“Just clear those papers off that chair,” O’Byrne said. “You can dump them on the floor.”

Gerry picked up the papers and set them gently beside the chair, then sat down.

O’Byrne leaned back in his chair, tapped a pencil tip against his lower lip and said, “What can I do for you? Alicia said it was something to do with the Moffats.”

“That’s right. Mimosa Moffat, in particular.”

“She’s not a bad kid, really, isn’t Mimsy. Better than some. I must say I haven’t seen her for a while, though. I hope she isn’t in any trouble.”

Gerry felt gobsmacked. “Er . . . no . . . I mean, that is . . . you haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?”

“Mimosa was killed last week. I’m from the county Homicide and Major Crimes. We’re investigating the case. The local police said we should talk to you.”

O’Byrne dropped his pencil and sat up straight. “What? She what? Bloody hell.”

“Mimosa was murdered. Raped and murdered on a country lane just outside Eastvale about a week ago. Her picture has been on the news and in the papers all week. An artist’s likeness, at any rate. We only found out who she was yesterday through an anonymous phone call.”

O’Byrne rubbed his cheeks and eyes. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry to hear that. And I must apologize for my ignorance. This job’s depressing enough as it is. Any chance I get, you’ll find me fishing in Upper Teesdale or walking the Dales, not watching the news or reading the papers.”

“I thought someone might have told you.”

“I’m sure someone would have, eventually. Just not yet. My god. Mimsy Moffat. What happened to her?”

Gerry gave him an edited version of the details, skipping the points the team had decided to keep to themselves.

“What is it you want from me?” he asked. “I have to say, first off, that I wasn’t especially close to Mimsy.”

“Why not? Weren’t you her case officer?”

“Case officer? No. Whatever gave you that impression? I work mostly with Sinead, and sometimes Johnny, not Mimsy. She didn’t have a specific case officer.”

“Why’s that?”

“Didn’t need one. Sinead has a drug problem, as you probably know already. Has had on and off for years. It’s caused her a number of other problems, bad judgment and child neglect not being the least of them. Her common-law husband and her brother haven’t always been able to step into the gap, so to speak. We—I—have kept an eye on Sinead. Try to help, make sure the kids aren’t suffering, the little ones especially, Tammi and Mike.”

“And they weren’t?”

“Not as I’m aware. Mimsy had a few problems at school, poor attendance, disruptive behavior, talking back, and the like. She was excluded more than once, but that wasn’t much of a cause for concern. None of us really liked school, did we?”