‘Yes. The girl was still warm. I thought about taking her out of the caravan, looking after her the way I’d looked after Silvia.’
‘What happened?’
‘I fixed her hair, made sure she was wearing the crucifix. Then I heard that woman’s footsteps, the girl’s mother, another little whore.’
‘Ellie Brady?’
‘It was easy to hear her, even from a distance. I heard the crunch of the gravel under her feet. So I did what I could for the girl – joined her hands, prepared her.’
‘And what about your mother, William? After the fire, you protected her? You let Ellie Brady take the blame?’
‘She hadn’t cared for her daughter either. Barely knew she existed.’
‘But your mother—’ Kate stopped herself.
‘What?’
‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘Of course it matters, Kate. I owe you an explanation. I can see that now.’ Kate felt the anger rise in his voice as he continued. ‘Mother used to say blood is thicker than water, but it wasn’t that.’
‘No?’ Kate wanted to cry, to be anywhere with Charlie other than where they were now.
He laughed loudly. ‘I foolishly thought it was madness, you see, brought on by belated guilt. But I was wrong. The only person my mother ever cared about was herself. When she finally told me the truth, I saw that crystal clear.’
‘I see.’
‘I knew you would, Kate, because you’re a very understanding person. Slow down here. We’re taking the next right turn.’
Kate slowed down. On taking the turn, she caught a glimpse of the squad cars down the long drive out of the corner of her eye – at exactly the same time as her abductor. He instructed her to keep on going. She thought about stopping the car, screaming out the window for help, but just as she thought this, he pushed the knife closer to Charlie’s face.
‘Do you like going to the beach, Charlie?’
Charlie had a blank look, as if his mind had reached overload with fear. Kate felt like crying as she looked at her son, his little face white, his eyes blankly staring, all the fight and life gone out of him. His head didn’t move this time, he had no response to their abductor’s question.
When William directed her towards the beach road, Kate did exactly as she was told.
St Michael’s Psychiatric Hospital
Monday, 10 October 2011, 4.55 p.m.
DONOGHUE TRACED KATE’S MOBILE PHONE TO HER apartment at Mervin Road. It was not the news O’Connor wanted to hear. As he pulled into the grounds of St Michael’s for the second time that day, he knew Dr Ebbs would be reluctant to release Ellie Brady into his care, even if she was accompanied by a nurse – but none of that mattered. As far as O’Connor was concerned, two lives were in immediate danger and everything else would have to come second to that.
When he arrived, he was relieved to see Ellie standing with Dr Ebbs and a young nurse at the front entrance. The nurse introduced herself as Sinead. O’Connor opened the back door of the car for the two of them, ushering them in as fast as he could. All the while, Dr Ebbs was in his ear, talking constantly about what to do and not to do, but he was only half-listening. His mind was on Kate. All going well, he could reach Cronly Lodge in a little over half an hour with the sirens on.
He was speeding down the N11 when he got the call from Carey.
‘Carey, fill me in.’
‘No sign of Cronly, Kate or her son down here. I’ve cordoned off the surrounding area. It’s a detached house, set on about an acre. I think we have our primary crime scene. Tech team have picked up residue markings of elongated blood splatters on the wall near the fireplace in the main living area, then smaller blood-splatter traces farther out. They’ve bagged and tagged a number of items already, including a metal fireside poker. We have traces of blood pooling in the living room, and also in the garage out the back. Area one, the living room, most likely place of initial attack. Area two, the garage, was probably where body or bodies were brought before or after death.’
‘How old are the blood markings?’
‘They’re not from today, if that’s what you’re asking. Preliminary feedback from techies is that it looks like an attempt was made to clean the scene, but they’re picking up enough trace evidence to keep them busy for some time.’
‘Okay. Anything else?’
‘We bagged a lot from upstairs too, especially in what looks like a kid’s bedroom. We found an attaché case with a number of items, including a silver crucifix and a spool of red ribbon. Plus three small plastic zip bags, each with a lock of hair.’
‘Well you have plenty of support down there, so I want eyes and ears everywhere.’
‘I’m about to set up checkpoints in and out of the town.’
‘No, don’t. No uniforms. Keep it plain-clothed and low key. If Cronly is heading in that direction, I don’t want to spook him. We’ll need some DIs down at the beach too. That’s where I’m heading. I should be there shortly. ’