Page 145 of Her Last Walk Home

‘With all due respect,’ Lottie said, ‘Gordon Collins seems to be slap-bang in the centre of everything so far. He told me he was in rehab thirty years ago. He fathered a child, Aneta, who was put up for adoption when she was born. He was sending her money but then she arrives here and shortly afterwards disappears. It’s possible she was being held in that house.’

‘You think he killed his own daughter?’ Farrell was incredulous. Lottie didn’t blame her. Still…

‘If she was getting close to something he didn’t want revealed…’

‘But why kill the others?’ Farrell asked.

‘We’ve established that they all had some sort of connection to Pine Grove and they were all in Cuan at the same time last year.’

‘So were a lot of other people.’ Farrell wasn’t giving up.

‘Can I add something else into the melting pot?’ McKeown asked.

‘You might as well.’ Lottie slumped onto the nearest chair. She felt her phone vibrate in her bag by her feet. She prised the bag open with her foot and glanced at the screen. Katie. Not now, she whispered.

McKeown said, ‘I revisited the Right One database to verify the clients’ alibis in person. One of the men who provided an alibi early on was not resident at the address given. Never lived there.’

‘I thought Greg Plunkett background-checked his clients,’ Lottie said.

‘He said he did,’ Boyd said.

‘Obviously he didn’t do a good job,’ McKeown said.

‘I agree it’s suspicious that the man gave incorrect information.’ Lottie stood, ignoring her phone, which had begun to vibrate again. ‘Maybe he has a wife and kids. However, we need to find him.’

‘That’s a waste of time when we have a host of other leads to follow,’ Kirby countered. ‘What’s so special about this guy?’

McKeown’s head reddened as he looked down at his tablet and back up again. ‘He was on a date with an escort on Valentine’s night last year. And… shit. I’m only realising something now?—’

‘But—’ Kirby began.

‘Aneta wasn’t registered with them.’ Lottie looked to McKeown to see where he was going with it. ‘Or was she?’

‘She could have faked an identity.’

‘Seems Plunkett wasn’t as diligent as he claimed.’ Lottie got up and paced in front of the boards, aware of Farrell scrutinising her. ‘What’s the name of the girl he met?’

McKeown’s face was puce now. ‘Magenta McCabe.’

‘Holy shit.’ She pointed to the board. ‘The name on the birth cert I found in Diana Nolan’s house.’

‘Staring me in the face.’ McKeown shook his head. ‘Sorry, I fucked up.’

‘Good God,’ Farrell said.

‘We need to—’ Lottie was interrupted by a harried Garda Thornton rushing in.

‘There’s another fire. Out at Doon Lake.’

‘Let the fire service deal with it.’ Farrell stomped towards him, arms flapping. ‘Nothing to do with us.’

‘I think it might have.’

‘Go on, then.’

‘One of the holiday cottages is on fire. The owner says he rented it to a woman and a little boy yesterday morning.’

‘Christ,’ Lottie gasped. ‘Diana and her grandson?’

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