Page 10 of Her Last Walk Home

Grainne widened her eyes, two emeralds flashing disdain. ‘You and I both know that it’s up to the pathologist to give us an indication of that, and even then it’s not in any way definitive.’

‘I know, but I need a ballpark idea.’

‘Her clothes are wet. Maybe from the dew, but we had a lot of rain last night. Gosh, it’s so terribly sad.’

‘It is. Thanks, Grainne.’

‘Oh, one last thing. The ground around her seems to have been disturbed. Footprints. They’re quite small. I checked the guy who found her. His feet are bigger, but we’ll examine his shoes. And there’s flattened grass over there.’ She pointed. ‘I had it covered to protect it for evidence.’

‘Evidence of what?’

‘Don’t know yet, but maybe the killer sat and watched her die.’

Outside the tent, Lottie whipped off her mask and inhaled the fresh morning air. She had deposited the protective gear in a paper bag by the time Detective Larry Kirby joined her at the inner cordon.

‘Where’s the lad who discovered the body?’ she asked.

Kirby puffed out his cheeks and ran a hand over his bushy hair in an attempt to control the mass of curls. ‘I sent him over to the café. Don’t bite my head off yet. Garda Lei is with him. He said he knew the boy.’

‘Walk with me and fill me in.’

‘His name is Shane Santos. He’s nineteen, said his family live in Enfield but he shares a flat beside St Declan’s.’

‘Go on.’

‘He arrived early to open up the coffee shop. Seven thirty. The other shops open at nine, though the cinema doesn’t open until later. He makes coffee on the go for retail staff, who usually appear by eight thirty. So he said.’

‘How did he get in here? Wasn’t the barrier down and locked before our lads had it opened?’

‘He jumped the wall.’

‘Was it normal for the barrier to be down?’

Kirby shrugged. ‘All I know is what he told me. SOCOs took his shoes for testing and said they’ll make moulds of the footprints around the body for analysis. He has spare runners stored at the shop.’

‘Let’s go and see if this Shane can help us.’ She sincerely hoped so.

10

She was greeted by the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. The café was a nice open space with black PVC tables surrounded by white chairs. A long stainless-steel counter stood to one side, and at the end wall a nook was lined with high stools. The shop was unoccupied except for Garda Lei and a teenager. They had takeout cups of coffee on the table, but neither was drinking.

She held out her hand. ‘Detective Inspector Lottie Parker. You must be Shane.’ Pulling out a chair, she sat. The nineteen-year-old’s jet-black hair was cut short and his brown eyes were filled with the horror of what he’d stumbled upon.

‘I couldn’t believe it,’ he said. ‘She… she was just lying there like that. Like she fell or was asleep or something. I thought I’d have a heart attack. I’d have chucked up my breakfast, so it’s lucky I didn’t eat this morning.’

His hands shook violently as he spoke. When he’d finished, he pushed them down on his lap under the table, out of sight, and nestled his chin in the cowl neck of his black sweatshirt as if that might disguise his trembling.

‘I’m so sorry you had to witness what you did, Shane. You are a very important witness and may be able to provide us withinformation that might help us find out what happened to the young woman. Do you think you can answer a few questions?’

‘Yeah, sure. Whatever. It’s shocking.’

‘Did you see anyone else around this morning before you found the body?’

‘No one. I swear. It was so awful.’

‘Do you know who the dead woman is?’

‘Me? Know her? No way. I’ve never seen her before in my life. Swear to God.’ He paused, and ran his hand under his nose. ‘But I didn’t look too closely. Her eyes were open. She was dead. Oh my God… I’ll never sleep again.’ He lowered his head, sniffing continuously. Lottie looked from Lei to Kirby for a tissue and received shrugged shoulders in return.

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