Page 124 of The Guilty Girl

She shook her head slowly. ‘I c-can’t.’

‘Can’t remember or can’t say?’

Hannah shrugged.

Lottie placed another photo in front of the girl. ‘Recognise this lad?’

‘That’s the guy with the pills. Cormac bought them from him. Ask Cormac. Please.’

‘Hannah, Jake Flood was fifteen years old. We took his body from the canal last night.’

‘He’s dead?’ Hannah’s eyes widened, the dark rings circling them sagging. ‘I-I … I d-don’t understand. What’s going on?’ She bit her lip, then drew her hand under her nose and sniffed loudly.

There were other characters in this drama shady enough to count as suspects, but Lottie couldn’t ignore the fact that all the evidence, circumstantial or not, was pointing directly at the shattered girl in front of her.

‘Have you anything else to add?’ she asked.

‘No.’ Hannah began to sob.

‘Okay. I’m going to request a detention order to keep you here for twenty-four hours.’

McKeown recited the legal details, adding, ‘Interview suspended.’

Gathering her folder, Lottie followed him to the door. He had remained unusually silent throughout the interview. Turning back, she looked from the mother to the teenager.

‘You need to use this time to try and remember, Hannah. The evidence against you is damning.’

Babs broke out of her reverie. ‘Will you stop that? You’re upsetting her. Beating her into a corner, me along with her. You are so wrong, because this is someone else’s war to be fought, not ours.’

‘I’m not your enemy,’ Lottie said softly, and left the room.

Walking along the corridor, she wondered who she was fooling. Of course she was the enemy of a woman who was only trying to keep her daughter out of prison.

Her footsteps felt like cement had dried inside her shoes, and her heart was just as heavy. It was distressing to know you might be the person instrumental in sending a teenage girl to prison, especially if that girl had no recollection whatsoever of the events.

She badly needed a coffee.

59

Back in the office, she watched as McKeown got busy with his iPad.

‘Anything new before I head out?’

‘We now have confirmation that two DNA matches were found on Cormac O’Flaherty’s shirt and torso. Lucy McAllister and Hannah Byrne.’

Lottie paced in small circles. ‘Does it mean he was present when Lucy was murdered or just at the argument? If he killed Lucy, is he now trying to pin the blame on Hannah, or are they both involved?’

‘Where does Jake Flood fit in?’

‘Too many questions, McKeown. I’m going out for a decent coffee to recharge my brain.’

‘Garda Brennan was in the Bean Café a few minutes ago. She said Cormac O’Flaherty was there.’

Lottie patted the back pocket of her jeans, feeling for her bank card. ‘I’ll be back in ten, if anyone’s looking for me.’

‘And if the super asks?’

‘I’m sure you’ll think of something, seeing as you’re so friendly with her.’