Page 151 of The Altar Girls

‘She was hysterical. I thought she was drunk, but Keith said she wasn’t. She left the children at home on their own and out she came in a snowstorm to throw accusations at him.’

‘And these accusations…?’ When Father Pearse didn’t answer, Kirby nodded as if he knew.

‘It’s sad, isn’t it,’ Pearse said. ‘That woman could go around blaming him and he had no notion how she came up with her lie.’

‘So what happened? Sunday night?’

‘Against my advice, he brought her up to his rooms.’ He shook his head forcefully. ‘Talk about adding fuel to the fire. Though there was only me and him here. The other curates are on retreat.’

‘Right. Was she up in his room for long?’

‘She left shortly afterwards. Not a sound out of her. He’d calmed her down.’

I’m sure he had, Kirby thought. ‘Did he tell you what transpired with her?’

‘Not really, but I knew he was going to do something. I warned him not to, but Keith is his own man.’

‘What did he do?’

‘Don’t know, do I? He gets obsessed about things and then he tries to control them. And usually fails. I warned him, so I did.’

‘It’s hard sometimes to make people see the trees in the woods.’

Pearse looked at him askance. ‘You really have no idea who I’m talking about, do you?’

‘I need the woman’s name.’

Shaking his head, the priest stood and folded up the chair. Kirby held his breath. Fingers crossed. Still dying for a puff.

91

Pacing the incident room was a habit that accompanied Lottie with major investigations. It helped her think. She’d pinned up the lab report on the water found in Willow’s lungs. What had happened on Monday morning to result in two little girls being murdered, in two different ways, within minutes of each other?

And then there was the rosary that had apparently belonged to Phyllis Maguire. How did the killer come to have it and to leave it on Willow’s body? If only they had forensic evidence to link it definitively to one of their suspects. It was likely to yield multiple DNA and fingerprints, but she only needed one to match.

She was about to pick up her phone to urge the lab to hurry up when she noticed Garda Lei sitting at a desk, his face a mask of intent.

‘What is it?’ she asked, perching on the edge of the desk to take the weight off her feet.

‘I’ve been going over the incident with Harper this morning, trying to figure out what suddenly caused her to be so frightened.’

‘You think it was fear? Not a tantrum?’ Folding her arms, she knew she wouldn’t have long to wait for an answer. Garda Lei talked non-stop, though now he seemed hesitant.

‘I could be wrong, but I honestly think she saw or heard something on the television. Something that triggered her trauma.’

‘Really?’ She was glad to see him apply logic. He was becoming a competent officer. Still, they had no idea why Harper refused to speak or if it even meant anything. ‘Do you think it’s relevant to the murders?’

‘Maybe not, but the keys in the locks on the outside of the kids’ bedrooms bother me.’

‘Me too.’ She wondered again what sort of mother did that. One frightened of her children getting out and hurting themselves? Or one wanting to keep them subdued? ‘Tell me exactly what you and Harper were doing before she lost it.’

‘She was on the armchair and I was sitting across from her on the sofa. I had a cartoon channel switched on for her. Peppa Pig. Muddy puddles and all that,’ he explained.

‘Reminds me of Louis.’ As she said his name, Lottie realised how much she missed her grandson. She’d hardly been home all week because she’d been sleeping at her mother’s. She’d have to check in on Rose soon. Sean had promised he’d drop in on her, but she couldn’t depend on him if he was in the throes of a game. Or maybe Rose was with Betty Coyne. Thinking of Betty made her recall how the woman had believed there was someone else behind the cathedral on Monday night. Was that a figment of her imagination, or was it true? Another pointer to the priest being involved with the murders?

She realised her mind had been drifting and returned her attention to Garda Lei. ‘Go on.’

He closed his eyes. ‘After a couple of episodes, the ads came on.’ He opened his eyes. ‘It was the advertisements. Something in them caused the child to scream, I’m sure of it.’