Page 14 of Three Widows

‘SOCOs say not.’

‘Why?’

‘If you had answered your phone, you’d have been there and you’d know there was no blood found despite the gunshot wound.’ Lottie bit hard on her tongue. It pained her to be short with Kirby, but he had let them down this morning.

‘Sorry, boss. Phone was on silent.’ He blushed to the roots of his damp unruly hair.

She immediately felt sympathy for him. Kirby was one of her most loyal detectives. Still, she couldn’t help adding, ‘It might be no harm investing in an alarm clock.’

McKeown sniggered.

Lottie glared.

‘The yellow dress may not have been hers. It’s three sizes too big. Find out where it was bought and we might be able to find… Yes, Martina?’

‘I thought I recognised it from the photo as a Zara dress, so I did a search. It was available online, on sale, so I doubt it will help us.’

‘Investigate it further. She had no shoes or handbag, so where are they? The entire site needs to be searched for them. We need to find out who she is and then trace her movements, which may lead us to her killer.’

‘Was she drugged or maybe drunk?’ Garda Lei asked.

Lottie admired the newest recruit to Ragmullin garda station, part of the cycling patrol unit. From Longford, his father was second-generation Chinese. Lei was short and lean and brimming with enthusiasm for the job. She wondered how long it would take for that to be knocked out of him.

‘Toxicology will take time. Jane’s initial estimate is that she was dead no longer than six hours before her body was moved to the site. That means sometime after midnight. The post mortem later today should provide us with a more accurate time of death. This woman was held somewhere. She was beaten before being shot and her body dumped. She couldn’t have been there too long.’

Boyd piped up. ‘The fact that we can’t find anyone fitting her description on the missing persons database suggests she may have been taken only last night. No one has noticed her gone yet.’

Lottie considered that. ‘Or she may have lived alone with no one to miss her. We can put out an appeal based on her physical features, saying we need to locate her.’

Garda Lei raised his hand. ‘Erm, sorry, but will that not give the media ammunition? They’ll run with a story that either she’s the dead woman or she’s the killer we’re looking for in connection to the death. It will need to be a carefully worded press release.’

‘I agree with Garda Lei.’ Superintendent Deborah Farrell marched to the front of the room. ‘I will work with the press office. We can do without a media feeding frenzy. Find out who she is as soon as possible. Anything else to add, Inspector?’

Lottie hadn’t noticed Farrell enter the room and momentarily withered under her stare. She quickly regained her self-control. ‘Just what I said. She was beaten, shot dead and dumped on the waste ground. Two broken arms and a broken leg. Post-mortem will confirm any other injuries. The assault was vicious and sustained. She was restrained. We know she was dressed after being shot, because there is little blood on the dress, and said dress is likely not hers because of its size.’

‘What about the guy who found her?’

‘According to the distribution centre log, Graham Ward’s lorry arrived at six twenty a.m. Detective McKeown will check the security footage to confirm it. We are in the process of securing all other footage from the area.’

Superintendent Farrell fixed her clip-on tie and faced the group. ‘I want a fully committed team on this one. Work as quickly as you can with your SIO.’ She glanced at Lottie, with a look that said it was against her better judgement to make her senior investigating officer. ‘We will make an appeal online this morning and I’ve called a press conference for three this afternoon. Bring me something before then. And I don’t want to see that death photo on the internet.’ She flashed a warning look around the room before leaving.

Lottie groaned inwardly. Did her boss think she was a bloody magician? She said, ‘I want everyone focused on this case. Now get to work.’

As the room emptied, she turned to the board and studied the photo of the dead woman. ‘Who are you? Why were you targeted? Where were you held? Talk to me.’

‘The dead don’t talk,’ Boyd said from behind her.

‘Jane is like a ventriloquist, she can make them speak, but the post-mortem won’t be even started by three. What can I offer Farrell for her press conference?’

‘She can make a plea for people to check on their family and friends. Hopefully someone will come forward with the victim’s name.’

‘There must be someone out there who doesn’t yet know their loved one is dead. A husband, mother, friend.’

‘She didn’t have a ring.’

‘What?’

‘You mentioned a husband, but our victim wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.’