The Lost Child (Detective Lottie Parker #3)(104)

‘Nope. King.’

‘King?’ Boyd rushed over to Kirby’s desk and took the page from him. ‘Any relation to Carrie King?’

Kirby held up another page. ‘Kitty King had a child before she was married, called Carrie. Born out of wedlock, as they used to say.’

Boyd said, ‘What happened to Carrie?’

‘Have a look at the printouts on your desk. Records from St Declan’s Asylum.’

Boyd sat down and scanned through the documents, his mind swirling with thoughts of Lottie. God, he hoped she was okay.

‘Carrie King was in and out of St Declan’s for most of her life,’ Kirby said.

Looking up, Boyd said, ‘These are just for the seventies. How do you know she was in and out all her life?’

‘I rang the HSE records office, pulled in a few favours. They’ve emailed me the relevant pages. From what I can see, Carrie King was incarcerated in that hellhole in the sixties until she was nineteen and on two other occasions in the seventies. I’ve also traced that she lived in the cottage that was burned down the other day.’

‘Let me get this straight,’ Boyd said. ‘Kitty Belfield was Carrie’s mother. So did Tessa help cover up Carrie’s indiscretions? If so, she was paid in land by the Belfields. Kitty did say land was currency.’

‘And Marian Russell’s mother was Carrie and Mick O’Dowd was her father.’

‘Therefore O’Dowd was Emma’s grandfather,’ Boyd said.

‘That’s the way it looks,’ Kirby said.

‘But signing over all their land in payment?’ Boyd scratched his head. ‘What exactly did Tessa have to do?’

‘Look at the two entries I’ve highlighted in the St Declan’s records.’

Boyd flipped over the page. ‘Carrie was signed into St Declan’s in 1973 by Tessa Ball and… Jesus, Kirby!’

‘I know. The town sergeant. Lottie’s dad, Peter Fitzpatrick. Read on.’

‘Signed out by Peter Fitzpatrick and Kitty Belfield. Okay, so she spent a couple of months inside that time.’

‘Yes. Having already spent most of her childhood there. Now read on.’

‘Another order was signed by Tessa Ball in November 1974 and Carrie was sectioned again. No record of a release date. Why?’

‘She tried to burn down the cottage with her twins inside,’ Kirby said.

‘Jesus, Kirby, this isn’t straightforward at all.’ Boyd marched around the office, pulling at his chin. ‘Last night we found an old file in Moroney’s house. The name on the cover was Peter Fitzpatrick. Maybe it relates to the incarceration of Carrie King. Carrie gave birth to Marian. And now you say she also had twins. What happened to them?’

Kirby checked his notes. ‘I don’t know. I’ve just had a chat with my old friend Buzz Flynn and he told me they were born about a year after she was released from St Declan’s the first time.’

Boyd shook his head. ‘This is a bit of a minefield, isn’t it?’

‘Yup.’

‘I think the Belfields, because they were well off, thought they were above placing Carrie in a mother-and-baby home.’

‘And the asylum was the lesser of two evils?’

‘Seems that way. They were prepared to shed their wealth to keep their family lunacy hidden.’

‘But why?’ Kirby said.

‘This was the early seventies. Things were different then. Rich families didn’t like to have their dirty linen washed in public.’

‘So they locked away their shame in the asylum.’

‘Did Kitty have just the one child? Carrie.’

‘Nope,’ Kirby said, and waved another page. ‘After she married Stan, she had another daughter—’

The door pushed open and McMahon rushed in. ‘Brady’s been talking.’

‘We’re in the middle of sorting this mystery out,’ Boyd said, without raising his head.

‘Yes, but you’re going to want to hear this. I know who killed Tessa Ball and abducted Marian Russell.’ McMahon shoved his hands into his pockets and stuck out his chest.

‘Lorcan Brady and Jerome Quinn?’

‘They killed no one. They were paid to abduct the two women. But the person who was bankrolling them, that’s who did the killing.’

‘Go on then, tell us,’ Boyd said.

‘You’re not going to believe it…’





Ninety-Five





With cans stacked behind her and the hose strategically near her hand, Lottie resumed the position she had been left in by her abductor. She didn’t have long to wait.

The screech of a bolt being shot back and the door at the top of the staircase opening caused the hairs on her arms to stand to attention. She was in pain, but ready. Shielding her eyes from the light, she made out the silhouette of a slight figure coming down the stairs.

‘Natasha.’

‘Don’t say anything. Just be quiet and you won’t get hurt.’

Lottie laughed. She couldn’t help it.

‘Natasha, how are you involved in this?’

‘I’m bringing you some food, so shut up and eat. You don’t want her coming down. She’s in a bad mood and that’s not good.’ She placed a tray on the ground, four feet from where Lottie sat.