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Broken Silence: A tense psychological thriller

Page 21

by Fran McDonnell


  Alanna drove out past the hospital again and at the second set of lights took a left. Further down on the left was a line of newly built houses. Isobel had monitored the transformation from shell to beautiful town houses as she drove past on her way to the hospital.

  Alanna pulled into her driveway.

  Isobel gestured with her hand towards the house. “Beautiful. Recent.”

  Alanna smiled. “Moved recently, married recently, new baby recently.”

  Isobel grinned. “A lot.”

  “Thank God my wife is a very capable woman.”

  Her wife, thought Isobel. That was a surprise.

  Alanna locked the car and opened the front door, leading the way through the hall to a door facing them. It swung open and a tall blonde woman stood in the doorway.

  “Thank God.” She moved forward and embraced Alanna, kissing her warmly.

  Alanna said, “This is Isobel. She has had quite an evening. And this is my wife, Zoe.”

  Isobel could hear the pride in her voice.

  Zoe stepped forward and Isobel found herself embraced in a warm and caring hug.

  “Alanna told me earlier what had happened. Poor you. I have some iced water for you. It might help your throat. There’s a hot-water bottle in the bed. You need a good rest.” Zoe ushered them into the kitchen.

  Isobel could feel the warmth wrapping around her. She was really tired. “Thank you. You’re very kind.”

  “Nonsense. You’ve been helping Alanna with this case trying to catch this, this …” her hands balled into fists, “this Shadow. If he attacked you maybe he knows you’re getting close. Maybe he’ll soon be behind bars.”

  Alanna reached out to Zoe. “Soon, honey, I promise.”

  “I hope so. You know I worry about how much some of these cases take out of you.”

  Alanna said, “I’m fine.”

  “Working too hard and not sleeping enough.”

  Alanna shrugged. “Let me show you to your room, Isobel. If Daniel, our son, cries do your best to ignore it. He’s usually very good.”

  Wearily Isobel followed Alanna up the stairs and into the guest bedroom.

  “What age is Daniel?”

  Alanna smiled looking towards the box room. “Six months. Zoe and I really wanted a child and Zoe was able to persuade an old boyfriend of hers to help us and here we are. Zoe loved being pregnant.”

  Isobel smiled too.

  “You’ll meet Daniel in the morning. He loves a new audience. Will you be alright? Will you be able to sleep?”

  Isobel shrugged. “Will you?”

  Alanna sat down on the edge of the bed. Isobel sat down beside her. “Zoe worries because when I’m on a bad case I start having nightmares and not sleeping.”

  “Oh?”

  Alanna made a face then turned to study the print on the wall, a collage of colours in a sweeping abstract swirl. “I start dreaming about the nights my father came in drunk and beat my mother.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Alanna nodded. “When I got older, I wanted her to leave, to get away, to be safe. But she couldn’t leave him. The day I joined the gardaí, I told him that if he ever touched her again I would arrest him and make sure he never saw the light of day again. He hasn’t touched her since.” Alanna turned to Isobel. “Zoe thinks that I want to protect women from men like that, that I take it too personally. Maybe I do. But it should be uncomfortable and upsetting to know that people are being abused, victimised and murdered. And it’s normal to want to do something about it.”

  Isobel nodded.

  “I know we’re closer to catching this guy. The DNA from the samples you got means at last we have some admissible evidence. Now we need to join up all the dots.”

  Isobel arched her eyebrows. “And find him.”

  Alanna grinned. She pointed towards Isobel. “Magnet,” then towards herself, “Magnet.”

  Isobel laughed in spite of herself.

  “The haystack is getting sifted.”

  Isobel giggled and Alanna joined her. Zoe put her head around the door, smiling at them. Alanna grinned at her and stood up. “Get some rest. We’re going to have a busy day tomorrow.”

  Isobel changed quickly into a T-shirt that had been left on the bed. She swallowed some of the iced water gratefully and then took another arnica tablet. Curling up on her side, her favourite position to sleep, the events of the day rolled out in her mind. She curled her arms across her body and a few tears slid silently down her cheeks.

  She could hardly believe all that had happened today. How had The Shadow found her? Had he attacked women in Killaloe before? Were there more victims that they had heard nothing about? That brought a bad taste to her mouth. Or had he followed her out to her favourite walkway because she was involved in the investigation? That brought a shiver and Isobel hunched her shoulders and curled up tighter. She could feel fear snaking through her system. Could she feel secure again if they did not find The Shadow or would she always be looking over her shoulder, afraid that he might be there?

  This was similar to how all of the women she had talked to felt. Despite Alanna’s positive assertions Isobel wondered how close they really were to finding this guy. While they had a sample of his DNA now, maybe two, if it matched Nicky’s sample, that was no help if he wasn’t in the system. She thought back to the moments when he had grabbed her. It frightened her how close she had come to death but she realised even as he squeezed, a rage had come up in her, a desire to live fuelled by the confidence Martin had given her. All the scenarios he had played out with her had kicked in. She also knew that talking to Emer, Sarah, Brenda and Kate had fuelled an anger, a rage, against the perpetrator that propelled her to scratch him even as she wounded him to gain her freedom. As the anger washed through her system again and then ebbed she felt her body let go and she drifted off to sleep.

  In her dream Isobel met a man dressed in black. His clothes were flowing and billowing around him, like a magician’s cloak.

  Beside him was a table. He was looking down at what was on the table. He picked up a small item bringing it close to his face and smiling lovingly.

  As he reached forward the wide arms of the sleeves rode up and Isobel could see the cuff of a white shirt. There was a red stripe on the white cuff.

  After a few moments of examining his treasure the man set it back on the table and took up another item. Again he smiled, holding the object against his cheek.

  There were ten or fifteen items on the table but Isobel could not see what they were.

  The man dressed in black surveyed his treasures and then noticed the cuff of his shirt. The red stripe on his cuff started to grow wider. The man rubbed at it but it continued to expand. The red ring grew wider until it took over the cuff completely.

  He pushed back the other sleeve. The second cuff was also red. The man stared at them a look of horror on his face.

  Suddenly the two cuffs pulled together. The man grimaced as he worked to pull his wrists apart. Increasingly desperate he wrestled but he couldn’t budge them.

  After struggling unsuccessfully for some minutes he lay over the table, his two wrists tight together, covering his treasures with his body.

  Chapter 36

  Thursday 27th June

  Isobel woke from her dreams with the image of the red ring on the shirt cuff imprinted on her brain. Its relationship to the scratch she had given The Shadow was easy. The idea of the figure and his treasures bounced around in her mind as she washed and dressed.

  When the doorbell rang at eight o’clock, Isobel was sitting at the island in the kitchen with Alanna and Zoe being charmed by Daniel’s smiles and chuckles.

  Alanna went to answer the door.

  Zoe shook her head. “This is Alanna’s other wife now.”

  “Who?” Isobel asked, puzzled.

  Eoin came in a moment later, bearing a paper bag.

  Alanna followed saying, “You’d better have my favourite bun.”

  Zoe stood up
, smiling. “Hi, Eoin. I was telling Isobel that you were the competition.”

  Eoin laughed. “No contest. You win hands down.”

  Zoe shook her head. “Not in the time stakes.”

  Eoin nodded. “I know. It’s been bad recently.”

  Zoe punched him gently. “Hurry up and get this guy so that I can have my evenings back.”

  Eoin saluted. “Will do.”

  “And look after my girl.”

  “Always.”

  Zoe lifted Daniel out of his high chair. “Time for us to go for a walk, Buster.”

  Daniel grinned happily at her.

  Alanna poured coffee for Eoin and refills for herself and Isobel. They sat on the high stools around the island.

  “How did you sleep, Isobel?” Eoin asked.

  “Not bad. Some mad dreams but that’s normal for me.”

  “They didn’t reveal the identity of the Shadow, did they?”

  Isobel shook her head.

  “Your voice is much better today.”

  Isobel nodded. “It’s definitely not as hard to swallow today.”

  Alanna put her hands on her hips. “Well, have you got interviews lined up for us, Eoin?”

  Eoin shrugged at Isobel. “She’s such a slave driver, no time for social niceties.”

  Isobel grinned.

  “Mark Brady isn’t being released until lunchtime today. Obviously, he was in custody when Isobel was attacked. Isobel is adamant that her attacker had on the rubber suit.” He inclined his head towards Isobel. “And the modus operandi of strangling is the same as The Shadow.”

  Isobel said, “I’m convinced it was The Shadow.”

  Alanna nodded.

  Eoin frowned. “Yeah, me too. So that confirms that Mark Brady is in the clear.”

  Alanna said, “We knew that already.”

  “The Super is going to make that clear when he’s released. The attack on Isobel, well, apart from the man whose car you stopped, who was sworn to secrecy, no one realised what was happening. Thankfully you kept your head down, Isobel, so there are no identifying photographs of you. I’ve spoken to Colette. She’s going to get back to me about whether we should go public with this attack. I’m not sure if that will make you more of a target or safer. Assistant Commissioner Bradley is asking the same question of Gregory Hayes.” Eoin rolled his eyes. “I’d prefer to follow Colette’s advice but we’ll see what they both say.” He took a deep breath. “Anyway, all of that means that we have about four hours to interview these suspects while they are under the illusion that someone else is in the frame.”

  Isobel said, “You’re really convinced that it’s one of them?”

  He pursed his lips. “No, but I am convinced about the connection between these women and the basketball club. It’s the most credible lead we have. These three men are suspects, to be eliminated, if they are innocent or, you never know, today we may find The Shadow and, with your DNA sample, we will be able to nail him. We are definitely on the right track, it’s just a matter of time.”

  Isobel nodded and glanced at Alanna.

  Alanna said, “OK, where, and who, are we off to first?”

  Eoin said, “That honour goes to Ian Costello, the coach of the basketball team. He’s one of the founders of the club and a teacher at the local school in Corbally.” He rubbed his hands together. “So, we’re going to school to pull the teacher out of class.”

  Alanna shook her head at Isobel. “Little amuses the simple.”

  Eoin laughed. “You’ve got to enjoy what you do.”

  Isobel’s phone rang. “It’s Patricia.”

  Alanna said, “Take it,” as she and Eoin stood and moved over to the sink with their cups.

  Isobel said, “Hi. This is an early morning call.”

  “Are you alright? Alanna told me what happened.”

  Isobel frowned. “Alanna told you?”

  Alanna swung round to face Isobel. There was no apology or embarrassment in her look.

  “She was worried about you.” Patricia said with a sob. “She needed to let someone know what had happened to you. Thank God you were able to defend yourself.”

  “I’m fine, thanks to you.”

  “Are you really OK?”

  Isobel took a deep breath. “My throat isn’t so bad today. I’m a bit shook up but I stayed at Alanna’s last night so I slept well.”

  “Yes, Alanna said that your throat was very sore and to leave it until today to ring.”

  “I’m fine, Patricia. A bit shaken up but very grateful that I had been on the course and that I had my Nordic sticks with me. Those two things are what saved me.”

  “Take it easy today.”

  “I’m going with Eoin and Alanna to do some interviews now so I’ll call you again later.”

  “OK. Stay Safe.”

  “Bye.”

  Isobel rejoined the others.

  “I rang Patricia last night from the hospital to let her know what had happened to you,” Alanna told her.

  Isobel nodded. “Thank you.”

  “You were hardly in a position to let anyone know and it would probably have scared them to hear you croaking at them. I thought it was better if I did it.”

  “Yes.”

  “Anyway, we have to look after our helper and collector of DNA.”

  Isobel grinned. “I know. And you provide bed and breakfast as well, above and beyond the call of duty.”

  Alanna laughed. “Are we ready to go then?”

  “I have one quick thing I need to do. I won’t be long.”

  Isobel climbed the stairs and sat down on her bed. Her picture had been on the internet yesterday in relation to the case and despite Eoin’s reassurances that the story of her attack wouldn’t be leaked, she wasn’t sure if she believed that. Not alone that but the story could end up in the news anyway and she would rather tell her family herself. She could imagine their dread, their fear, hearing about all of this and she suspected that they would struggle to understand her desire to help in the case but they needed to know what was going on. Taking a deep breath Isobel called her sister.

  “Hi, Jo.”

  “It’s not like you to be making breakfast calls, is everything alright?”

  “Well …”

  “You don’t sound too sure. What’s happened?”

  “Jo, I’ve been helping the gardaí here with a case and …”

  “Is that the woman’s body that you found?”

  “And last night when I was out walking, I got attacked.”

  “Oh my God!”

  “I’m alright. I’m fine.”

  “I saw online that another woman’s body had been found near a walking path. Is it the man who killed her that attacked you? Oh God, what have you got yourself into?”

  “Jo, I’m absolutely fine.”

  “Why were you walking in such a dangerous place?”

  “Jo, listen to me. I was walking in a different place.”

  “Why did he attack you? Was it because you found the body?”

  “That and the fact that I have been helping the gardaí.”

  “This doesn’t seem real. This is like something out of a movie. What are you doing putting yourself in danger?”

  Isobel could feel herself getting angry and her voice took on a more forceful tone. “Jo, listen to me. At the moment no woman walking in this city is safe. I found a body. Then without trying to, I found out about another woman who had been attacked while walking and raped.”

  Jo whispered. “Raped?”

  “Yes, raped. And before I knew it I had found two more rape victims, with likely the same attacker. I had to tell the gardaí. I didn’t ask to be on this case. This case has found me and I can’t walk away.”

  “Isobel … did he rape you?”

  “No. No.”

  “But you’re in danger now.”

  “I stayed with one of the detectives last night.”

  “Do you want me to come over and stay with you?”


  “No. No. I’ll be fine.”

  “What about tonight?”

  Isobel crossed her fingers. “I’ll stay with her again.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course. The gardaí can protect me.” She hoped this was true. “I’m just telling you in person in case there is something in the papers today. I don’t want you to worry.”

  “How can we not worry?”

  “Because I will be looked after now. I’m going to be fine and, so help me, we are going to catch this guy.”

  “Has he attacked many women?”

  “Yes, we think so.”

  “That’s awful.”

  “Yes. It is. Jo, I promise I will take extra care of myself but please understand I couldn’t not help.” Isobel could hear Jo crying.

  “I understand. I’m worried about you and your safety but I understand. One of my friends in college was raped and, well, she changed. It affected her whole life from that point on.”

  “Exactly. I had a couple of friends in college as well and, Jo, the women I’ve spoken to … they break my heart.”

  “I do understand. Be careful. I’m behind you one hundred per cent.”

  “Thanks, Sis.”

  “Let me know when you get him.”

  “I will.”

  “Love you.”

  “Bye.”

  Isobel took a deep breath. Now she was ready for the interviews.

  Chapter 37

  Corbally school was quiet as they made their way to the principal’s office. Eoin and Alanna flashed their identification and they were immediately ushered into Mr. Sheehy’s room by a worried secretary. Eoin smiled as he closed the door on her.

  “Mr. Sheehy. I am Detective Inspector Eoin Ryan. This is Detective Sergeant Finnegan. We need to interview Ian Costello immediately. Can you have him brought to a room where we can talk to him, please?”

  “What is this in connection with?”

  Eoin deadpanned. “Mr. Costello is helping us with our enquiries.”

  Mr. Sheehy looked at each of them. His eyes lingered on Isobel. “I recognise you. There was a picture of you on the local news webpage. You found the body. This is about that murder.”

  Eoin raised his voice. “I want to speak to Ian Costello. Now.”

 

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