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The house felt claustrophobic. Too much of everything in the kitchen. The lingering odour of burned toast hung in the air, while breakfast dishes lined the draining board.

Lottie pulled out a chair and sat. Boyd stood by the door, his overcoat open, hands shoved in his trouser pockets. Diana sat opposite Lottie without offering tea or coffee.

‘Okay if I call you Diana?’

The woman nodded, face sombre, eyes ready to spill.

‘I’m so sorry to have to give you bad news, Diana. The body of a young woman was discovered this morning. There’s no easy way to say this, but I’m afraid we have reason to believe it’s your daughter, Laura.’

Diana gulped and shook her head slowly. ‘No, it’s not her. It can’t be. Honestly, it’s not Laura.’

‘I regret to say we believe it is your daughter. You or someone close to the family will have to identify the body, but we received photo ID from her bank. I’m awfully sorry, but in cases like this there are no words I can offer. Just to say you have my sympathy and we will do everything in our power to find out who did this.’

‘Did what? What happened to her?’

It seemed Diana had not heard the early-morning news. ‘Her body was found in the grounds of the cinema at Connell retail park. I’m afraid she suffered a fatal assault.’

‘That can’t be true. What would she be doing out there? That must be a good mile outside of town.’

‘It’s about a kilometre and a half from here. Was she out last night?’

‘She went into town. With a friend, she said. I was here with her son. I hardly slept, waiting for her to come home. I thought maybe she’d met someone…’

‘Her son?’ Boyd took his hands out of his pockets. He pulled out a chair and sat beside the weeping woman.

‘My grandson. Aaron. He’s nearly four.’

Lottie exhaled. Not only had a mother lost her daughter, a little boy had lost his young mother. Goddammit. ‘You said Laura went out last night. Do you know who she was meeting?’

‘She just said a friend. I think. God, I don’t know. She was secretive about things like that.’

‘Where did she go?’

‘One of the pubs, I presume. Not that she went out that often. Not since Aaron… Now that I think of it, she did say something about going for a meal.’

‘I’ll need her friends’ names and details. One of them might be able to help us fill in the blanks.’

‘I… I don’t think she had many friends. Things had been difficult for her since Aaron came along.’

‘Who was she meeting, then?’

‘I’ve no idea. I never pried too much. I think I got on her nerves enough as it was.’

‘Did Laura work outside the home?’ Boyd asked.

‘Yes. In Lidl. Checkout and shelf-stacking. She dropped out of college when she got pregnant. Ruined her life, so it did.’ She must have caught Lottie’s look, because she added, ‘I don’t mean it that way. Aaron is a sweet boy and I love him to bits. So did Laura. I just wish she’d gone back to college and then she could have set herself up in a decent career.’

Lottie had thought the same thing about her Katie.

‘Had she a laptop?’ She’d love to see Laura’s calendar. It might give them some idea if she had a date. Her online activity could also help.

‘No laptop. She kept her life on her phone, like all the young ones.’ Diana raised her chin. ‘You have her phone, haven’t you?

‘Unfortunately, we haven’t found it. I’ll need her number and we’ll try to trace it. Did she have a handbag with her?’

‘Yes. A tiny thing. Only held her phone, a few cosmetics and a bank card. Not that she had much to spend… You said you got her details from the bank. How did you manage that?’

‘Her card was in her jeans pocket. No handbag. No phone.’

‘I can’t get my head around all this. Are you sure it’s Laura?’

‘Yes, I’m afraid so. When did you last hear from your daughter?’

‘She was in her bedroom finishing her make-up. We had words. The state she left the bathroom in.’ Diana dropped her head as if realising how inconsequential it was now. ‘Our relationship was strained to say the least. But isn’t that always the way when mothers are disappointed with their daughters’ choices?’

‘What choices made you disappointed? Her decision to keep her son?’

‘No, that was my decision,’ Diana said, sadly. ‘I wouldn’t allow her to give him up. She loved her child. She was a brilliant mother to Aaron. It was our relationship that wasn’t the best. I was too hard on her and… now she’s gone.’ She folded in on herself and sobbed loudly. Lottie could see that the woman was horribly broken. ‘I want her home. I want her back. I’m so sorry for everything I ever said to her and it’s too late to tell her.’

‘What about Aaron’s father?’

‘I don’t know who he is. Laura never said, though I probed enough about him. He was never on the scene. I’m a widow myself. Not long after Laura was born. And now she’s…’ Her sobs blotted out her words.

‘Diana?’ Lottie said. ‘Can I look at her room, please? I won’t remove anything unless I deem it essential to our investigation, and if there is something I need, I’ll ask you first.’

‘Sure.’ Diana waved her hand towards the door. ‘Upstairs. Can you tell me how she died? Did she suffer?’

‘We need to have a post-mortem in order to answer your questions.’

As Lottie stood, a little blonde-haired boy scampered into the kitchen.

‘Nan, where’s Mammy? Is she at work?’ Then he seemed to notice the two strangers standing there and leaped up onto Diana’s lap.

‘I’ll have a look upstairs so,’ Lottie said, and she nodded at Boyd for him to stay in the kitchen.