Page 79 of The Altar Girls

‘Let’s assume the killer didn’t know the girls and they just stumbled on him doing something he shouldn’t be doing, or he’s a predator and invited them in wherever he was at that time. Willow was drowned, so he has to have access to water.’

‘The undertaker washes bodies, doesn’t he?’ Boyd said.

‘Everyone washes, so we have to wait for the lab to tell us, if they can, what type of water Willow drowned in,’ Lottie said.

‘And there is nothing to say our killer isn’t a woman,’ McKeown pointed out.

‘I can’t see a woman killing two children,’ Kirby shot back.

‘Ruth Kiernan had already physically abused her daughter,’ Boyd said. ‘Killing her is only a step up from that.’

Lottie’s eye was drawn to the missing person appeal pinned to the board. ‘We issued a public appeal for Willow at two thirty p.m. on Monday. Did the killer see it and panic?’

‘Didn’t the pathologist say both girls died not long after they were last seen?’ Boyd asked.

‘Yes, but maybe he decided to dump one body to take the heat off the missing person appeal. Maybe he didn’t know which girl was Willow, and he dumped Naomi’s body by mistake. Then later, he left Willow at St Patrick’s. Was this to lead us to question the priests, or was it just opportune? How did he know he could do it unseen?’

‘Everywhere was pretty empty that night because of the weather,’ Boyd said.

‘I know that, but this person was not acting rationally.’

‘The locations still point to it being one of the priests,’ Kirby said, not letting go of that particular bone. ‘They could move around both places without drawing attention to themselves.’

‘Now you think it’s more than one of them involved?’ McKeown sneered.

‘Lads,’ Lottie interjected. ‘Because of the weather that day, we have no clear picture of anyone’s movements, including the priests’. The community centre was opened at nine by one of the volunteers, and they claim Father Maguire and Father Pearse were there from maybe twelve until about two thirty, when they packed up. They arrived back to their house at different times that evening because of hospital and nursing home visits. There is no full-time housekeeper and no one to say how long either of them stayed in during the afternoon and evening.’

‘If we can’t track movements, we need to find physical evidence,’ Boyd said.

‘We have the hymn music with Maguire’s DNA,’ Kirby said, tapping his shirt pocket for his elusive cigar.

‘The hymn sheets could have been planted to draw us towards him,’ Boyd said.

‘I’m inclined to agree,’ Lottie said, ‘but we can’t rule him out.’

‘The way they were laid out and dressed in robes… that stinks of planning.’ Boyd scratched his chin and Lottie could see he badly needed a shave. His eyes were deep hollows, and she knew he was thinking of Sergio.

She sighed. ‘Planning or opportunity? Whatever the scenario is, we need hard evidence. And we have to find where the girls disappeared to on Monday morning. That could tell us where their bodies were held until they were moved. Their school bags and clothes are still missing.’

‘They’ll be destroyed by now,’ McKeown said.

‘But where and by whom?’ Boyd said.

‘What about zeroing in on Naomi’s mother?’ Lynch said. ‘She seems to have an angry side, from what happened this morning, and there’s evidence of physical abuse against her children. She didn’t report her daughter missing.’

‘Ruth is a suspect. I’ve to interview her formally whenever a solicitor arrives. But if she is the killer, she may have had help. She’s slight, and I can’t imagine her carrying a dead-weight child.’

Boyd stood and stretched. ‘Killers come in all shapes and sizes.’

Lottie sat heavily onto a chair and tugged at her unruly hair. ‘We need to talk to that social worker, Julian Bradley. He was here in Ragmullin yesterday speaking to the reporter, Sinead Healy. Kirby, what did you find out about him?’

‘Not much really. He has no record and hasn’t come to the attention of the Sligo division except in relation to the case his employer brought against Isaac Kiernan.’

‘Find out where he is now. I should talk to him.’

First, though, she had to interview Naomi’s mother.

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