Lake of Sorrows

Cormac ran one hand through his uncombed hair and looked over at Nora. Her stomach leapt, knowing what he’d have to say, but Cormac didn’t seem tense at all. “After midnight, maybe about twenty past, Michael Scully rang. His daughter hadn’t come home all evening, and he was worried.”

“We went over to the house right away,” Nora said. “Michael was quite agitated, so I stayed with him while Cormac tried to find Brona.” Was it her imagination, she wondered, or did Ward’s reaction to this news seem a bit odd? She said, “I don’t know if you know the Scullys, Detective.”

Ward cut her off, saying in a low voice, “Yes, I know them. Michael Scully is my father-in-law.” Nora had a sudden vision of a slender form slipping silently beneath clear water, and grasped that Michael Scully’s elder daughter must have been Ward’s wife. He would know all about Brona’s silence. Her face burned and she felt ashamed for being so obtuse. Ward looked away for a moment, then calmly resumed his questioning of Cormac. “Where did you go looking for Brona?”

“I started behind the house, just cutting through the pastures. I’d seen her once before near a whitethorn tree at the top of the hill, so I thought I’d try there first. I didn’t go down to the lake.”

“Did you have a torch? Did you call out? What I mean to ask is whether anyone might have seen or heard you.”

“I don’t know. I did have a torch, and I did call for her, but I doubt whether anyone heard me.”

“How long did you carry on the search?”

“I suppose about an hour or so, maybe an hour and a quarter. I didn’t really pay attention to the time.”

“So from about one o’clock to approximately two-fifteen. And you eventually found her?”

“Yes. She was hiding in the top branches of the whitethorn tree I mentioned. It’s in the clearing on top of the hill behind Ursula’s house. I shone my light up into the tree, and she let go a branch that hit me square in the forehead. That’s how I got this.” He indicated the raised reddish bump near his hairline. Brennan noted all this in her book.

“Why would the girl attack you like that?” Ward asked.

“I don’t know. She seemed terribly frightened, as though someone had been after her and she thought it might have been me. I tried explaining that her father had sent me to look for her, that I couldn’t leave there without her. I just kept talking, and eventually she calmed down and came along with me. We got back to the house between two-thirty and three.”

“And then what happened?”

“After we’d got Michael and Brona settled, and all their doors and windows locked, we came home again and went to sleep. It had been a very long night. I think I fell asleep just after dawn, maybe around five.”

“Did you see anyone besides Brona Scully when you were searching?”

“No. I didn’t see anyone. Look, I didn’t have anything to do with any murder—last night or any other night.”

“Nevertheless,” Ward said, “I’m afraid we’ll have to ask you to answer a few more questions down at the station.”

Cormac stood up, resignation visible in his face and posture. “I suppose the sooner I go in, the sooner you’ll be finished with me.”

“We would appreciate your cooperation.”

Despite the strong sunshine, the wind was brisk when they went outside. “Can I just get my jacket from the car?” Cormac asked, and Detective Ward gave a quick nod.

Cormac opened the jeep’s rear compartment to retrieve his anorak, and Brennan stepped up behind him.

“That yours?” she asked.

“Is what mine?” Cormac’s voice was muffled as he slid the anorak over his head.

“That,” Brennan said.

Cormac’s eyes went cold, and Nora and Ward stepped forward as Brennan pointed to a rucksack, nearly hidden by the site tools in the back of the jeep. A shiny pink fabric heart hung from its zipper.

Brennan’s eyebrows arched as she looked at Ward and lifted the rucksack out of the boot. She unzipped the main compartment and opened it. Inside the flap was an address label, filled in with Rachel Briscoe’s name and address.

“Wait a minute. I’ve never seen that rucksack before,” Cormac protested. “And I don’t know how it got there. I don’t believe this—”

Brennan opened the car door for him. “We can talk about all of this down at the station,” she said.

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