‘Do you remember the disappearance of Lynn O’Donnell?’ Lottie asked Boyd as they arrived at the home of Elizabeth Byrne.
‘Yeah, that rings a bell. A long time ago now, though. Why do you ask?’
‘Corrigan mentioned it. She was last seen on a train from Dublin to Ragmullin. Same as Elizabeth.’
‘Does he think they might be connected?’
‘Not sure. He said to have a look at the cold case file.’
‘A giant stretch of the imagination, if you ask me.’
‘I’ll have a look anyway.’ She rang the doorbell.
Elizabeth Byrne had lived with her mother in a detached red-brick house in the Greenway estate. Anna Byrne led them to the kitchen. ‘I hope you have news of Elizabeth. I just boiled the kettle. Will you join me in a cup of tea? Coffee? Awful cold out there today.’
As Mrs Byrne busied herself with cups and tea bags, Lottie and Boyd sat at the table, an old-fashioned wooden affair with a red oilcloth covering it. The cooker was a cream-coloured Aga, with a saucepan simmering on top. Glancing at the clock hanging on the wall, Lottie noted that it was just over two hours since they’d discovered the body. She shivered, even though the kitchen was warm.
When Mrs Byrne turned around, Lottie noticed the lines of worry furrowed into her brow. Dressed in jeans and a pink jumper over a white cotton shirt, she wore fluffy socks on her feet. Probably belonged to Elizabeth, Lottie thought. Her heart lurched as she thought about delivering the news that would shatter this poor woman’s hope forever.
‘Here, let me give you a hand,’ Boyd said, rising to take a jug from her hand. ‘You sit and I’ll make the tea.’
He knew when to switch on the charm, but Lottie was well aware that he was only putting off the inevitable. Mrs Byrne slumped onto a chair.
‘Do you have any news about Elizabeth?’
‘Mrs Byrne …’ Lottie began.
‘Call me Anna.’
‘I’m so sorry, Anna … I hate to have to tell you like this, but I’m afraid the news I have is not good.’ Shit, this wasn’t the way to tell a mother her daughter was dead.
‘Would you like a biscuit?’ Anna was fussing. ‘Ginger nuts. I have a packet somewhere.’ She jumped up.
Lottie put a hand on the woman’s arm. ‘Anna. I’m sorry.’
Anna gnawed at her lip, eyes bulging with unshed tears. Her hand flew to her mouth as if trying to keep back the words she didn’t want to utter.
‘She’s dead, isn’t she?’ Pulling at her sleeve now. Eyes scrunched up, avoiding Lottie’s gaze.
‘I’m terribly sorry.’
‘Tell me.’ The tears now burst forth and spilled down the woman’s cheeks, around her streaming nose and over her lips. ‘Tell me,’ she screamed.
Lottie reached over and put her hand on Anna Byrne’s. ‘I’m afraid we found the body of a female earlier today.’
‘No! I don’t believe you. It’s not my Elizabeth. She’s all I have. Do you understand? It’s not her.’ Hysteria laced the woman’s words.
‘We have reason to believe it is Elizabeth. I’m so sorry.’
Anna’s body rocked with convulsions, and Lottie jumped up and grabbed a glass from a cupboard. She filled it with water from the tap and held it to Anna’s lips.
‘Sip this. It might help.’ She had delivered bad news many times before, but in the face of naked grief, she was at a loss as to the right approach to use, though if anyone should know, she should.
‘Oh God. What happened to her?’ A fragile calm settled in the room as Anna looked straight into Lottie’s eyes.
She held the gaze. ‘All we know at the moment is that the circumstances appear suspicious.’
‘Was she murdered?’
‘We don’t yet know.’
‘How did she die? This girl you found.’
‘I can’t say at the moment. Not until after … after the post-mortem is concluded.’
‘Oh my good God!’ the woman wailed.
‘Can I call someone for you. A friend? Family?’
Anna ignored the question. ‘Where did you find her?’
Lottie glanced to Boyd, begging for help. He shook his head slowly. ‘In the cemetery,’ she said.
‘It can’t be Elizabeth.’ Anna appeared resolute in her conviction as she folded her arms and sniffed back more tears. ‘She never goes there.’
‘I’m sorry, Anna, I know this is hard for you, but we have reason to believe it may be your daughter. And we need you to formally confirm her identity.’
‘I told you she was missing. No one believed me.’ The woman’s voice was almost inaudible before it rose an octave. ‘You said you couldn’t look for her because you had to wait forty-eight hours. Well, it’s over forty-eight hours since I last saw her. You can start searching now.’ She unfolded her arms and tore the oilcloth with her nail. Worried the hole larger and dug her finger into the wood of the table.
Lottie stared at Boyd. Come on, she pleaded silently. Time to work some more of his charm.
‘Anna,’ he said softly. ‘We think we’ve found Elizabeth’s body. Do you understand what I’m saying?’
She nodded, and more tears fell from her eyes.
‘Please let me call someone to come and sit with you,’ Lottie said.
‘I’ll be fine. Do you want to ask questions about Elizabeth? Go on. Ask me. Better to do it now. Then you’ll know you’ve made a mistake.’
‘We can do that another time,’ Boyd said quickly.
Anna thumped the table. ‘Ask me now. Before it hits me properly.’
‘If you’re sure?’ Lottie said.
The woman nodded.
Lottie lowered her voice, speaking as softly as she could. ‘Tell us about your daughter. What was she like? Her friends and—’
‘I told that nice young Garda O’Donoghue everything.’
‘We need to discover her last movements. Had her mood changed recently?’
‘She was the same as usual. On the go. Flitting here and there. She never sits still for two minutes. Always has to be doing something. Do you have children, Inspector?’
‘I do,’ Lottie said. Anna’s description of Elizabeth reminded her of her own Chloe. ‘Three teenagers. Well, Katie is twenty now.’
‘You know what it’s like then. Racing in and out of the house. Changing her clothes a dozen times a day. Out at nightclubs. She goes jogging on Saturday and Sunday mornings. At Rochfort Gardens. During the week, she has to drag herself to the station for the early commuter train.’
Lottie thought this was a world removed from Katie’s. ‘Did she have many friends?’
‘She has a few. No one close comes to mind. She hangs out with Carol O’Grady, even though I don’t approve. Not that I’m a snob or anything.’
‘You don’t like Carol?’
Anna didn’t answer the question. She said, ‘Elizabeth is an only child, so it’s mostly just me and her.’
‘Boyfriend?’ Boyd asked.
Anna was silent for a moment before she lifted her head. She looked directly at him.
‘She had her heart broken a year ago. She was sure he was the one for her. All talk of getting married and looking for a mortgage and the like. No ring ever appeared, though, and then he disappeared from the scene.’
‘Disappeared?’ Lottie raised a quizzical eyebrow.
‘Not like that. He worked in a bank in Dublin and was transferred to a Munich branch. Upped and left my girl with a shattered heart. The bastard. Sorry, I only use bad language where Matt Mullin is concerned.’
Lottie heard Boyd scribble the name in his notebook. She said, ‘Did the break-up affect her badly?’
‘Very. She started going out with her girlfriends every night. Even on work nights. She’d never done that before. Heartbroken, my poor pet.’ Anna wiped away the tears that were dripping down her chin.
Lottie reached out and gripped her hand. ‘This Matt guy, is he still in Munich?’
Anna drew back as if Lottie had pinched her. ‘Do you think he could be back in town? Do you think he’s involved somehow? Did that bastard kill my girl?’ Anger rapidly replacing heartache.
‘We don’t know anything yet,’ Lottie said. ‘Is he originally from Ragmullin?’
‘Yes. He lived on the old Dublin road. I’m sure you can find his address.’