Page 170 of The Altar Girls

‘But you had no idea what Jackie was up to.’

‘I hadn’t. I still don’t. Why did she even go to that part of the country?’

‘You may never know.’

‘True, but Sergio needs my attention. My full attention.’

‘Did you find a therapist for him?’

‘Got him an appointment the second week of January. I hope it helps. He needs to go to school, too. I was in the process of sorting that out before Jackie took off with him. I wish I could understand it all.’

‘If this case has taught me anything, it’s that it is impossible to understand the bond between mothers and their children. Ruth punished her children, tipping over into physical abuse, all conducted under the guise of her religion. Zara kept her two girls locked up in their rooms at night. Was she keeping them safe from outside forces or from herself?’

‘Do you think she knew she was about to do something terrible?’

‘The locks on the doors tell me she may have planned something that would have ended up with her own death and that of both daughters.’

‘She was quick to target the priest. That sounds like she had been scheming for a while.’

‘You could be right.’ She felt the first drops of a fresh shower fall on her face. ‘We should go in before Rose alienates my two girls.’

‘She was giving them orders on how to stack the dishwasher as I came out.’

‘In the next breath she’ll be in one of her less lucid moments. She won’t know what a dishwasher is.’

‘I actually think she’s a lot better than she was,’ Boyd said.

‘Betty is good for her. They’re good for each other and their friendship is blossoming. They visit the nursing home daily and have Phyllis Maguire, and others, knitting with them.’

‘Does Rose drive out there?’ he asked dubiously.

‘Jacinta Nally takes them. And Father Pearse has Alfie working with him in the food bank over the holidays.’

‘I find it hard to understand why the boy took the rosary.’

‘He was so contrite. We found it in the snow beside the cathedral toilets, where he’d placed it right before Connolly nabbed him. He doesn’t know why he took it, just that he remembered that his baby brother had a Teddy in his coffin and he’d wanted it but couldn’t have it. And Naomi had a rosary, so he took it, because he could.’

‘How is Father Maguire?’

‘I called into the hospital yesterday. He’s suffered a critical relapse and is in a coma. Betty and my mother pray for him every day. I hope he comes out of it. He’s a good man who was trying to do his best.’

‘Like Julian Bradley?’

‘Bradley is an obsessive character. His way or no way.’

‘And the DNA proved that he isn’t Harper’s father. What happens to that little girl now?’

‘She was placed with a foster family, under the care of child services. Dave, Zara’s ex, is on his way for Willow’s funeral. He may be Harper’s father. We’ll compare his DNA when he arrives. Garda Lei has visited the child a couple of times and she has started talking. But only to him.’

‘I’m surprised she gets a word in edgeways. What about the mother?’

Lottie laughed, then sobered. ‘Zara is under psychiatric care. I don’t know when we will get to interview her again. I need to understand what moulded her into such a deadly person.’

‘Some things remain beyond our comprehension, even after they’re explained to us.’

A shout came from the house. Both of them turned around to see Rose standing at the back door waving frantically.

‘Lottie, you better come in out of that rain. You’ll catch pneumonia.’

‘I’ll be in in a minute.’

‘Come in right now, missy. Your father will have words with you when he gets home.’ Rose slammed the door shut.

Lottie glanced at Boyd. ‘Normal service has resumed.’

Walking back to the house, arms linked, she leaned her head on his shoulder. The raindrops multiplied, and as the sun dropped beyond the horizon, the shimmer on the lake dimmed. With Boyd by her side, though, she felt the world was a brighter place despite all the darkness that shrouded it.

In that moment, she felt at peace.

* * *