The atmosphere in the incident room the next morning was lethargic.
Yesterday, the tiredness caused by all the long shifts had been temporarily forgotten. Carney’s arrest had raised everybody’s hopes. The end was in sight.
Now, with him revealing nothing and it looking increasingly less likely that he was the killer, heads were down. And most of those in the room didn’t even know about the Bart Healy affair, which had sprung up and just as suddenly fizzled to nothing.
The inspector gave the team a quick update on the various strands of the investigation, then crossed over to the area of the room his detectives had colonised.
‘Where’s Laura?’ he asked Michael. ‘All we’re missing is her briefing on the rest of the Holland employees. Tell me she’s found something and is chasing it. I need some good news.’
Michael shrugged.
‘She hasn’t come in.’
Tom frowned. That was strange. Laura was the most conscientious member of his team. She was usually the first one in each morning and the last one out at night.
‘Is she following up on something?’ he asked. ‘Did she ring anybody?’
The team members shook their heads. Ray and Bridget both looked uneasy.
‘I tried to ring her earlier,’ Brian said. ‘Her phone was off.’
‘She was supposed to have dinner with me last night,’ Ray said, blushing. ‘But she’d already gone home when I went looking for her.’
‘Hold on,’ Bridget interjected. ‘She told me yesterday she was staying late and grabbing dinner with you in here. She was … she was looking forward to it. She never came home. I thought she got stuck here or that you two had …’ She froze, flashing their boss a quick glance as Ray turned bright red.
‘What time did she leave, Michael?’ Tom asked, ignoring the sideshow.
The detective chewed his lip, his face pale and worried.
‘I don’t know. I left early in the day to deal with a personal matter and by the time I got back she was already gone. I’d spoken to her on the phone and she said she was going to check on something. When she didn’t come back, I assumed she’d gone home.’
‘She was driving somewhere when I rang her,’ Ray said.
The team stood looking at each other, all of their thoughts landing in the same place.
‘Okay, well, let’s not overreact,’ Tom said, trying to subdue the panic he could feel building. It was so unlike Laura to go AWOL. He wouldn’t have said it aloud, but with any other member of the team, he’d have taken it for granted that they’d slept in or were about to ring in sick. ‘Somebody call her again.’
Bridget tried.
‘Her phone is still off. I can’t even leave a message. It’s just the network saying “Not in service”.’
The inspector felt the knot tighten.
‘Ray, you ring her family and see if they’ve heard from her. Bridget, try her friends and check back in your apartment. I’m sure it’s nothing, but it’s out of character for Laura to miss a team meeting and not phone and I’d prefer we got to the bottom of it – otherwise we’ll spend the day worrying. Did she mention at all where she was driving to yesterday or what she was pursuing?’
Michael and Ray both shook their heads.
‘And it was just the Holland staff she was working on, wasn’t it? Or had she gone back to try to pin down where Cormac Ryan went when he left West Cork?’
‘She didn’t get as far as Ryan,’ Michael said. ‘We were going through the Holland employees all day. She hadn’t spoken to anybody about the taxi driver.’
‘Okay. Go. Make the calls. I’m going to ring around a few stations and see if she’s called in anywhere.’
The inspector took the stairs two at a time up to his office, feeling like his heart was in his mouth. It could all amount to nothing. Laura could saunter into the office any minute, with a perfectly rational explanation as to where she’d been all night. For all they knew, a family member had been taken ill or had had an accident. She might have been in an accident herself. He didn’t want that to be the case, but he did need to know there was a reason for her absence.
His imagination was running ahead of him. Could Laura have stumbled on something related to the case that had put her in danger?
As soon as Tom thought it, he dismissed it. She wouldn’t have put herself in peril. Laura was an experienced officer.
And yet … she was in her early thirties, single and pretty – a little too close to the serial killer’s type for comfort.
Tom had this cold feeling in his gut that something wasn’t right. Laura was the sort who’d send a text even if she had two broken legs, just so nobody would worry where she was. If she had been in an accident and was incapacitated, surely her family would have been contacted by now? And if that had happened, they’d have got in touch with her job.
Tom went through the numbers of colleagues in other stations on his phone, dialling each of them on the landline in case one of the team tried to ring or text his mobile.
After thirty minutes, Michael and Ray arrived in his office.
‘Nobody has heard from her,’ Ray said, unable to keep the alarm from his voice. ‘Not her family, not her friends. Nobody. Bridget’s at the apartment and says Laura hasn’t been back there. Her phone is still out of service. Brian is ringing the hospitals. Tom—’
His deputy’s voice broke and the inspector felt his chest constrict.
He took a deep breath.
‘Okay. Let me think.’
‘Something has happened to her,’ Ray groaned. ‘I know it. She was excited about dinner yesterday. She wouldn’t have just gone off like that without saying something. This is Laura. You know what she’s like.’
‘This is all my fault,’ Michael whispered. ‘If I hadn’t left yesterday …’
The inspector shook his head.
‘Michael, stop. Let’s establish where she is before we start panicking. And remember, Laura is a grown woman and a great detective. She’s not exactly known for making rash decisions.’
Neither Michael nor Ray replied – Michael, because he was consumed with guilt and Ray because he was thinking Laura might not have been herself yesterday. She might have been distracted, just like he had, thinking about their date. What if that distraction had led her to make a snap decision that had put her in danger?
‘Okay,’ Tom said, his mind made up. ‘We’re going to work with what we know. We’re assuming that Laura discovered something to do with the case and went to check it out. Let’s trace her movements, starting with the last thing she was doing in the office yesterday. You two get on that. I’m going up to speak to the chief.’
Tom paused on a small landing in the stairwell.
He took out his phone and dialled Sean’s number. He felt bad – he knew Sean was under pressure, but he also knew that in these circumstances, his former boss would want to know what was happening. He liked Laura and rated her highly.
And Tom needed some moral support.
The phone rang umpteen times but wasn’t answered.
‘Come on,’ the inspector urged, but it kept ringing.
‘Damn it.’ He shoved his mobile back in his pocket and banged the wall in frustration. He’d try again later.
Kennedy beckoned Tom into his office with a wave of the hand and signalled for him to sit as he concluded his phone conversation.
‘Yes. I’ll see to that personally. Of course, Bronwyn. Thank you.’
The chief placed the phone on its cradle.
‘Bronwyn Maher,’ he informed Tom, referring to the assistant commissioner. ‘She wants me to remind you that there’s a protocol for interviewing another member of the force, and it involves a member of the police union being present.’
‘For a formal interview,’ Tom replied. ‘We didn’t conduct a formal interview with Bart Healy. It was all very relaxed so we didn’t have to initiate proceedings that would be recorded. I would have thought that was preferable.’
He could see that his explanation left Kennedy stumped. And how had Maher discovered that Healy had been in for questioning? The chief would have had to ring and tell her – no doubt to drop Tom in it.
‘Yes, well, it turns out it was a waste of everybody’s time, wasn’t it?’ Kennedy retorted, pushing his glasses up his nose, his upper lip curled in distaste.
‘Chief, if I’d had doubts about Healy and hadn’t interviewed him, wouldn’t that have been worse?’
‘I think we need to put the whole Healy thing to rest now, Inspector. It’s caused you enough embarrassment.’
Tom bit his tongue. It wasn’t the time to have it out with his superior, but he could feel that argument brewing. It would happen before this case was over, he was sure of it.
‘I have a problem I need to make you aware of,’ he said. ‘A member of my team has gone missing. Laura Brennan.’
Kennedy shifted into business mode.
‘Gone missing? Since when?’
‘We believe that at some stage yesterday she went to check on something related to the case. Alone. She didn’t return home last night and didn’t come in this morning. Her mobile is off and nobody has seen her, including her family and friends.’
Kennedy frowned.
‘So, she’s not even been absent for twenty-four hours? Tom, I can see from your face that you’re concerned, but I can’t understand the reason for it. Maybe she’s off with a boyfriend? And how do you know she’s not at home now? She could be sleeping off a hangover.’
The inspector gritted his teeth.
‘She lives with another detective on the team,’ he said. ‘And she doesn’t have a boyfriend.’
‘As far as you know,’ Kennedy smiled, trying to look fatherly. ‘Look, don’t let a silly girl distract you from the investigation at hand. DS Brennan will turn up, and when she does, give her a slap on the wrist for causing you concern. Your sole focus needs to be on finding Fiona Holland, not worrying about an errant detective.’
The inspector stared at his boss in disbelief. He could have pointed out that Laura was not the ‘silly’ sort. He could have said that she would never deliberately cause her colleagues any worry. He even could have asked why Kennedy had been so concerned about Bart Healy being brought in for questioning but didn’t seem bothered when a young female detective vanished off the face of the earth – especially when they were in the middle of a hunt for a serial killer who targeted young women. But Tom didn’t say any of those things because he knew his concerns would fall on deaf ears.
Kennedy wasn’t on his side. He was steadily and subtly undermining the inspector. He knew Tom’s credentials and knew that he wouldn’t have called into the chief’s office unless it was serious. But instead of treating it as such, Kennedy had dismissed him.
Even though the inspector felt red-hot anger building inside him, he refused to rise to it. He’d more important matters at hand.
‘Fair enough,’ was all he actually said, then left the office.
Tom bounded down the steps to the incident room, threw open the door and strode up to the front.
‘Listen up!’ he called out over the usual daily clamour. ‘Folks, put down whatever you’re doing. This is important.’ Guards hurriedly ended phone calls and raised their eyes from their laptops. His own team hovered nervously and expectantly by their desks.
Tom waited until there was absolute silence.
‘One of our own appears to have gone missing. DS Laura Brennan.’ He paused to let it sink in. ‘Now. This may yet turn out to be something trivial, but we all know Laura and we know how seriously she takes her job. So as of right now, I’m making determining her whereabouts a priority. We believe she uncovered what may have been vital information pertaining to this case and was pursuing it – so her disappearance may be related. I don’t have to spell out for you what that means. DS Michael Geoghegan will be coordinating our efforts. DS Lennon and I will try to establish what exactly Laura had stumbled on.’
Every head in the room nodded. Laura was a popular and well-regarded workmate. Not a man or woman there would rest until she was found. They didn’t need to be convinced.
The inspector joined Ray at Laura’s desk. He’d retrieved the last file she’d been viewing, the list of Holland employees, and displayed it on the screen.
‘So, did she glean something from this list, or did somebody mention something to her in passing that jogged her memory?’ Tom said, staring at the names.
Ray shrugged heavily. ‘I rang downstairs. No calls were put through to her on her landline yesterday. She may have taken a call about something significant on her mobile. Nobody in here spoke to her about anything other than this list before she left, and that was just regarding background checks. The same information that’s on this screen.’
Tom pulled over an extra chair and they began to study the names.
They paused at the employee who’d been accused of rape, a name she’d highlighted in bold. It took thirty minutes for them to establish what Laura had yesterday – that the accusation had been for statutory rape and the charges were dropped. Laura hadn’t had a chance to write up her notes on what she’d found. They discussed for a few minutes whether she’d gone out to see the man anyway.
‘But even if she had – that man is hardly a danger,’ Tom concluded. ‘We’ll send a car out, but no. I think it was something else.’
He rubbed his eyes and leaned back from the desk.
‘I’m just going to try Sean again,’ he said. ‘He’ll want to know about this.’
Once more the phone rang out. Christ, where was the man? He tried Louise.
‘Hi, love,’ she answered.
‘Louise, Laura has gone missing.’
‘Laura? Your Laura? What do you mean?’
Tom gave her the highlights.
‘I’m trying to get hold of Sean,’ he said. ‘I need his help and he’d want to know. He’s not answering his phone so I guess he’s tied up with June. Could you do me a huge favour?’
‘I’ll go straight over and send him in. Keep me posted, Tom.’
‘I will. Thanks, pet.’
He hung up and stared at the names again.
‘That’s interesting,’ Ray said, noticing something. ‘Here, get Willie on the phone, will you?’
Tom dialled and put Willie on loudspeaker when he answered.
‘Willie, Laura’s gone missing. Ray’s here with me, he wants to check something with you.’
‘Jesus. Sure. Shoot.’
‘Willie, I know the Holland house has some mad name and is just outside Luttrell village, but what is their actual address? It’s something Row, isn’t it?’
‘Trilby Row. Riverdale is the name of the house.’
‘That’s it. Thanks.’
‘I’ll be right up,’ Willie replied. ‘I’m just parking.’
‘Look at this,’ Ray said. ‘Fergus Holland is named as a delivery driver and his address is actually a house in Luttrell Village. He doesn’t live with his folks.’
Tom was staring at the screen. Something had jumped out at him, too.
‘He has somewhere to take the women,’ Ray said, his eyes wide. ‘Maybe that’s what Laura saw.’
‘Go and check it out,’ the inspector answered. ‘I’ll wait for Willie.’
‘Why – what are you going to do?’
‘I’m just going to make a couple of calls and I’ll be right behind you. Take Bridget.’
Ray didn’t hang around to ask any more.
Tom picked up the phone and dialled a number, still looking at the computer.
‘Sergeant Doyle.’ The man answered abruptly.
‘Sergeant. It’s Detective Inspector Tom Reynolds here in Dublin. I’m wondering if you can give me some more assistance?’
‘Inspector. Good to talk to you again. I hope the information on Sergeant Healy was of help. What can I do for you now?’
‘Did one of my detectives ring you yesterday? You’ve already met her – Laura Brennan?’
‘No, I can’t say she did. I’ve no missed calls. Unless she rang the station and didn’t leave a message.’
‘I see. I’d asked her to follow up with you on Cormac Ryan. Have you had any joy tracing him?’
‘Actually, we haven’t. Backwards or forwards.’
‘You’ve lost me,’ Tom said, confused.
‘Not only can we not establish where he went when he left here, Inspector, but we can’t unearth his past either. I’ve put a lot of effort into this over the last few days. It’s been playing on my conscience, the thought that he could have taken Mary Ellen and had her in that house while I was there. We didn’t always see eye to eye but I wouldn’t have wanted to see her harmed. Nobody deserves that.’
‘No,’ the inspector said, wishing he’d hurry up.
‘Anyhow, Cormac Ryan said he moved to the area to get away from a stressful job. He told the locals that he’d worked for the Bank of Ireland. This was in 2008, in the middle of the financial meltdown. It was a credible story. But the bank has no record of a Cormac Ryan working for them at that time. They’ve a man with that name now – but he’s a completely different guy, in his early twenties. So I went down the taxi route. There, I was able to trace him back a couple of years. Well, from the point he got his licence, anyway.’
‘When was that?’ Tom asked. He’d set his team the task of tracking down Cormac Ryan’s taxi number but with all the Carney and Healy palaver, they hadn’t got around to it.
‘Two thousand five. Registered in Waterford. So that was actually his job even before he moved to the area. Anyhow, that’s where it gets sticky. I can’t find anything on him prior to 2005. It’s like Cormac Ryan didn’t exist. Then, when he leaves here, he disappears off the map. Two thousand eight is too far back to check for passenger logs on ferries or planes, but maybe he did go to Britain.’
Tom thanked Doyle and put the phone down. On the page in front of him, he’d written ‘2005, Waterford’.
Willie Callaghan had arrived and was standing in the doorway scanning the incident room and looking for the inspector.
‘Willie!’ he called and his driver approached, sitting in the chair Ray had recently vacated.
‘What do you need when applying to be a taxi driver?’ Tom asked.
Willie stroked his moustache.
‘When you’re applying to sit the SPSV test, that’s the one to get a taxi licence, you need to give them your contact details, a credit card, your public service number and your driving licence.’
‘Got any pals down in the test centre in Waterford?’
Willie had pals everywhere.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket.
‘Who are we looking up?’
‘Cormac Ryan. Got his licence in 2005.’
Willie dialled and Tom listened as he made small talk with his contact.
‘Hey, Richie, you know that fifty you owe me? Get up the yard, you remember it well – yeah, I said your man would go down in the fifth round and you said he’d win on points. That’s the one, you cheeky bastard. Well, I’m willing to let it slide but I need you to look up somebody for me. It’s urgent. Yeah. Cormac Ryan. Two thousand five. Good man. You can ring me back on this number.’
Willie put his phone down, the smile he’d forced dying on his lips.
‘He needs a few minutes.’
The inspector waited impatiently, casting his eyes around the room. His colleagues all wore worried looks, their heads bent over their desks, fingers clacking on keyboards and nearly every phone on the go.
The door opened again and Linda McCarn strode in, took one look around and made a beeline for Tom.
‘I’m here to help.’
The inspector felt momentarily panicked. If word had started to get out that he’d directed the team to look for Laura, Kennedy would hear of it and come stomping down to the incident room to set the inspector’s priorities straight. Tom was ready for him, but he’d rather not have to deal with that right now.
‘I caught your deputy on the way out,’ Linda said.
‘Ah,’ Tom breathed a sigh of relief.
‘You’re worried he’s taken her, aren’t you? Ray looks like he’s dying inside.’
Tom nodded.
‘It would be a departure from his routine,’ Linda tried to reassure him.
‘Fiona Holland would have been a break in the routine,’ he replied. ‘You said that snatching her in July could show that he’s escalating.’
The psychologist placed her hand on his shoulder, well aware of her own words and wishing and praying that she’d been wrong.
‘I’m starting to wonder,’ Tom said, ‘if Fiona Holland was taken by this guy at all. Maybe he was just waiting out the year or he has somebody we don’t know about.’
Willie’s phone sprang to life on the desk, causing all three to jump. He’d recorded his grandchildren laughing while he tickled them, so the ringtone was one of manic giggles.
‘Sorry,’ he said, answering it quickly.
‘Richie. What? Yes, that’s excellent. Okay … I see. That is interesting. Email it up to me, will you? Good man. No, don’t worry, it’s for DI Tom Reynolds, head of the murder squad. You won’t get into trouble and if we need to, we’ll sort out a warrant. Yeah, maybe I will take your offer up. I wouldn’t be the first copper to moonlight with a bit of taxi driving.’
Willie hung up and turned to the computer.
‘How do you work this thing?’ he said, unfamiliar with Macs.
Tom pulled up Safari for him and showed him where to type in his email account. Willie entered his Yahoo! ID. They waited for another moment until a new email suddenly appeared in his inbox, file attached.
‘So, Richie spotted an anomaly,’ Willie explained, as they waited for the document to download. ‘The licence application was for a part-time plate. This Cormac Ryan fella had another job. But that wasn’t all. It turns out he had a different name too. His public service number was in one name and his ID in another.’
‘Then how on earth did he get the licence?’ Tom asked.
‘It was legit. He had a double-barrelled surname and two first names. For ease, he must have started using just his first and last name and that was on his ID. I’d say he was from some posh family, with that many names.’
Willie found the document in the download file and opened it.
Tom ran his eyes over the details, stopping at the most important part.
Cormac Ryan’s full name.
The blood drained from his face.
‘Are you okay?’ Linda asked, alarmed.
Tom shook his head.
He’d never been less okay.
It had all been an act, and they’d been taken in.
They’d let him walk away and go back to Fiona.
And now he probably had Laura too.