The Doll's House

He was accompanied by two sharp-shooters, Morgan and Quinn. Their first job was to get inside and report back. It was an old house and, according to McDaid, had an out-of-operation food shaft, with access from the kitchen. McDaid had said they used to mess about in it as kids.

There was no guarantee that it was still in place, but it was a chance, and probably the only way of getting the two marksmen to the top of the building without being seen. Maloney decided that they would gain access to the premises from the rear. There was a back window which could easily be prised open, even if they needed to create some kind of a decoy sound for it to go unnoticed. O’Connor instructed Merriman’s reconnaissance squad to clear the occupants of the nearby houses, closing off the street, while Maloney set up the decoy, a group of police dogs barking like blazes.

As the two officers gained access to the building, O’Connor picked up his mobile phone, which he had put on silent. Matthews had news.

‘We have one of your missing amigos.’

‘Which one?’

‘Martin McKay. They picked him up on the outskirts of the city. He might have been heading to the airport for all we know. He took a company car. Apparently his Mercedes went missing earlier on.’

‘And he decided not to report it?’

‘Claims he was going to, but hadn’t the time.’

‘Where is he now, Matthews?’

‘He’s here. He’s also claiming he has no idea where his wife or brother-in-law could be. Neither does he know why the Volvo is covered with blood. According to him, he never drove the car, it belonged to his wife, and, O’Connor …’

‘Yeah?’

‘He’s asked to have his lawyer present.’

‘I already dislike the fucker. Listen, Matthews, I have to go, but don’t take any shit off that lawyer of his. The bottom line is, we have the car, we have the blood. If he wants to come up smelling of roses, we’ll need a DNA sample.’

‘What’s happening there?’

‘The ERU boys are going into the house now. Maloney’s in charge. It’s impossible to know who exactly is in there, but one thing’s for sure. It isn’t Martin McKay.’

‘What do you think is going down?’

‘I don’t know, Matthews, at least not yet, but if it is Dominic Hamilton, and he has his sister or anyone else there under force, they’re in danger.’

‘I hear you.’

‘Listen, Matthews, depending on what the shooters report back, we’re probably in hostage negotiator territory. I’m going to phone Kate Pearson. I’ve already spoken to Maloney about it. If our man is psychotic, as Kate suspects, it might be an idea to set up audio communications between Kate and the negotiator. We’re going to need all the help we can get if we want to avoid this turning bloody nasty.’

‘Right. I’ll keep the pressure on McKay.’

‘And, Matthews, make sure Butler’s up to date on all of this. You know how he needs to be kept in the loop. I’m ringing Kate Pearson next.’





Clodagh


‘Dominic, please tell me.’ He can’t stop talking now.

‘You went to your room to play with your doll’s house. I hid up here, out of the way, trying to shut it all out.’ Again he looks away, as if the more we talk, the harder he finds it to work things out.

His face looks as if it’s shifting from rage to confusion. He’s breathing deeply, tightening his grip on the knife. When he does speak, it’s almost in a whisper. ‘Dad came to look for me. He said you told him I knew a secret about Mum. He wanted me to tell him.’

‘What did you say?’

‘I told him to go to Hell.’ His voice is angry.

‘And then what?’

‘He hit me hard. He’d never hit me before. And do you know what, Clodagh?’

I look at my brother, not understanding why some warped happiness is lifting his mood. ‘What, Dominic?’

‘It felt good. It felt good to feel the pain on my face, a form of release, my jaw throbbing. The punishment felt sweet.’ For the first time, Dominic turns his back to me, and even though I know it’s my chance to get out of there, I do nothing, only listen.

‘After he’d hit me, he went back downstairs. Not to Mum, but to you.’ Dominic turns to me again. ‘I followed him, Clodagh. I stood outside your bedroom like a lowlife spy, and listened while Daddy’s little girl told him everything.’

‘But I couldn’t have known, not fully.’

‘You knew enough for him to work it out. Jenkins and Mum being together, how you thought she loved him more than she loved Dad and …’

‘What else did I tell him?’

‘You told him Jenkins came to the house to visit Mum and the baby. I wasn’t there and neither was he.’

‘I don’t remember it.’

‘You saw Mum give Emmaline to Jenkins to hold in his arms, saying she was theirs.’

‘I can’t have.’

‘You said she wasn’t Daddy’s little girl, that she couldn’t be. You were Daddy’s little girl.’

I feel sick. I don’t want to believe him, but then I hear myself say, clear and low, ‘Dominic, what happened then?’