Page 36 of The Altar Girls

‘Let Kirby deal with this for now. I can talk to the priest later on. You’re coming to Willow’s mother’s with me. By the way, didn’t you say you were calling there earlier?’

‘I did. Didn’t learn anything new. I feel so bad for Willow’s little sister.’

‘Oh God, this is going to be even harder than last night with Ruth. Willow could have been here all that time and we didn’t find her.’

‘She could have been anywhere. We don’t know when she was put in the crib.’

‘Any CCTV around here?’ Lottie scanned the church building and the car park. As she spoke, she spied Mrs Coyne walking towards the outer cordon.

‘Mrs Coyne, Betty, you shouldn’t be here. It’s a crime scene.’

‘I met you somewhere recently, didn’t I?’

‘I was at your house this morning.’

‘That’s right. You’re a detective.’ Betty settled her gaze on Boyd and winked. ‘You’re the nice one.’

‘Mrs Coyne,’ Boyd said softly, ‘you can’t come in any further. I’m sorry.’

‘I can see that now that I’m here.’

‘Why are you here?’

‘I just wanted to say a few prayers, because the cathedral is currently out of bounds. But there’s something I had to tell you.’ The elderly lady grabbed Boyd’s sleeve and pulled him closer so that he was leaning over the tape.

‘What is it?’ he asked.

The woman’s eyes glazed over and she shook her head. ‘I can’t seem to remember, but it will come to me.’

Lottie caught Boyd’s eye as he glanced at her. She just shrugged.

‘Don’t worry about it, Mrs Coyne,’ he said. ‘Do you want someone to drive you home?’

‘I’m well able to walk, young man. But if that other wee girl is dead up there, you’d do well to do your job. Then you’ll know.’

‘Know what?’ Lottie asked.

‘That it was the same person who stole their lives away from them. The two little angels.’

With that, Mrs Coyne turned on her heel and gingerly made her way back down the path.

27

‘What do you think?’ Boyd asked as he drove towards Willow Devine’s home.

‘About Mrs Coyne?’

‘Yeah. I know she had a stroke and her mind might not be what it used to be, but I’m not inclined to discount that she has something to tell us, if she ever remembers it. Whether it’s relevant or not, I don’t know.’

‘Agreed. There was a rosary in the child’s hands,’ Lottie said.

‘Is it a priest we should be looking for? Or does someone want us to focus our attention in that direction?’

‘Boyd, if you’re going to ask questions, please give me answers.’ She looked out the window as the wipers struggled with the fresh falling snow.

‘We should concentrate our energy on the clergy.’

‘Like you said, perhaps someone wants us to do just that.’