Page 104 of Hidden Daughters

Lottie could hear the plea in her daughter’s voice. ‘You are my star, Chloe. I can depend on you so much more than the others. You know that.’

‘Whatever. But thanks, Mam. We’ll see you at the wedding. Betty confirmed again that she’ll stay with Gran.’

‘That’s great. Chat you soon.’

After the call, Lottie wondered if her girls would still be welcome at Grace’s wedding. Would she herself be welcome? Would there even be a wedding?

Ann was unable to finish her sewing work after her conversation with Lottie Parker on the beach. She was annoyed with herself. Why had she been so open? Revealing things she’d only spoken aloud to one other person in her life. On the other hand, she hadn’t told the detective everything. A frisson of guilt caused the shake in her hands, and she decided to abandon her work for the day.

Hopefully Denis wouldn’t notice her anguish when she arrived home, though she suspected he would. He was very astute. That was what made him an ideal county councillor. His constituents loved him. He was a fighter, too. Fought tooth and nail for the children’s playground located outside the village. He’d even completed the funding application for the local community group, and in the end the council had carried out most of the work.

She tidied up the fitting room. Put away the material she had been working on. Stowed the cash Grace had paid in the floor safe. Plugged out anything that was connected to a socket.

At the door, she took one last look around and found all was in order, but the tremor had moved from her hands to her entirebody. She suddenly felt cold, as though ice was flowing through her blood. The terrible memories she’d resurrected refused to abate. Home to a hot bath and a glass of wine and she’d be fine.

She held the shop keys in her hand and switched off the light. As she reached for the latch, a knock on the door made her jump backwards. The door opened.

Her hand flew to her chest. ‘You scared the living daylights out of me.’

‘Are you leaving early? I could see you through the window tidying up.’

‘What if I am? I’m my own boss.’ Where was she getting this courage from? ‘I’m sorry, but I’m finished for the day. I’m heading home now.’

A hand clasped her shoulder as the person walked in, pushing her backwards. ‘We need to talk. And I will decide when and if you can leave. Got it?’

She stayed silent, not trusting what words would come out of her mouth.

The ice in her blood froze solid with fear.

63

Galway Garda HQ would have taken Kirby’s breath away if he hadn’t already been coughing after a hastily sneaked cigar before entering the main doorway. He couldn’t remember ever seeing such a modern garda station. Ragmullin station had undergone an extensive renovation a few years back, but despite that, over half of the building was still a 1930s structure.

‘That inspector of yours is something else,’ Mooney said, clearing files from one side of his desk to the other.

Kirby wasn’t sure if he was complimenting Lottie or ridiculing her, so he didn’t comment on it.

‘Thanks for seeing me,’ he said. ‘I believe we may have a crossover on our respective investigations.’

‘Robert Hayes, you mean?’

‘Yes, but also the woman who was murdered in Ragmullin, Edie Butler. Though I don’t have any proof, it appears she was in the Sisters of Forgiveness laundry at some stage in her life. My boss got that information from Brigid Kelly.’

‘Yes, I know about that. Nevertheless, as you say, we have no way of verifying it. We contacted the bishop, and he says there are no longer records from that institution. Claims the nuns took them all when they left. But I’m wondering if old Mickey Foxhad access to them. He had been burning papers before his body was found. We sent the fragments and scraps, mainly ash if I’m being honest, to a specialist forensic lab, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.’

‘That’s a shame. Have you made any headway in locating Robert Hayes? We know he got on the Galway train.’

‘We have him on CCTV exiting Ceannt station in the city. After that, it’s like a needle in a haystack. We’re checking CCTV around that locality and whatever we can get our hands on out in the Moycullen area where he used to be the parish priest. So far, nothing.’

‘At least the CCTV footage can prove he is in Galway.’

‘All it proves is that he got off that train. God only knows where he went after that, and he’s had days of a head start.’

Kirby was not to be discouraged. ‘Is there anything in his background that could lead us to where he might be?’

‘All we know is that he spent time as a deacon before being ordained a priest. The bishop reluctantly handed over a file that he had prepared about allegations of abuse of a minor.’

‘I didn’t see any record of it on PULSE,’ Kirby said.

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