The Doll's House

‘Like I said, there is nothing to say the killings will remain gender specific.’


Having parked the car, O’Connor looked at the front fa?ade of 74 Strand Road. ‘Did that Gerard Hayden guy tell you anything about the house?’

‘He said he believed Clodagh visited with her brother a couple of days ago. She went alone into an attic room above one of the bedrooms.’

‘Right, Kate. I’ve got to go.’ O’Connor rang Matthews for the second time. ‘Where’s that fucking warrant, Matthews?’

‘There’s a bike on its way to you.’

‘Matthews, get Hennessy to find out from McDaid anything he can about this house in Sandymount, specifically access to the attic. Something tells me we’re running out of time, so make sure McDaid is a fast talker. And, Matthews …’

‘Yeah?’

‘I want the Emergency Response Unit on alert. If I get a whiff of anything shaky going down here, ringing front doorbells may not be the best option.’





Clodagh


When the attic door opened, I discovered that seconds could last for hours.

Recognition and relief came first, before the onslaught, the almost crazed look in his eyes, the glint of the knife in his right hand – once seen, impossible to deny.

My gasps came next, when words failed me, him lunging forward and Alister Becon fighting back. My body instinctively retracted. Shock and panic set in. And then my futile attempts at stopping him.

The smack across my jaw was delivered with the strength of someone twice his size, followed by my disbelief, rushing to make sense of it all.

Then the longest silence of all, as Alister Becon slid to the floor, still breathing, face down, blood pooling, spreading out across the floorboards, like the wings of the eagle above me. His blood seeping between cracks, my brother’s eyes locking onto mine, as our past dangled, like skin caught on barbed wire – torn, trapped, the pain immeasurable, before the next blow and the dark.



I’m unsure how long I’ve been out. Not very long, as I can still see daylight beneath the door. I look across the attic, and even before his shape becomes clear to me, I know it’s him. My voice is croaky, my body pulling itself up, then once more leaning against the wall, my legs in front of me, bent at the knees, like they belong to a rag doll. I say his name, deep and resolute, ‘Dominic.’ An affirmation, and so many goddamn questions rolled into one.

‘Hello, Clodagh.’ His voice is calmer than I expect it to be.

He waits for me to sit up straighter. ‘I didn’t want to hurt you, but it was necessary. I couldn’t have you getting in the way.’ He looks pained. ‘I’m sorry about hitting you. I’m not like that bastard husband of yours.’

‘Dominic, have you gone mad?’

‘Mad?’ He smiles. ‘I don’t know, Clodagh.’ I sense his eyes boring into me. His voice, when he next speaks, is low. ‘Maybe I am mad, but what’s done is done.’ He takes a gold wedding ring out of his trouser pocket.

‘Whose ring is that?’

‘Keith Jenkins’s. Do you know what he said before he died?’

‘No.’

‘He said he never loved her.’ Putting the ring back inside his pocket, he says, ‘Don’t worry, Clodagh. I made sure he suffered.’

‘Dominic, where’s Alister? What have you done with him? My desperation and disbelief rage side by side. I roar, ‘Jesus Christ, Dominic, what the hell is going on?’

‘We still have time.’

‘We still have time for what, Dominic?’ I can’t believe the calmness in his voice.

‘Time for the truth, Clodagh. Isn’t that what you wanted all along?’

I stare at him as he continues to talk.

‘I warn you, Clodagh, don’t try to make a run for it. You’re not going anywhere. We’re in this together now.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I suppose Alister told you he went to see Mum before she died.’ His words are filled with anger. ‘He thought he was manipulating me,’ he smirks, ‘but I’ve seen too much for that.’

‘I don’t understand. You’re not talking sense.’

‘He wanted Gahan and Jenkins out of the way. He saw me as his way of achieving it.’

‘WHAT?’ I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

‘He thought by telling me about Dad’s suicide, he could manipulate me, telling me how Jenkins and Gahan put Dad under financial pressure, and about Jenkins and Mum. That he would understand me wanting to take revenge. That if I wanted to, he would help me. He made the mistake of thinking I knew very little, but I knew a lot more than anyone.’