

She should feel happy and contented in this serene place.