Page 88 of The Guilty Girl

‘I only saw the car and the kid on the bike …’

‘You heard voices and footsteps and some sort of scream or cry. It’s crucial we keep this out of circulation. It might give us an advantage in catching the killer.’

‘You need to be careful too, Mam.’

‘My middle name is careful.’ She laughed.

‘Yeah, and everyone believes that. Not.’

‘Hey, I’m starving. Let’s see what the girls have ready to poison us with.’

They stood to leave. Lottie felt a warm glow, and not from the struggling fire. Sean had put his arm through hers and leaned his head on her shoulder for a moment. It meant more to her than anything. She had to do everything in her power to protect her loved ones. No way was she going to allow anyone to target her family. It had happened before, but never again, she vowed.

She’d just sat at the table when Kirby rang.

‘Boss, we found another body.’

41

The boy’s body had been removed from the water and placed on plastic sheeting by the time Lottie arrived on the scene.

Kirby shook his head and wiped raindrops from his hair before pulling forward the hood of his forensic suit. The promised shower had turned into a deluge. Typical.

‘The poor lad’s body is a bit of a mess,’ he said. ‘Badly beaten. Welts all over. Gráinne says he was stabbed too. We’re waiting for the state pathologist to arrive. Hopefully she can confirm time and cause of death.’

Lottie nodded. ‘This rain will hamper the preservation of evidence.’

‘Doesn’t really matter. He’s been in the canal a good few hours, according to the experts.’ He pointed to the ghost-like figures of the SOCOs.

Sidestepping Kirby’s bulk, she made her way up the final few feet of the incline.

‘He’s just a kid,’ Gráinne said. Her eyes looked strained above her mask, their colour dulled to grey with exhaustion.

Hunkering down, Lottie shook her head as she looked at the boy. ‘He’s only fifteen. Damn.’

‘Your missing boy?’

‘Yeah, Jake Flood. He was dishing out drugs and drink at Lucy’s party last night and now he’s dead.’

‘He got a right going-over. I did a visual check. The marks on his body are unusual. They might have been made with a bicycle chain. Even though he was in the water, I noticed a black oily substance embedded in the wounds.’

Lottie glanced out over the canal, its surface dancing with pinpricks of piercing rain. ‘Could he have fallen in after being beaten, and then he drowned?’

‘The post-mortem will confirm if there’s any water in his lungs, but he was helped on his way. Look, his hands were tied at some point.’ Gráinne pointed to the frayed rope around one wrist. ‘It’s just twine. Rats might have gnawed it.’

‘That quickly?’

‘Perhaps it was already weakened or rotting.’

‘Do you think it’s possible he was still alive when he was thrown into the water and he tore at the rope trying to free himself?’ Lottie shivered at the thought of the drowning boy feverishly attempting to escape.

‘Stop, Inspector. You’ll only eat yourself up with anxiety. Wait until everything is forensically examined.’

‘You’re correct, of course. The canal bed will need to be searched. I’ll call the Water Unit over from Athlone. Hopefully they can get here first thing, and I’ll have a team ready to search along the bank. The entire area will have to be cordoned off.’

‘Do you think this is related to Lucy McAllister’s murder?’

‘If it’s not, it’s a very strange coincidence,’ Lottie said. ‘Coincidences can happen from time to time, but this stinks of something else entirely. Is there any sign that he might have fallen through the patio doors at the McAllister house?’