“Because things were bad enough already.” She faced Annie. Her light brown eyes were flecked with amber. “I’m sorry, love, but nothing good’s ever come of calling the police around here. There was other stuff. Stolen goods in the house. Drugs. If I’d got the police involved they’d have given us more grief than they’d have given him.”

“What did you do, then?”

“I shoved all his stuff in a case and chucked it out of the window. He ran off and never came back.”

“We’ll need his name.”

“Mallard. Eddie Mallard. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s on your books.”

“And what about Lenny?”

She managed a half smile. “Lenny’s all right. A bit rough-and-ready, but his heart’s in the right place. He never hurt Mimosa and he takes good care of me.”

“When do you think you and your daughter started drifting apart?”

“When she was about thirteen. She was sullen and depressed. It was just a difficult time for her. Self-image and everything. I suppose I should consider myself lucky she didn’t suffer from anorexia or bulimia.”

“Any particular reason?”

“Not that I could fathom. Hormones, I suppose. She got very moody, started stopping out. Just till late at first, then all night.”

“Is that when she cut herself?”

Sinead gave Annie a sharp glance. “You saw that?”

“Hard to miss.”

“Yes, it was around that time.”

“Was it serious? I mean, did Mimosa really try to kill herself? Did it bleed a lot?”

“No. It wasn’t deep. I talked to her. I’ve . . .” Sinead held up her arm and pulled her sleeves up over her wrist. There were the same sort of crisscross scars as they had seen on Mimsy. “It was a long time ago. But I told her I understood. I knew she was unhappy, miserable. She thought everybody hated her, and she’d never have a boyfriend or anyone to love her. Some of the other kids at school made fun of her.”

“Why?”

“Do they need a reason? Her name? Her family? I wasn’t a good mother. I didn’t know what to tell her except everything would be all right. But it wasn’t enough.” She gave a little shiver. “I wasn’t always there for her. And Lenny and Johnny are harmless, like I said, but they were no use to Mimosa. No use at all. She was thirteen. She needed a mother, and I failed her.”

“Did talking help?”

“I don’t think so. Not by then. I couldn’t get through to her. They grow up so quickly these days. Then they’re gone.”

“Sinead, Mimosa didn’t have to be gone. Someone took her. That’s why we’re here. We want to find out who it was and make sure they don’t do it to anyone else and that they pay for what they’ve done.”