Page 55 of Final Betrayal

Katie looked up from beneath long lashes and smiled. ‘Unless it’s the immaculate conception, I don’t think so.’

Lottie let out a shadow of a sigh. ‘What has you worried then?’

‘It’s nothing. Honestly. Just my mind playing silly games.’ Katie looked away.

Lottie gently turned her daughter’s head and looked into her eyes. ‘It’s something, otherwise you’d still be asleep and not up raiding cornflakes at this hour.’

‘You’ll think I’m crazy.’

‘No, sweetheart, I’m the crazy one in this family.’

‘It’s just this feeling I have. A weird sensation that someone is watching me. Following me.’

Lottie dropped her hand and shifted uneasily on the chair. ‘When? Where?’

‘Don’t rush into detective mode, Mam.’

‘Tell me.’ Lottie spied Louis’ wool jacket on the back of the chair. She picked it up and began to fold it. She needed to be doing something.

‘In town, the other day,’ Katie said. ‘I thought someone was watching as I tried on clothes in Jinx. And then last night, I had this awful feeling that someone was looking in the window. Which is ridiculous seeing as my room is upstairs. It’s probably all my imagination. Hormones or something.’

Or something, Lottie thought. She was going to find Bernie Kelly and string her up from the tallest tree she could find in Ragmullin. This was too much.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ she said, lacing her voice with as much nonchalance as she could muster. She didn’t want to frighten her daughter, but at the same time she needed her to be wary. ‘It could be hormones, or just the time of year. Halloween coming up and all that. But be careful all the same. Keep a close eye on Louis. And Chloe and Sean.’

She ran her fingers over the soft knitted ribs of the little tan jacket. Maybe she should tell Katie. Warn her. But what good would that do? Terrifying her children wasn’t going to keep Bernie away. After all, she was sure she was after her, not her children. But just in case, she would organise a taxi to ferry Chloe and Sean to and from school every day.

‘Perhaps you should stay in today. Louis has a touch of a cold and it might be best to keep him in an even temperature.’ She placed the jacket on the table.

‘There’s something you’re not telling me, Mam.’

‘Just be watchful. That’s all. I’m investigating two brutal murders of young women not much older than you, so you never know.’ She had already spoken to her daughters about the murders, but they had no recollection of seeing anything untoward on Saturday night at the club.

‘Thanks for the reassurance,’ Katie said.

‘Is that a cynical reply?’

‘No, Mam. Only you do the cynical stuff, along with the crazy stuff.’ Katie stood, and Lottie felt the warmth of her daughter’s arms circle her shoulders in a hug. She smelled Louis on her, and it was calming.

‘Now, get a bowl, spoon and milk. I’ve to go to work.’

Lottie picked up Louis’ jacket to hand it to Katie. As she did so, she heard the tinkle of something hitting the floor. She looked down at the dizzying white tiles. What was it? A small disc, glinting in the half-light shining through the window. Her breath caught in her throat. She recognised the coin. An exact replica of the ones found at the murder scene and in Amy Whyte’s room.

‘What is it, Mam?’

Lottie dropped to her knees to inspect the coin. ‘Katie … where were you yesterday? Who were you with?’

‘You’re scaring me now. What’s that? Did it fall out of Louis’ pocket?’

‘I think so. How did he get it?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Where did you go with him while he was wearing this jacket?’

Katie shrugged. ‘Town. To Granny’s house for a few minutes and the chemist for lemon syrup for Louis. I stopped at Fallon’s for a bowl of soup. Then I came home. That’s all.’

‘And you had Louis in your sight at all times?’

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