Page 130 of Her Last Walk Home

‘Did Shannon say she met him there?’

‘I don’t know. I remember having a laugh because she said the estate agent was up her own hole. Then again, Shannon thought that of most people who had a good job while she hadn’t two cents to call her own.’

‘Okay.’ Lottie needed to check with Charlie Lennon to see if she remembered Shannon. ‘Here’s my card. Please mull over this conversation, and if you recall anything else, call me. Day or night.’

Jess’s eyes filled with tears. ‘You think Shannon is dead.’ A statement, not a question.

‘I believe she is alive. I’m going to find her.’

‘Promise?’

‘I don’t make promises, but I will do my level best.’

‘Thank you.’ Jess took the card. She shook Lottie’s hand, hustled into her jacket and left.

Lottie pushed away her cold coffee. The noise level was increasing around her and the smell of wine and beer threatened to make her run to the bar for alcohol. The investigation was so slow, but at least now Shannon was linked to Pine Grove, however tentatively. The Venn diagram was beginning to close in on the vital intersection. She hoped she could shut it tight before anyone else died.

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Boyd knew he should really leave to pick up Sergio from Amy’s, but he wanted to have a quick look into the McGovern family. They didn’t appear on PULSE, so that was a good sign. For the family. Not for him. The PULSE database was a mine of information, but it had nothing on the McGoverns.

He put the couple’s names into Google. A piece with a photo from the local paper popped up. Benny and Brigette, standing outside Gordon Collins’s site office at Pine Grove, holding a solicitor’s letter that they were attempting to deliver to him. In the article, the reporter listed their many complaints, including sinkage, crumbling brickwork and dampness. Bad for Collins, Boyd thought, because Moorland was a relatively new estate. Then he checked where the family had lived before. After more trawling, he found that they’d had a house outside Ragmullin, just as Benny had said. But what spiked his interest was the location.

The house was seven kilometres from Ragmullin, in the townland of Drinock, about two kilometres from where Aneta Kobza’s body had been discovered.

‘What?’ Boyd said aloud.

Could Benny or Brigette be somehow involved in her death? But Rex had inadvertently given them an alibi for Laura’s murder, and it was likely the same person had killed Aneta. The couple had moved house five years ago and were in a legal battle with Gordon Collins. Was he the link? Had Collins something to do with their old property?

He glanced at the clock and jumped up. He had to leave to pick up Sergio. All this would have to wait until tomorrow.

Before finally heading home, Lottie decided to check if Diana Nolan had returned. There was no sign of the nosy neighbour, Ms Molloy, as she got out of the car. The Nolan house was still locked up.

She walked around to the rear. The garden was neat, with a tidy lawn, a small trampoline and a sandpit. She wondered where Diana had taken her grandson. Did she not want to help find her daughter’s killer? Or did she know what had happened? Worse still, was she involved?

The curtains on the back windows were open. She cupped her hands, peering in. All the cupboard doors appeared to be open, and at least one drawer was pulled out. Had Diana done this? Martina had suggested that Diana had been looking for something. What, though? A passport, to flee the country? But they’d checked, and Aaron Nolan did not have a passport and Diana’s had not been used recently. Nothing made sense.

‘What could you be searching for that you’d ransack your own home, Diana?’ Lottie muttered.

She tried the handle. The door was locked. She upended stones and flowerpots around the door, but no luck. Same at thefront door. Maybe the neighbour… Could she put up with the babble to see if she had a spare key?

She rang Ms Molloy’s doorbell and braced herself.

‘How can I help you, Inspector?’

‘I’m wondering if Diana Nolan ever gave you a spare key to hold for her?’

‘God, no. Told you, that woman hardly spoke to me.’

‘Ah, that’s grand. Sorry to have bothered you.’ Lottie made to walk away.

‘Hold on. Laura and her boy got locked out once and had to wait ages for her mother to come home. A few days later, Laura called round. She gave me a spare key to hold on to for emergencies, and asked me not to tell her mother. I don’t think she spoke two words to me before or after that day.’

‘Can I borrow the key, please?’

‘Do you need a warrant to go in there?’

‘Not if I have the key. I’ll bring it back to you. Promise.’ Promise? Jesus, Lottie, get a grip, she chided.

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