Page 169 of The Guilty Girl

‘But like you asked a minute ago, where does Cormac O’Flaherty fit in?’ McKeown powered off his iPad.

Lottie bit on her bottom lip. ‘Suspect, witness or victim? All three?’

‘A guy in the wrong place at the wrong time?’ Kirby said.

Lottie glanced down at Lucy’s full post-mortem report that McKeown had printed out. ‘The pathologist confirms Lucy had defensive wounds. She got DNA from them. Not a match for Cormac or Jake, or anyone else we have interviewed so far.’

‘Damn.’ Kirby tapped his cigar shirt pocket idly. ‘I still don’t see how Jake Flood fits into this scenario.’

‘Was he killed for stealing drugs?’ Lottie said. ‘Or did he discover the photo of Sharon with Terry and was working with Lucy to blow the lid off? He might even have witnessed Lucy’s murder. Oh, I don’t know.’

‘The drugs he stole, that you found hidden in his house, might have been his attempt to draw people out,’ Kirby suggested.

‘This is all speculation. We need to ask who had the most to lose if the child pornography angle was exposed,’ McKeown said.

‘Depends on what was most important to them,’ Lottie said. ‘Reputation, career, money, or even a marriage.’

Silence ensued before she sent them home.

‘Like Kirby said earlier, things are always clearer in the morning. Fingers crossed.’

* * *

My wings are clipped. My world flutters around me. I want to flee, but first I have to regroup and discover who knows what.

I concealed my identity and only revealed myself to a select few. But Lucy turned into a devious snitch and Jake was a thief. Bye bye, Lucy and Jake. Sharon was too cute for her own good, but I didn’t mean to kill her. The knife slipped as I nicked at her clothing. If I’m caught, which I won’t be, that will be my defence. Why couldn’t she have been as compliant as the others when I first welcomed them to my nest? Their shining innocence took a while to wear off, but they remained faithful. Until it came to Sharon. She pushed Lucy over the edge. I know that now. I shouldn’t have been so cocky, flapping my wings at what I knew would be a new treasure to add to my trove.

I’ve lost it all. But I can start again. A new nest. Ready to be lined with bright new things.

A magpie never gives up.

I will never give up.

I am ready to begin again.

76

Lottie had no recollection of driving home. Katie forced her to eat reheated food. Sated, she fell into bed without changing the sheets Rose had slept in the night before. In the midst of a nightmare, the incessant ringing of her phone dragged her awake.

‘Mrs Parker, I really need you to come to the hospital now. It’s your mother.’

‘Oh God.’ Lottie shot up in the bed. She swung her legs over the edge, trying to shake her brain into reality ‘Is she … She’s not … you know, is she …?’

‘Your mother is asking for you,’ the tired voice continued. ‘She has all the other patients in the ward awake. She’s distressed and refuses to calm down until she speaks with you. Could you get here as soon as possible?’

‘I’ll be there in twenty minutes.’

Rose was sitting up in bed attempting to remove a cannula from her arm. A bedraggled nurse was struggling to stop her.

‘You took your time,’ Rose said as Lottie rushed to her bedside.

‘Stop doing that, Mother. You’ll bleed to death.’

Immediately Rose gave up her battle.

The nurse shot Lottie a weary smile. ‘I’ll leave you to sort things out.’

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Lottie said, ‘You wanted to talk to me.’