As was customary at this point in the investigation, all key posts had been allocated and although these had been made primarily by O’Connor as the Senior Investigating Officer, others had had their say too. DS Dermot O’Brien had been put in charge of CCTV footage, Tom Byrne was the DS for records on preservation of the crime scene and protection of evidence, DS Brian McCann was heading up the house-to-house enquiries and DS Martin Pringle had been made overseer of witness statements.
When it came to the multiple interactions within the Incident Room, the engine of any investigation was the bookman. In this case, it was James Donoghue who would call the shots. There was never any doubt about who would be appointed. Donoghue was at the height of his career, he knew more about many members of the district than Nolan, and had more experience behind him than half the people in the room. It was his job to see links or inconsistencies within the information collected, and it was up to the detective sergeants, detective inspectors and everyone else to get that information filtered through the tried and tested hierarchical system, a system to which every single one of the fifty-plus people in the room would strictly adhere. The bookman was the one person who saw everything worth seeing, and by noticing an association that might otherwise have been missed, he could change the course of a case in an instant.
O’Connor had already mentioned to Donoghue that he was not happy with DI Gunning remaining as part of the team, but Donoghue, had agreed with Nolan. Gunning may have been a thorn in O’Connor’s side, but Donoghue knew that if you wanted someone to play hardball then Gunning was the man, and it was better to have him in rather than out.
Having got everyone’s attention, Donoghue set about his task like the seasoned master of proceedings that he was.
‘Job 11. O’Brien, what’s the update on CCTV?’
‘We’re still going through everything sent over from Rathmines. We’ve new tapes just in from Gunning, along with fresh local stuff.’
‘From where?’
‘Shops and businesses down at the main junction, security footage from the GAA club and church grounds, and a couple of the bigger houses on the way up the hill have their own CCTV cameras.’
‘Right, I want a complete overview by tonight’s meeting for O’Connor here. McCann, you’re next: house-to-house, who saw or heard anything out of the ordinary?’
‘First-round statements taken, all given over to Pringle, but we still need to catch up with a couple of stragglers, especially Matt Long, owner of the land where the girl was found.’
O’Connor nearly jumped from the top table in frustration. ‘Why? Where is he? What’s the delay?’
‘The man is nearly a hundred. He’s been unwell, bedridden.’
‘But he’s at home?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Send Hyland up there immediately. We need a statement from him, and with Hyland’s medical background it should be a doer. Just make sure he takes it nice and slow.’
Donoghue, who was busy recording the next job number to Hyland, looked to Pringle. ‘What’s the story with the statement from the woman who saw the car at the canal?’
‘Statement says she remembers being annoyed when she had to walk out on the road in order to pass a navy Toyota Carina parked on the footpath. It was parked on one of the smaller roads off the canal, around the time the girl was last seen. She’d noticed it on another occasion, earlier that same week, but hadn’t seen anyone in it. She was positive it was a Carina because she used to drive the same model, but hadn’t taken note of the registration plate.’
‘Anyone else notice it?’ Donoghue looked out over his glasses.
‘No.’
‘What, is she the only person with eyes?’ He turned from Pringle to McCann. ‘Look at the times when she saw it, we need to know who was at home, who else could have seen it. Maybe someone else might remember more.’
‘Before you do, McCann, let me have another look at that house-to-house sheet.’ O’Connor looked over at Donoghue, who noted the request. ‘We’ll need to put something more specific in there about unfamiliar cars parked in the area.’
Chief Superintendent Nolan turned to O’Connor. ‘Right, bring us up to date before we start the visuals.’