Alex Barclay - Darkhouse

‘Oh, sorry, Donnie, I shouldn’t have said anything,’ she said. ‘I’m sure you’ll be just fine.’

‘Let me tell you, if I find those high school brats, I’ll take my rifle to them.’

Donnie shot a look at Duke.

‘Goin’ around, preying on young boys like that,’ added Wanda.

‘I know,’ said Geoff, trying to settle his eyes on Donnie. ‘Coulda been burnt alive up there.’ He turned back to Wanda.

‘Mighty kind of you to bring him home,’ he said.

‘No trouble at all,’ said Wanda, shaking her head too much.

‘Think we should call the police?’ he asked on his way back up the steps.

‘No!’ said Duke. Everyone looked at him. He hesitated. ‘The Lord will, uh... sinners will be, uh, will pay for their sins.’

Donnie snickered.

‘Well, how’s about that?’ said Geoff. ‘Raisin’ yourself a minister, there.’ He chuckled. Wanda gave a loud hollow laugh.

The coffee shop was filled with the smell of bacon and eggs. D.I. O’Connor sat opposite Frank Deegan, his PDA open on the table in front of him. A young waitress came over to take their order, smiling nervously at them, hovering before she walked away.

‘You’d want to be careful,’ said Frank, ‘or you’ll have the whole parish listening in.’

‘It’s always the way,’ said O’Connor. He looked up. ‘How do you think Richie’s getting on? I mean, it’s plunging him in at the deep end really. One minute, parking tickets, pickpockets and checkpoints. Next minute, this.’

‘Not much different to any of us, really,’ said Frank. ‘I don’t know. Richie’s grand. He’s a serious lad for his age, a bit uptight, that’s all. He’s working hard though. I think he’ll surprise us.’

‘Fair enough,’ said O’Connor. ‘He’s very... intense.’

‘I think I know why,’ said Frank. ‘I don’t know the whole story, but a young friend of his, Justin Dwyer, drowned when he was about eight or nine. Richie was there at the time. Apparently, he had an awful time trying to save him, but...’ He shook his head. ‘Richie’s a lad that will do something about Katie. I think the guilt over that little guy has stayed with him for years. He won’t want to feel that again.’

O’Connor nodded. ‘I’ve been having a think about Katie’s interests and whether or not they’ve got anything do with this.’ He read from a list on the small screen of the PDA: hanging out with her friends, reading, movies, singing, music, computer games.

‘Friends? Well, we have their statements. Reading? I think it’s safe to say there’s nothing untoward there. Movies? She could have gone in to Waterford to see something, but it would have been too late that time of the night. OK. Singing or music. Could there have been an audition on somewhere she would have gone to that her mother wouldn’t have allowed? One of those pop star things? Maybe someone promised her something, a career...’

‘She wouldn’t have fallen for anything like that.’

‘What if it was someone she knew?’

‘I still don’t think so. Who?’

‘Anyone. Someone’s brother, cousin, friend...’

‘She sang in a folk group in mass,’ said Frank patiently. ‘And in school concerts. She wasn’t Tina Turner.’ He leaned back in his seat and stretched his arms behind his head.

The waitress reappeared, setting mugs and teapots carefully down in front of them.

‘Thanks,’ said O’Connor. He pressed at the corners of his eyes, blinking slowly.

‘What about the Internet?’ he said, pouring each of them a cup of tea. ‘Could she have come in contact with someone online? Maybe gone to meet them?’

Frank shook his head.

O’Connor shrugged his shoulders. ‘She’s sixteen, it’s easy for a girl like that to be flattered.’

‘Maybe. If she wasn’t a pretty, intelligent, happy girl with a handsome young boyfriend.’

‘But some girls might like the mystery—’

‘Not Katie.’

‘I’m thinking out loud here. I’m not really expecting you to answer all my questions. I know you’re familiar with these kids, but I doubt they’re going to be keeping you up to speed.’

‘They don’t have to. It’s obvious what they’re like. I’ve known them for years.’

‘I’m running some things by you, that’s all.’

‘Look, you can talk to some of her friends yourself — Ali Danaher and Robert Harrington would be the main two — but they’ll probably tell you the same thing. What you see is what you get with Katie.’

‘Well, what I’m left with is drugs, pregnancy...’

Frank was shaking his head again. ‘Unfortunately, what I’m left with is something a lot worse than that. It’s been two weeks...’

O’Connor sat quietly, then picked up his PDA again and ran his stylus down the screen.

‘So you still think suicide—’

‘Is not and never should have been a possibility,’ said Frank. ‘I’ve been surprised by suicides in my day, but I’d stake my own life on it that she would never do a thing like that. Katie Lawson did not do something to herself. I’m afraid something was done to her.’

Shaun was staring into space. Robert was in front of the television playing Spiderman. Anna stuck her head in the door and shouted. ‘I’m going to Martha’s.’

‘Damn that web slinging,’ said Robert. Without even looking, Shaun knew his friend was whipping the controller from side to side.

‘You know that doesn’t help,’ said Shaun. ‘The flailing.’

‘Shut it,’ said Robert. ‘I’ve been on this level eight times. Eight.’

‘Give it to me,’ said Shaun, taking the controller. ‘You have to do this.’

Web fluid shot from Spiderman’s wrists, carrying him from building to building. Then he twisted mid-air until he picked up the extra energy that floated between two skyscrapers.

‘Doesn’t help me,’ said Robert. ‘I have no idea what you just did.’ Shaun threw the instruction manual at him and kept playing.

Ali Danaher was surprised by her brief flicker of panic as she led D.I. O’Connor into the living room. She sat on the sofa. He was swallowed into a battered armchair beside her and left sitting lower down. She held back a smile.

‘I know you’ve been asked a lot of questions already,’ said O’Connor, pulling himself forward to the edge of the seat, ‘but I just want to get a few things clearer in my head. I’m trying to get a sense of Katie. What kind of person is she?’

‘She’s a sweetheart.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes. One of those rare babes-who-don’t-know-it. And she has a huge brain... which makes me wonder.’

‘What?’

‘Well, why she’s gone.’

‘Any theories?’

‘No. But I can’t wait to find out.’ She gave a wry smile.

‘Was she impulsive?’

‘Sometimes, but never rash, if that’s what you’re getting at.’

‘Would you call her an extrovert?’

‘Ish. I mean, she wasn’t shy, but she wasn’t in-your-face either.’

‘Would she be likely to talk to people she didn’t know?’

‘I’m the one who talks to randomers. And she’ll talk to whoever I end up talking to.’

‘Is this in Mountcannon?’

‘There are no strangers in Mountcannon. I’m talking about when we go into town.’

‘Is Katie gullible?’

‘Are intelligent people usually gullible?’

‘Does she go online?’

‘Yes. Not a lot, though.’

‘What kind of sites?’

‘Bomb-making, usually.’

O’Connor waited patiently.

‘Music downloads, horoscopes, school stuff, entertainment, cinema listings,’ said Ali.

‘Does she go into chatrooms?’

‘Ew. Freaksville. No.’