Page 67 of Final Betrayal

‘That is the truth. I uncovered a little information during the course of the investigation, but when I was recovering from my stab wound, I confronted my mother and she told me what she believed to be the facts.’ Lottie felt like sliding down the wall and sitting with her hands around her knees like a child. But she remained standing, her head held high.

‘That’s a crock of shit.’

‘It’s the truth. Ask my mother.’

‘If I’m to believe Cynthia Rhodes, your mother died in a lunatic asylum.’

A gasp caught in her throat. He was nothing other than a grade-A shithead. ‘She might not be related by blood, but Rose Fitzpatrick is the only mother I’ve ever known.’

McMahon moved the pen to the other side of the desk again. ‘I’ll park that for the moment. When did you become aware that Kelly had escaped custody?’

Time for fudging the truth. She crossed her fingers. ‘When Cynthia doorstepped me this morning.’

He snorted. ‘You’re in serious trouble over this.’

Lottie copped the hint of a smirk curling his lips. Don’t say the wrong thing, she warned herself. That was what he wanted.

‘So what are you going to do about it?’ she said, lobbing the responsibility back into his court. She wasn’t going to make this easy for him.

‘You’ve compromised a historic murder case. You’ve put this whole district under the spotlight. I can’t have you pissing all over another investigation, especially with your half-sister on the loose.’ He still hadn’t said what he was going to do, but she read between the lines.

‘You can’t take me off the current cases. I’m senior investigating officer. I have suspects, and clues to follow up. Two more murders discovered this morning, and I?—’

‘You need to shut up. I know I can’t take you off the case immediately. I have assigned a detective from Athlone to your team. Sam McKeown. Be nice to him.’ He paused, and Lottie held her breath. She knew what was coming. ‘This is a formal warning. One step, one bloody step out of line, and you’ll be suspended.’ He held up a hand to stop her saying anything else. ‘You’re not off the hook. When you find this Bernie Kelly – and you will find her – I will know the whole truth of the matter.’

‘You think she’ll tell you the truth? You’re delusional, if you don’t mind me saying so.’ She couldn’t stop herself talking. She pushed away from the wall, leaned both hands on his desk and stared down at him. ‘Bernie Kelly was bred on lies. She lives in a world of her own making. She doesn’t know right from wrong. She couldn’t stand trial for the murders of Marian Russell or Tessa Ball or any of the others, on grounds of insanity. And you’re going to believe her over me? Come on! She’s threatened me already. My family and I need protection, not suspension or suspicion.’

‘Are you finished?’ he said.

She was breathless, so she nodded and took a step back as he stood. All the resolutions she’d made since moving into her new home – to be a good mother, to be the best at her job, to stop being dependent on pills and alcohol – suddenly seemed to dissolve into this single moment, and she felt totally lost. All she could see through the haze was one fact. She could not lose her job.

‘Threatened you? How?’

She could tell him about the seeds on her front step, but he wouldn’t get it. She should tell him about the coin, but she didn’t want to. She was in a bind. Before she could open her mouth, he continued talking.

‘You bring me the killer or killers of these young women without alienating Richard Whyte and Cyril Gill, two upstanding gentlemen of this town, and I will have a think about what I’ll do with you. Dismissed.’

Bollocks, she thought as she closed the door.

THIRTY-FOUR

Conor straightened his shoulders as he marched over to Bob Cleary. Tony had got over himself and agreed to give him support.

‘Mr Cleary,’ he said, ‘can I have a word?’

‘I told him about the tunnel,’ Tony added. ‘You know … what we found down there.’

Cleary rounded on him. ‘Can you not take a direct order? Didn’t I tell you to say nothing?’

‘Yes, you did, but Conor is … well, he’s my friend and I had to tell someone. He won’t say anything.’

Watching the exchange, Conor decided he had to say something before Cleary took a swipe at Tony. Only God himself knew what would happen if he did that.

‘Mr Cleary, sir. I’m part of the team here. I need this job. Is it true, what Tony said? About there being an old body in the tunnel?’ He didn’t want to let them know he’d already been down there.

Cleary sighed, tipped back his hard hat and ran a muddy gloved hand through his straw-like hair. ‘I don’t know how old it is. But it’s been there a while, by the state of it. There’ll be guards and archaeologists and every Tom, Dick and Harry down there before long. So I have to tell Mr Gill about it now.’

‘Why?’ Conor shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned his head to one side. Trying to look intelligent.

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