Page 83 of Hidden Daughters (Detective Lottie Parker #15)

‘Sit down,’ Robert Hayes said, brandishing the knife in their direction. ‘Both of you.’

They did so, not having any choice. He was the one holding the long-bladed knife.

Lottie seethed, but kept her eyes directed on the weapon. ‘Perhaps you should get rid of that. We’re not going to harm you. You have no reason to protect yourself from us.’

‘Is that so?’ His mouth curved into a sneer as he pointed the knife at her. ‘You’re a cop. I’d smell one a mile away. You’re that Lottie Parker detective, aren’t you?’

‘I’m on holidays and I’m not involved in any role with the murder investigations. Despite that, I believe you’ve been following me. Killing anyone you think might be able to rat on you.’

‘Rat on me?’ His face twisted into a knot of confusion. ‘About what?’

Was he playing stupid?

‘You know full well what this is about, Robert. What I don’t understand is why you didn’t just disappear. There was no need to kill so many innocent people.’

The knife wavered in his hand. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

‘Why are you here then?’

‘I… None of your business. Why are you here?’ He twisted her question back on her.

‘You know why.’

He sat then, keeping them both directly in front of him. ‘Is it something to do with Edie?’

‘Edie?’ Lottie paused, letting him believe she had to think for a moment. ‘She’s the woman you murdered in Ragmullin.’

‘For Christ’s sake, I didn’t murder her. I loved her, actually. But then…’ he pointed the knife in Imelda’s direction, ‘you and your stupid documentary put the wind up her.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Now it was Imelda’s turn to look confused. ‘I never talked to anyone in Ragmullin.’

‘Of course you did. And you tried to smoke me out too.’

Imelda shook her head. ‘Smoke you out?’

The man was delusional, Lottie thought. And Imelda was demonstrating instability too. Great combination.

‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘Coming into the pub where I worked, asking questions. Phoning my manager. Scaring the life out of Edie. She even broke up with me over it all. You killed her.’

Lottie looked over at Imelda, who seemed genuinely puzzled. She turned her attention back to Robert. The hand holding the knife was shaking and his knee jiggled up and down.

‘Robert, why do you think it was Imelda?’

‘It’s obvious, isn’t it? She’s the one making the documentary. Digging up the past. Turning over lives and?—’

‘Okay, okay. I admit I tried to find you,’ Imelda interrupted him, defiance written all over her face. ‘I didn’t succeed, though. And I knew nothing about any Edie. Her name didn’t come up in my research. Not so far anyhow.’

‘Of course it was you,’ he said. ‘Who else could it be?’

The tiny, uncluttered room felt overcrowded with the three of them in it. Lottie felt the lies bouncing off the walls. ‘This was Assumpta’s home. Why are you here?’

‘I heard about her death.’ He pointed the knife at Imelda again. ‘I knew about the documentary you were making and I assumed you’d come here after she was killed. Maybe hide your research notes or backup files here.’ His shoulders slumped. ‘Honestly? This was my last hope of finding you.’

‘You need to be calm,’ Lottie said evenly. ‘Take a breath and we will try to make sense of it all.’

‘You’re stalling.’ He stood and gawked out the small net-curtained window. ‘Have you called for backup?’

She realised then just how unhinged he was. That made him dangerous and susceptible to carry out an unprovoked attack. She had to talk him down.

‘Robert, there’s just us three here. I’m not on duty. I haven’t called anyone. That’s the truth.’ She realised then that no one knew where she was, and she cursed herself for her impetuous decision to take Imelda with her that morning. ‘Let’s talk it out and see what we can do to help you.’

‘No one can help me,’ he muttered. ‘It will all come out now and I’ll be ruined. I thought things were bad when I got kicked out of the priesthood, but this is a whole different level.’

‘What do you think makes this worse?’

‘Because it’s about murder.’

Was now the time to say it out loud? Probably not, but she said it anyhow. ‘A long time ago, you killed a little girl. She was named Gabriel by the nuns. Why did you do that?’

He lunged, the knife pointed at her. She held her breath for a moment, but remained seated upright. He could fuck right off if he thought he was intimidating her.

‘Don’t you dare try to lumber me with another murder. I killed no one. I don’t even know who you’re talking about.’

‘Not true, Robert.’ Defiance flowed unhindered through her blood.

‘Remember the laundry at the Sisters of Forgiveness convent? A little girl called Gabriel was used by the nuns to clear sheets and pillowcases out of the big washing machines. One day you arrived to a row between Gabriel and a nun. You helped the nun throw the little girl into a machine and switched it on. Utter cruelty. She died. That makes you what you are, Robert. A murderer.’

His colour heightened as she spoke and his eyes turned darker and bulged in their sockets. ‘The two of you are stirring up shit you know nothing about. You don’t understand a thing.’

She lowered her voice, tried to make it sound soothing, to make him talk. ‘Help us to understand.’

His shoulders slumped as he sat down again. ‘It wasn’t me, not really me, that’s all you need to know.’

‘Oh, are you trying to say that your body was inhabited by an evil spirit who told you to kill a defenceless child?’ Had she gone too far? she wondered.

‘You are close to the truth,’ he snorted, an ugly hue shrouding his face.

‘I’d like to know the whole truth.’

‘Assumpta knew the truth. She could have told you. But now she’s dead.’

‘So you killed off anyone who could point the finger at you?’

‘Why would I kill the one person who could explain what really happened back then?’

‘To bury the story,’ Imelda said.

‘Shut up, you.’ He waved the knife again and Lottie glared at Imelda, hoping she got the message to keep her mouth shut. Some hope.

‘I won’t be silenced,’ Imelda said.

Brave? Lottie wondered. No, she was reckless.

‘Imelda, leave this to me,’ she warned, infusing her voice with steel.

‘No, I won’t. He says I started all this and I want to hear his side of the story. I’m only raging that I have no phone or anything to record his lies.’

Lottie was certain Imelda still had Ann Wilson’s phone but didn’t mention it.

‘You won’t be around much longer, either of you,’ Robert sneered. ‘I’ve had enough.’ He stood abruptly and thrust the knife towards Imelda. ‘I was doing grand. My life was trundling along nicely. I was on the verge of proposing to Edie, and then you fucked it all up.’

‘I want to hear your side of things,’ the young woman repeated.

Gutsy, Lottie thought. Definitely foolhardy.

But Imelda had been through a lot over the last week, so maybe she was entitled to have her say.

As long as it didn’t get them both killed.

She knew she’d be able to overpower him if he attacked Imelda, but if he went for her first, that would have an unknown result.

‘You think you know it all,’ Robert snarled. ‘But you don’t know the whole truth. Did you find Assumpta’s notebooks?’

‘Notebooks?’ Imelda asked. ‘No.’

‘I’ve searched the house and can’t find them.’ He appeared flustered now.

Lottie said, ‘The guards and SOCOs have searched here. If there was anything to be found, they’d have it. What sort of notebooks are you talking about?’

‘She recorded everything that happened in that place. Kids who were born and kids who died. Mothers who died. She kept records of the whole lot.’

‘Mickey Fox had all those,’ Imelda said. ‘He burned them shortly before he was murdered.’

Lottie looked over at her, but before she could speak, Robert was talking again.

‘No, he probably had the nuns’ official records. I’m talking about Assumpta’s own personal notes.’

‘Personal notes?’ Lottie said. ‘Why would she do that, and how do you know about them?’

‘She was meticulous. Studying to be a nun. A novice. But… me and her, we had a… friendship back then. I would never kill her.’

‘But you killed the child. The little girl.’

‘I didn’t think she’d die, did I? I was forced to do it. I had no choice. I was young and stupid. I thought they’d let her out in time. I meant no harm. It was a prank.’

‘No it wasn’t. She was just a child. Don’t try to cover up the truth,’ Imelda said.

‘I heard an eyewitness account of what happened,’ Lottie said. ‘You were not that young. Early twenties? It was deliberate.’

‘Okay, I admit the action itself was deliberate, but I was forced to do it. The outcome was unintended.’

‘Explain.’

Lottie wondered where her bravery was coming from.

A killer was holding a knife on them and she was conversing with him like it was an afternoon tea party.

Her training? Perhaps. Or was Imelda’s pluckiness rubbing off on her?

Whatever it was, she did not fear Robert Hayes as much as she should, and that worried her.

Being complacent was dangerous. But she had to hear what he had to say.

He sat back heavily and pulled at his hair. His ponytail came loose and the grey strands fell about his face in a greasy mess as he began to talk.