The holding cells were part of the new block and Lottie knew there was nothing there that Petrovci could use to harm himself. Still, it was essential to have someone watch him.
Lynch continued. ‘Jack Dermody made a statement. He got a phone call at eleven thirty-five a.m. telling him to go to the pump house and fix the lock. His phone is being checked as we speak. He said Petrovci always works with him, so he was the obvious choice to bring along. Health and Safety procedures. When they got there, he went inside to check nothing was missing and to pick up some tools, and that’s when he saw the body.’
‘Hold him for a while longer. See if he changes anything.’ Lottie glanced at the incident board. It now held a photograph of their most recent victim. ‘Let’s recap on what we have and haven’t got.’
She marched along the floor, scanning the incident noticeboards.
‘In addition to our two murder victims, the girl just found will be confirmed as murder later today. She has a gunshot wound to her back.’
‘Another one,’ Garda Gillian O’Donoghue said.
‘Exactly. Three girls, none of whom has been reported missing. All shot in the back. The first two have had a kidney surgically removed, and victim number one was four months pregnant. The media circus, courtesy of that clown Moroney, now know about the organs being removed and are reporting it as a serial killer.’
‘Isn’t that what we’ve got?’ Boyd said.
‘We didn’t want the whole world knowing. Not until we had something substantial to bring to the public.’
Lynch said, ‘We have a suspect currently sitting in the cells.’
‘I know. But I thought I asked for absolute secrecy on the organ removal issue.’ Lottie’s eyes landed on Kirby. He’d been the source of information leaking to Moroney on her previous case, though he’d claimed it was accidental.
He shook his head, letting her know he wasn’t the leak this time.
She sighed. ‘All I’m asking is that you do your jobs without causing panic on the streets. Okay?’
Murmurs rippled through the room.
‘I’ll get the press office to write up a piece. Try to keep the media chasing their own tail, not ours.’
Kirby grunted but said nothing.
‘These victims,’ Lottie said. ‘No one, not one single person, has reported them missing, so it is increasingly likely they were from the direct provision centre.’
Kirby said, ‘We’ve checked the official database and according to the Justice Department it’s up to date. All accounted for.’
‘I believe there is an unofficial one. In the last few days I’ve become aware of a girl missing from the centre.’ She pointed at Mimoza’s picture, swallowing hard. She knew that once she went public with this, Russell could release the information he had on Adam. But the image of the soft toy rabbit and Milot with cherry blossoms stuck in his hair was more urgent. Whatever damage Russell intended, it affected the dead, not the living.
Coughing to clear her throat, she continued, ‘Mimoza hasn’t been officially reported missing. However, Dan Russell has asked me to investigate. So we need to expedite that warrant to search the building, in particular the computers.’
‘It’s down for the district court first thing Monday morning,’ Boyd said. ‘But I can’t understand why Russell would want you to investigate Mimoza’s disappearance if he’s involved in these murders?’
‘I don’t know, but he also expressed concern for Mimoza’s young son Milot.’
‘A missing child adds a new dimension,’ Lynch said.
‘He’s not missing,’ Lottie explained. ‘I know where he is.’ She remembered then that she had an appointment soon with the social worker.
‘Phew,’ Lynch sighed. ‘Where is he?’
‘You just need to know that he’s safe. But SOCOs found a toy rabbit belonging to him at the site of the body discovered today.’
‘What?’ A communal gasp.
‘How can you be sure it belongs to the boy?’ Kirby asked.
‘Frayed label and ears. It’s his.’ Lottie took a deep breath. ‘I don’t know what it means yet. But bear it in mind when investigating the latest murder. I’ve also reason to believe Mimoza was kept for a time at a brothel. Detective Kirby, have you found out anything about this Anya who apparently ran the place?’
Kirby blushed bright red. ‘She’s disappeared. We think she operated under a number of aliases. We’ve put the call out to ports and airports. But she’s probably back in Albania by now. Neither sight nor sound of her or any of her girls. I ran it by anti-human trafficking and the other relevant bureaus. Nothing.’
‘Dead end.’ Lottie tapped another photo. ‘Maeve Phillips. Daughter of known criminal Frank Phillips. She was last seen over a week ago. No sighting of her anywhere despite widespread media alerts. We don’t know yet if there is a connection to the murders or indeed to the recent disappearance of Mimoza.’
‘I think she is connected,’ Boyd said, shoving his hands in his trouser pockets.
‘Explain,’ Lottie said, folding her arms.
‘I tried to tell you earlier, but… Information has come my way that points to Jamie McNally’s involvement with the brothel. Something was going wrong with the business; that’s why he’s in Ragmullin. It’s hearsay, but I believe my source. We have an officer at the Parkview Hotel, where McNally’s staying, but he hasn’t been seen there all day.’
Lottie held his gaze. ‘And Tracy Phillips told me McNally was at her house enquiring about Maeve’s disappearance. Anything else to share?’
Boyd looked like he was about to speak, but shook his head.
‘I tend to agree with DS Boyd regarding McNally’s involvement with the brothel,’ Lottie said finally, clenching her fists under her arms to hide the fact that she was fuming at his reticence to share anything further. She’d get him on his own later. ‘Now, on to the blood and bullet hole in Weir’s depot. Any updates?’
Kirby stood up, and as if the action made him feel awkward, promptly resumed his seat. ‘The blood isn’t human. We think it’s from an animal, maybe a fox. It’s the same with the blood found in the white van. So that’s a dead end.’
‘Interesting,’ Lottie mused. ‘Is the killer trying to distract us?’
‘I took Buzz Flynn to see the van,’ Kirby said. ‘He lives down the road from the depot. Said it looks similar to the one he saw in the early hours of Tuesday morning when someone was picking up road signs. I double-checked with the security company. It’s definitely not one of their fleet. But Buzz is elderly and he had been asleep, so I’m not sure about his accuracy.’
‘So who brought the van into Weir’s yard?’ Lottie scratched her chin and squinted down at Kirby.
‘Weir says he paid some guy fifty euros for it. The bloke wanted it taken off his hands. No records. No recollection of who brought it in. Just remembers handing over a fifty. And I only got that info by threatening to arrest him for perverting the course of justice. Oh, and as you know, his CCTV is on the blink.’
Lottie snorted her derision. ‘Why bury the body outside Weir’s depot and then drop the van off there too? What type of lunatic are we dealing with?’