Page 33 of The Guilty Girl

‘All I know is that he boxes, but I’ve seen him with a gang of teens on bikes. BMXs, shit like that. They sell pills to the estate kids and outside the schools.’

Lottie was aware of these teenagers. They were a recent addition to Ragmullin’s crime scene and renowned for terrorising kids at school gates. The garda cycling patrol unit was desperately trying to catch some of them in the act, so far without success.

‘Would Lucy have had any dealings with these drug-dealing teenagers?’

He shrugged. ‘She must have had. Why else was Jake at her party pushing drugs?’

‘Okay. Talk to me about Hannah Byrne. Why was she upset before she took the pill?’

‘I suppose you’ll keep on about it if I don’t tell you.’

‘You’re right there,’ Kirby said, and Lottie nodded.

‘Can I get my phone? I can show you.’

‘Sure.’ Lottie leaned back as he left the room, trying to get a look at what he was doing. ‘What do you make of him?’

Kirby tapped his pen against his notebook filled with illegible script. Illegible to Lottie, anyhow.

‘He’s jumpy as hell,’ he said. ‘He’s hiding something.’

‘For sure. Look at the state of this place. Why would he have the washing machine on?’ She pointed to the half-open door behind her and went to investigate. ‘What teenager washes his clothes straight after a night out?’

‘You’re asking me? I never washed as much as a sock when I was a teenager. Even now I’m hard pressed to pick shirts up off the floor a week after I’ve worn them.’

Lottie sat back down and grimaced. ‘Sean is the same. I’m blue in the face picking up after him. The girls aren’t much better. Maybe Cormac is in this with Hannah.’

Cormac returned to the room with his phone and a charger. He plugged it into a socket and waited for the phone to chirp into life. After a few minutes of silence, he began scrolling and tapping.

‘Look at this.’

Taking the phone from him, cable still attached, Lottie stared at the photograph on the screen. The girl in the picture was naked from the waist up. She was holding her blonde hair high above her head with one hand, her other hand around her waist propping up her almost non-existent breasts as she stared into a mirror, seemingly admiring her physique.

‘Who is it?’ she asked, though she knew the answer.

‘Hannah,’ Cormac said softly.

‘How do you have this photo of her on your phone?’ Lottie felt a slow rage burn up through her chest.

‘Lucy shared it on Snapchat and WhatsApped it to absolutely everyone, including Hannah. Hannah was so upset. I asked her to send it to me because I wanted to find out what was going on.’

‘Did she send it to Hannah intentionally?’

‘Erm … you’d have to ask her that.’

Impossible, Lottie thought as she tried to quell the fire in her belly. ‘When was it shared?’

Cormac glanced at the time on the message. ‘Twelve thirty-four last night … this morning. Whatever.’

‘What did Hannah do about it? How did she react?’

He pressed a finger to his brow, thinking. ‘Phones started vibrating with the message. She was just standing there with everyone staring at her. She stormed around giving out yards about Lucy. That’s when she took the pill.’

Lottie tutted. ‘And after that?’

‘We danced.’

‘And?’