Page 75
Story: Hidden Daughters
‘I would like a confession.’
‘You’re not getting one.’
‘Then I want time to build a case. I can hold Mr O’Shaughnessy for twenty-four hours. I can also ask my superintendent to extend that time. Okay?’
‘No, it’s not okay,’ Bryan blurted. ‘I only met Imelda Conroy the one time, when she wanted to interview me about the laundries.’
‘And why would she want to interview you?’
Time to take his solicitor’s advice. ‘No comment.’
‘Right then, Ms Ward, your client will be taken to a cell. You can have ten minutes to talk to him before then.’ Mooney spoke for the tape and switched off the machine.
The red light went out in the corner above his head and he left the room.
‘Start talking,’ Norah Ward said.
Bryan felt his mouth go dry, and all the words he might have wanted to utter disappeared.
47
They left Lottie sitting in the fancy Garda HQ reception area for twenty minutes before Mooney came out to her.
‘I need a decent coffee,’ he said. ‘And air. Let’s walk.’
They headed in silence to the hotel they’d been at before. He ordered coffee for them both, and they sat at a table by the large window. It would have been overlooking part of Galway Bay if the sweep of buildings across the road hadn’t been there.
‘Don’t ask me anything about Bryan O’Shaughnessy,’ he said. ‘I’ll be giving you the same bloody answer he’s been giving me for the last half-hour.’
‘It was a “no comment” interview then?’
‘Here and there. What did you want to see me about?’
She waited for her coffee to cool, took a sip and set the cup back on the saucer. ‘There was a murder in Ragmullin earlier this week.’
‘Yes, I know. Awful business.’
‘A man who knew the victim is now AWOL. Robert Hayes. He’s a chef in a local Ragmullin eatery. The thing is, it’s believed he was originally from Galway.’
‘A lot of people are originally from Galway.’
‘I’m trying to help you here.’ She wouldn’t rise to his sarcasm.
‘And how can this help me, pray tell?’
‘You’re an arsehole, Mooney. You know what, forget it.’ She stood.
‘Sit down and drink your coffee. I apologise. I’m stressed and getting nowhere.’
‘Bryan isn’t a viable suspect, is he?’
‘Nice try.’
‘Can’t blame me for that.’ She sat back down.
‘Tell me more about this Ragmullin chef.’ He sipped his coffee. Froth lingered on his moustache.
‘As I said, he’s from Galway…’ She paused, trying to think what Kirby had told her. ‘Or maybe he just worked here at one stage. I thought he might be worth looking into.’
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
- 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 (Reading here)
- 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