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Back Darkest Truth Save as PDF
Chapters (54)
  1. COVER
  2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  3. DEDICATION
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. EPILOGUE
  54. Acknowledgements

‘I don’t have kids myself so it’s not really on my radar. Em, the two boys in the other photo? Any idea who they are?’ I asked.

‘They were on the youth jury with her, as far as I know,’ Jessica said. ‘But don’t ask me their names. I only met them that one day, at the workshop.’

‘What about the other guy, the adult who isn’t Jeremy Gill?’

‘Oh he worked for the festival, what was his name again? He was really nice to me, I should remember him. I felt out of place, didn’t know much about films, the rest of them were way cooler than I was, but he looked out for me. Hang on, was it Donal or something like that?’

‘Could it have been Daniel? According to the programme, the education officer was called Daniel O’Brien.’

‘Yeah, it could have been,’ Jessica said. ‘He was something to do with education, I’m nearly sure. Yeah, it could have been Daniel.’

‘That’s good to know, Jessica, thanks,’ I said. ‘And do you remember the badges you were all wearing? Anything about them?’

‘I don’t even remember seeing one, let alone wearing one.’

‘Okay. And, one more time, any joy on the two jury boys’ names?’

‘Not a hope,’ she said. ‘Not even a glimmer.’

It didn’t matter. If they were on the youth jury, as Jessica had said, their names would be in the catalogue. And she had confirmed my suspicion that the other adult male in the photo was probably Daniel O’Brien, the education officer.

But I hadn’t bargained on having two new suspects in the mix: a jilted boyfriend and a besotted teacher. I had intended being open-minded about Gill’s culpability but this new development was, most definitely, not part of the script.

10

Back home, I went to my study to log what I’d gleaned from Jessica. In my ‘Connections’ file, I noted that Gill had known Deirdre well, that she had been something of a teacher’s pet to him at his workshop. But, as far as Jessica was concerned, Gill was a celebrity they were lucky to have met once, a public figure with no significant connection to Deirdre. If Jessica was telling the truth, she knew of no subsequent contact between Gill and Deirdre after the festival. Even worse, the clues that I had been so excited about, the badges and name tags, meant nothing to her. Jessica didn’t even recall wearing them.