The Doll's House

As O’Connor scrawled the number and address on a yellow Post-it, he remembered Isabel Blennerhasset telling him about how their kind didn’t speak in straight lines. O’Connor wasn’t in the mood for riddles. Deborah Gahan might have lost her brother but, from the sound of it, they weren’t exactly close. If she had information, he’d get it out of her, even if it meant applying extra pressure.

Walking over to the wipe board, he wrote down a number of questions to which he wanted answers. If Adrian Hamilton’s death had been suicide, what had lain behind it? If Keith Jenkins had been Jimmy Gahan’s benefactor, what had Jimmy on him? Why the hell had an old hotel receipt been left at the scene? Was Gloria Sweetman part of all this? And how the heck had Jenkins become the principal director of Hamilton Holdings?

O’Connor looked at Deborah Gahan’s phone number and decided to ring Lynch before he made the call.

‘How close are you to the station?’

‘We’re leaving the quays now. Hold on, sir, I’m putting you on the hands-free set. We had another couple of stragglers to chat with after we spoke to Ozzie Brennan.’

‘Any more of interest?’

‘Not really, sir. Waste of time, other than the link of Jenkins to Gahan.’

‘You said we, Lynch. Is Kate still with you?’

‘Yes. I’m dropping her back to her office. She’s right here beside me.’

‘Kate?’

‘O’Connor.’

‘Your preliminary report.’

‘What about it?’

‘I have a question for you.’

‘Shoot.’

‘You used the term “expressive violent act”.’

‘I did.’

‘Well, you infer that the two stages of the attack on Jenkins, the stabbing and the drowning, were motivated by separate driving forces, the initial attack resulting from an outburst of emotional feeling.’

‘That’s correct. I don’t think it was the killer’s intention to kill Jenkins during the first attack, but he wanted him to suffer. The level of stab wounds, frequency and sequence of the attack are indicative of high emotions at play, but that isn’t the only element. As I said, the killer didn’t want Jenkins to die that way. If he had done, he could easily have finished him off, which brings us to the method of killing and the location of the murder. As I stated in the report, if neither of these things was random, then the killer’s choice of victims isn’t likely to be random. We now know Jimmy knew Keith Jenkins. Jenkins and Gahan are part of some chain.’

‘There are a couple more links.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You were right on the mark when you suggested old connections. Isabel Blennerhasset has added another name to the mix, an Adrian Hamilton. He and Jimmy Gahan went to college together. Jenkins arrived at Trinity a number of years later, but they knew each other.’

‘Go on.’

‘Adrian Hamilton died after a boating accident in 1978.’

‘Drowned?’

‘It was put down as an accident, but rumoured as suicide. As I said, Keith Jenkins would have been the junior of the bunch, but I’m sure this is connected.’

‘It’s tempting to jump to conclusions, O’Connor. Adrian Hamilton’s drowning is significant, but it may not be linked.’

The pain in O’Connor’s eyes intensified. ‘Well, I’m going to meet someone who’ll shed some light on that.’

‘Who?’

‘Deborah Gahan, Jimmy’s sister. She’s just identified her brother’s body.’

‘When are you seeing her?’

‘I’m going to ring her now. She lives local to you, Kate – Ranelagh, Benton Avenue. It might make sense if you came along.’

‘I need to get back to Ocean House, but I could be there for around four.’

‘Perfect. I’ll text you the address and time. Any problems get back to me. Also, Lynch, when you drop Kate off, I have a job for you.’

‘Not a bother, sir.’

‘And some questions for you too. Higgins and Clarke have reported back from Maldon House. Jenkins booked in under a false name with a woman who fits the description of the late Gloria Sweetman.’

‘What are you getting at, sir?’

‘Did Jenkins’s name come up anywhere in that investigation?’

‘Of course not, or I’d have said so.’ Lynch sounded affronted.

‘Just checking, Lynch. Keep your hair on.’

‘Sir?’

‘What?’

‘We never did find out who supplied Gloria Sweetman with the drugs.’

‘I know that.’

‘Someone gave that shitload to her.’

‘Lynch, tell me something I don’t know.’

‘Well, it was something Ozzie Brennan said.’

‘What?’

‘He said, “Dead men can’t commit murder, nor can murder be blamed on them.”’

‘So?’

‘I didn’t get the impression Ozzie was just referring to the murder of Jimmy Gahan.’

‘Why? What else do you think he meant?’

‘I don’t know, just a feeling. It was more the way he paused mid-sentence before saying, “nor can murder be blamed on them”.’

‘You’re thinking Gloria Sweetman.’

‘As I said, sir, someone gave her that bag of drugs.’





Mervin Road