The Doll's House

‘Clodagh, can you hear me? Do you want to come back?’


I stare at my father. His face is no longer in his hands. He is looking at me, then at my mother. He is trying to say something, but his words are stuck. I see the frown lines on his forehead, regret in his eyes, his stooped, beaten frame, and I feel his pain. It is weighing me down too. It is like a giant albatross across our shoulders.

‘Clodagh, I am taking you back, do you hear me?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’ll start counting backwards from ten, and when I do, you will leave the bedroom. You will leave the doll’s house. You will find the staircase that led you there, coming back into the garden.’





Incident Room, Harcourt Street Police Station


O’Connor, followed by Lynch, entered the incident room with more on his mind than the current investigation. He’d taken certain things for granted, until he’d risked losing them. Butler, regardless of hostile outbursts, had an underlying admiration for O’Connor. How you earned your stripes within the force meant more than your position. It was a reflection of years of hard graft and accomplishment. It could easily go down the tubes once O’Connor came clean.

But the height of an investigation wasn’t the time for guilty reflection. Despite his thumping headache, O’Connor had a job to do and, no matter how this whole saga turned out, he was damned if he wasn’t going to be up to the task in hand. Whatever repercussions came afterwards, he would have to deal with them. Kate was right in practically everything she had said. But he had never expected her to be any other way.

Matthews got the proceedings under way. ‘Right, O’Connor, fill us in.’

‘We should have a list of owners of the Volvo model in the next hour.’

‘Anything more from Dr Pearson?’ Again the question came from Matthews.

‘She’s sent an updated report, which includes observations about the perpetrator, and potential geographical area.’

‘Seeing as I don’t have a copy in front of me,’ Butler, keen to get his spoke in, ‘perhaps you’d be good enough to fill us all in.’

‘Considering both men knew each other, the probability of them knowing their attacker is rated by Dr Pearson as high. This has given us a sub-set within the wider circle. The relationship between Gahan and Jenkins went back a long way. We’ll be talking to Dominic Hamilton, Clodagh McKay and her husband, Martin McKay, today. As you know, we’ve already spoken to Gahan’s sister, Deborah, all immediate members of Jenkins’s family and Alister Becon. Alister Becon was the last person to see Adrian Hamilton alive.’

‘You still think this is all connected, do you, O’Connor?’

‘Yes, boss, I do. We still have security in place on Jenkins’s house and Deborah Gahan’s.’

‘Bloody logistical nightmare.’ Butler’s words required no response. ‘Get back to what Dr Pearson has given you.’

‘She believes the drowning is critical, and could be a form of cleansing.’

Matthews sat up straighter in his chair. ‘Anything else from her?’

‘Our killer is older and therefore more calculating. Despite this, he’s willing to take risks. His fear of being caught is outweighed by his needs.’

‘What does she mean by “his needs”?’

‘She thinks he could be rating his victims in order of importance, keeping his most significant victim until last. Of course, there’s every possibility that Gahan was the final victim, but we can’t be sure.’

‘I see.’ Butler sounded deadpan now.

‘Dr Pearson has also narrowed down the geographical location. She believes the perpetrator is operating in a physical area with which he is both familiar and comfortable. It could be the area where he is currently living or working, or one he has been connected to in the past. Based on this, I’m intensifying the house-to-house enquiries around the stretch of the canal three bridges back and three forward. Once we get the list of possible vehicle registrations and owners, we can start picking up other connections.’

‘I want to know how you get on with Hamilton and the McKays.’ Butler looked across at Matthews to log the follow-up. ‘Where do they all live, O’Connor?’

‘The outskirts of Sandymount, boss.’

‘What? All of them?’

‘That’s right.’

‘It’s not far from either crime scene.’

‘No, boss, it isn’t.’

‘Car models? I assume you’d tell us if there were any matches.’

‘Dominic Hamilton’s doesn’t match. We’re checking the others.’

‘It doesn’t rule him out, though.’

‘No.’

‘Anything else, O’Connor?’

‘Considering what Dr Pearson has said, the house-to-house enquiries will be extended to the area around the Hamilton and McKay homes. Both, as I said, in Sandymount.’

‘Right. Hold back nothing on the house-to-house.’ Butler turned to Matthews. ‘We have the model of vehicle for Crimecall. Has that been set up?’

‘It’s scheduled for this evening.’