Page 72 of The Altar Girls

A theatrical gasp went up from the women behind him.

‘Not at all.’ Lottie donned her placating tone. ‘We need your formal statement. I mentioned it to you already, didn’t I?’ She lowered her voice slightly, and he dipped his head towards her. ‘There’s a few things we want to clear up.’

‘Oh.’ He snapped his head back. ‘Should I get a solicitor?’

‘Did you do anything wrong?’

‘Not a thing.’

‘Well, it’s your right. Let me know what you want to do and it can be arranged.’

‘I think I’ll be fine in your hands.’

She stopped in her tracks at the door. Was he having a laugh? No, his face was deathly serious.

He made his way to a sink in a side room, removed his gloves, then washed and dried his hands before following her without a fuss, his coat draped over his arm.

‘Won’t be long.’ He swept his hand around the tables. ‘Keep at it. You’re doing great work here, keeping the hungry of the town fed. Loaves and fishes. Good work, my friends.’

His words made her feel like a bitch. She was reducing the number of helpers by taking him away, but at the same time two little girls were dead and she had a duty to talk to everyone who might know something about their murders. A duty to bring in their killer.

48

Boyd drove the short distance to the station and let them out at the front steps.

Once they were inside, Lottie signed the priest into Interview Room 1. She felt bad bringing him into that uncomfortable room, but if he had something to hide, if he had killed two little girls or had knowledge of the crime, she had to do this the right way. She could not allow any amount of his niceness to distract her.

Once Boyd joined them, she noticed an increased wariness take root in the priest’s eyes.

‘We will be recording this,’ Boyd said, ‘even though you haven’t been arrested or charged with any crime.’

‘Are you okay with that?’ Lottie asked, trying to take the edge out of Boyd’s icy tone.

Maguire nodded. ‘Do what you have to do so that I can return to my work.’

‘Thank you.’

Boyd pressed the button and completed the formalities before Lottie began.

‘You saw what both girls were wearing when they were found murdered.’ She paused to see his reaction, and his eyes narrowed further. ‘Did you believe at that time that they were dressed in their choir robes?’

‘That was my first impression, yes, but now you’ve planted a seed of doubt.’

‘If they’re not choir robes, what could they be, Father?’

He pursed his lips before speaking. Thinking or planning?

‘They were lighter material than the robes we use. Shrouds, maybe?’

Lottie glanced at Boyd who had mentioned shrouds earlier before returning her gaze to the priest. ‘Where would someone get shrouds? Especially for children.’ She felt her heart stick in her throat. How was she even discussing this without crying? She felt inhuman, but it was her job to crawl up every avenue, and the unusual clothing was one such avenue.

‘I don’t know, to be honest, but I would hazard a guess that undertakers keep a supply of them.’

‘Undertakers,’ Lottie repeated, and nodded for Boyd to write that down. A ploy to let the priest think he had solved a big mystery.

‘Yes, though you can buy anything and everything online nowadays.’

Therein lay the problem for Lottie and her team.