Ray furrowed his brow, pondering what Tom had said.

The inspector’s phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket, expecting it to be Louise asking why his car was home but not its owner. It was Laura.

‘Speak of the devil,’ he said. ‘Laura. What’s happening?’

He listened for a couple of minutes, making acknowledging sounds, while Ray sipped his drink and waited.

‘I see,’ Tom said. ‘Okay. Make sure somebody speaks to the women’s families tonight and tells them we’ll see them tomorrow. Where was that first victim from? Hm. Right. We’ll go out to her family, then. We’ll be in that neck of the woods anyway to see Una Dolan’s family. Let Brian Cullinane and Bridget Duffy know too, will you? They can make the trip to County Kerry. Thanks.’

The inspector hung up and took a mouthful of ale.

‘We have IDs,’ he told Ray, when he’d swallowed.

‘That was quick. Did we get the five right?’

‘No. We were one out.’

Ray raised his eyebrows.

‘Shit. Which one was wrong?’

Tom rifled through the pockets of his suit jacket until he found the small notepad he’d used at the team meeting earlier. He flicked to the page with the five names Laura and Michael had come up with.

‘Geraldine Lougheed isn’t one of the bodies. The rest were right. Una Dolan in 2011. Eimear Johnson in 2010. Treasa Lee in 2009 and Mary Ellen Lehane in 2008. It seems he didn’t start in 2007. His first victim was taken in 2006. Unless he’s buried Geraldine somewhere else, which seems unlikely. We’re searching the surrounding area, anyway.’

‘Who was his first victim, then?’

‘Believe it or not, Laura mentioned her at the meeting. Remember she spoke about a Pauline O’Hara?’

Ray nodded. ‘Yeah. Yeah, I do. Didn’t she say the boyfriend or husband had reported her missing, but the family hadn’t?’

‘That was it. Because allegedly he was abusive and they thought she’d left him. Well, as it turns out, she hadn’t. Not of her own free will, anyway. It’s interesting, though, isn’t it? That she was in an abusive relationship.’

‘And Fergus Holland thought his sister was seeing a man who was hitting her,’ Ray added. ‘Interesting indeed. He could have been giving them those charm bracelets while he was dating them.’

A new theory had formed in the inspector’s head, one that caused a shadow to cross over his face.

‘What is it?’ his deputy asked.

‘I just had a disturbing thought,’ Tom responded. ‘Our killer. Think about it – either he waited two years before he killed again or we’re missing a body for 2007, possibly Geraldine’s.’

‘Or?’ Ray prompted, sensing there was more.

‘Or …’ Tom swallowed. ‘He kept Pauline O’Hara alive for a very long time before he murdered her.’

CHAPTER 10

Eimear, 2010