Page 129 of The Guilty Girl

Lottie suddenly had a spike of anxiety about her sick mother. She should have checked in with Chloe, but hadn’t she told Sean to keep her up to date? He hadn’t phoned yet. That was a good sign. Wasn’t it? She paused, wondering if this was how the McAllisters had operated with Lucy. A phone call, rather than being present when needed?

With no time to berate herself over her empathy or lack thereof, she parked her guilt, pledging to be home early to tend to Rose.

‘Listen up,’ she said. ‘I want everyone to hit the ground running, so let’s make this meeting quick but productive.’

When the murmur of chatter died away, she began.

‘Last night, the body of fifteen-year-old Jake Flood was removed from the canal at Piper’s Lane. The car he’d stolen from his mother was found burned out this morning. Based on the preliminary post-mortem report, Jake’s death is officially upgraded to murder. Slivers of glass were embedded in his back and are being analysed against the shattered glass found at Lucy’s house. We believe the boy fell or was pushed through the patio door. Blood analysis should prove that to be the case. He was also beaten with a chain, then tied up and thrown into the canal. No water found in his lungs. He was dead before he was dumped in the water. The pathologist estimates he died about eight hours before his body was found. Further analysis of the blood in the McAllisters’ living room proves Jake’s was also present. We have two murder investigations linked to Lucy’s party on Friday night.’

She paused as the group muttered, and waited until the hum slid to a stop.

‘To recap on the first murder, seventeen-year-old Lucy McAllister sustained a knife attack, suffering seven stab wounds to her torso. The fatal wound was to her throat. Blood analysis proves that the initial assault occurred in the living room, before she managed to drag herself up the back stairs to the room where she eventually died.’

She pointed to the post-mortem photos. ‘You don’t need me to tell you that it was a particularly brutal assault. The state pathologist estimates that Lucy was killed between three and four on the morning her body was discovered.’

‘That time frame suggests …’ McKeown began. Lottie threw him a dagger stare. He seemed to receive the message.

‘The pathologist is also of the opinion that the weapon was a steak knife. One is missing from the McAllister house, and this morning divers discovered a knife in the area of the canal where Jake’s body was found. It will be examined and—’

‘The little fecker killed Lucy,’ McKeown said, keeping his shaved head down, tapping his iPad. Lottie knew he was mad at having to withhold information about Sean that proved Lucy was dead before four a.m.

‘That fecker, as you call him, has a name, a mother, a little sister, and a father who died within the last year,’ Lottie said firmly. ‘Show some respect.’

He waved a hand in mock remorse, but he wasn’t surrendering just yet. ‘If it’s the knife from Lucy’s house, that means it wasn’t premeditated murder. Something happened to provoke the killer. I think Jake Flood killed Lucy and then …’ Glancing up, he must have seen the rage flitting across Lottie’s face.

‘He didn’t kill himself, Detective McKeown, if that’s what you were going to say.’

‘We have to keep all options on the table.’ He eyeballed her.

What was his problem? She’d already told the meeting that the results she’d received were preliminary. He was being purposely obtuse.

‘Back to Lucy,’ she said. ‘There are signs she was sexually active prior to her death. The final report indicates that a condom was used, but a trace of semen was discovered on her inner thigh. We don’t yet know whose semen it is, but it is possible that whoever she had sex with is the same person who killed her. The semen DNA will be analysed against the database and against samples taken from every male suspect we bring in. Cormac O’Flaherty, Richie Harrison and Noel Glennon are currently top of that list. Comparative analysis is being run as we speak. Clothing taken from O’Flaherty’s house has traces of Lucy McAllister and Hannah Byrne’s DNA. Nothing was found in the search of Hannah’s home, but she had blood on her hands, confirmed as a match to Lucy. I have a witness who can place Hannah’s rucksack in the living room shortly after four a.m. That bag was on Hannah’s bed yesterday morning when I arrived with Detective Kirby to interview her.’

‘Slam dunk.’ McKeown slapped the table.

‘We need to confirm how and when Hannah got her rucksack from the McAllister property. That’s a job for you, Detective McKeown.’ She needed to pile him up with work to keep him out of her hair. ‘I can accept that Hannah and Cormac or one or the other killed Lucy because of the photo of Hannah that she shared, but why remove a section of skin from the victim’s upper right side?’

She pointed to the post-mortem photo of the wound on the board. Beside it was the photo from Lucy’s social media.

‘You can see that where the skin was removed, Lucy had a tattoo. A heart shape. I’m getting the photo forensically examined to see if we can find out what was written inside the heart. Initials, maybe?’

‘I followed up with Ivy Jones, Lucy’s friend,’ Lynch said. ‘She said she didn’t know anything about a tattoo, but she must have done.’

‘I want her formally interviewed under caution,’ Lottie said. ‘Did you locate Terry Starr? We need his DNA too.’

‘Not yet.’

Kirby said, ‘I spoke with Bradley Curran in Australia. He’s Lucy’s ex. He has no recollection of Lucy having a tattoo. They split up a year ago, so she must have got it inked sometime after they split.’

‘Did he have anything to add about Lucy?’

‘He said she was, and I quote, “hard work”. He remembered that she constantly fought with her mother and was a daddy’s girl.’

‘Okay. We need to know more about Lucy and who she’d been secretly emailing.’

‘Gary is working hard on it.’ Lynch searched her notes. ‘He says it’s a fake email account buried under a Tor browser. It could be GuerrillaMail or ProtonMail. Apparently it makes the user anonymous. Gary is confident he can crack it.’

‘Hope so. Ivy must know more than she’s telling us.’