Page 154 of The Guilty Girl

‘I could never prove it was her. When she accidentally shared that photo with me at the party, it was obvious she was behind the others. But you have to believe me, I didn’t kill her, no matter what evidence you have.’

‘I honestly don’t think you did, Hannah,’ Lottie admitted softly. ‘But I need your help to understand who had a motive. You mentioned that some photos were taken in the athletics shower room. Why would Lucy have been there?’

‘She was always hanging around with Ivy, and Ivy had a crush on Mr Glennon, my athletics coach.’

Ivy! Lottie thought. Was she the key to unlocking this mystery? She quickly considered what she had so far.

Ivy’s brother Oscar had been at the same location as Sharon Flood when the girl was found stabbed. Jake Flood had been reportedly pushing drugs with Oscar’s gang. Terry Starr and Lucy’s father funded the club that Jake had belonged to. His coach, Barney Reynolds, had turned up at the barracks. Had he been there earlier, when Sharon was stabbed? Could he have killed the little girl? Barney’s daughter, Brontë, was married to Richie Harrison, the DJ at Lucy’s party.

What was she missing? What was the motive for the murders? Who were the puppets, and who was the puppet master pulling the strings?

‘Inspector?’ Ballesty prompted. ‘What else do you need from my client before you release her?’

Lottie shook herself out of her musings. ‘Hannah, I believe you were drugged for a reason. I need your help to understand why, and who was behind it.’

‘But I can’t remember anything.’

‘Was Lucy in a relationship?’

‘Maybe. I know she was away last weekend.’

‘How do you know that?’ Lottie sat up straight. At last she had someone who could shed light on Lucy’s mystery weekend.

‘She was late for Monday morning’s exam. I heard her tell the supervisor that she’d missed the early-morning train from Dublin. I assumed she was away for the weekend.’

‘Do you know Terry Starr?’

‘The boxer?’

‘Yes.’

‘Heard of him.’

‘Did Lucy ever talk about him?’

‘I wasn’t in her inner circle. Ask Ivy.’

‘I will. Lucy had a tattoo. Did you ever see it?’

‘No.’

Lottie scratched the back of her head, thinking. ‘Ouch!’

‘Are you okay?’ Kirby said, lifting his head from his note-taking. Or had he been asleep?

‘Sorry, scratched it. Now it’s bleeding.’ She stood, eased around the table and went to the door. ‘Give me a minute.’

‘Don’t take too long,’ Ballesty said. ‘If you’re not charging my client, I’m taking her out of here.’

Without answering, Lottie left to the sound of Kirby announcing her departure for the recording.

72

After patching up the cut on her head with a handful of plasters, Lottie discussed Cormac and Hannah’s interviews with Kirby, and decided to let them go until they had evidence that couldn’t be discredited by a savvy defence solicitor. The more she thought about it, the more she felt they were innocent of murder. Had they been set up?

She nabbed Lynch. ‘Where is Oscar Jones?’

‘We let him go. We don’t have any evidence yet to confirm he stabbed Sharon Flood. Unless his DNA is on her body or we find the murder weapon. SOCOs are at the scene.’