saved her from the worst of it.’
‘Yes, no, you’re right, but I don’t have any idea why it didn’t. It only takes one twenty-fifth of a second for an airbag to inflate fully from the moment of impact, but maybe the blast was faster, who knows?’
Now Detective Sergeant Ni Nuallán came climbing up the ramp, followed by three more firefighters carrying Holmatro hydraulic cutters, as well as a petrol-driven generator and hoses. She stopped for a moment to look into the spider-like wreckage of the Renault, then she joined Katie and Inspector Fennessy.
‘How is she?’ she asked. The firefighters had now freed Garda McCracken’s seat from the floor of the Mondeo and two of them were slowly inching it backwards. Garda McCracken let out a muffled mewling sound behind her oxygen mask, but that was all.
‘I’m praying for her,’ said Katie. ‘To be truthful, though, I’m not holding out much hope. Father Burney’s on his way from Holy Trinity.’
‘Oh, Jesus. That’s so sad. She’s always so happy out. And such a future ahead of her. I always thought she was going to be another you.’
‘How’s the surveillance going?’ asked Katie. ‘Did you see the suspect leave the shopping centre? That fellow in the black baseball cap, with the scarf around his face?’
Detective Sergeant Ni Nuallán shook her head. ‘Tony Brennan’s still watching out for any sign of him, and he’s going to run through all of the recordings for Merchants Quay and Patrick Street immediately prior to the bomb going off, and immediately afterwards. But by the time I left we still hadn’t spotted him, or anybody else carrying a bag big enough to fit all that money into.’
‘Well, that’s just grand,’ said Katie. ‘There’s so many different ways he could have taken out of the building. He could have gone through Dunne’s Stores, or Marks & Spencer, and there’s a service door on Merchants Quay. It’s likely that he changed his clothes, too, and that he had more than one accomplice to split up the money and carry it in smaller bags. We have no idea who he was, or what he looked like, or where he went.’
‘There might be some forensics in the car,’ said Detective Sergeant Ni Nuallán.
‘We’ll be able to find out what explosive he used, C-4 or Semtex probably, but that’s about all. He took his own bag away with the money in it, so there won’t be any traces of that. And he was wearing gloves.’
Katie was watching as Garda McCracken’s seat was pulled back as far as it would go. Dark red blood was beginning to soak through the front of her sweater with alarming speed, and the paramedic took out a pair of surgical scissors to cut the fabric.
Detective Sergeant Ni Nuallán, though, was watching Katie and trying to read the expression on her face. ‘What are you thinking?’ she said.
‘I think you know very well what I’m thinking,’ said Katie, still without taking her eyes off Garda McCracken. ‘I’m thinking that our abductors weren’t just being wide about the possibility that we were keeping them under surveillance.’
‘Somebody tipped them off?’
‘It must have been more than just a tip-off. I think they knew exactly how we planned to keep track of them. If our suspect wasn’t aware that Garda McCracken was following close behind him, why did he blow up Shelagh Hagerty’s car? It doesn’t make any sense otherwise. What would be the point?’
‘But why blow it up at all?’ asked Detective Sergeant Ni Nuallán. ‘He could have just climbed out and hopped off.’
‘No – I’ll tell you something else about these characters,’ said Katie. ‘They’re out to show us that they’re highly dangerous and they’re not to be messed with. And do you know why I think that is? I think they’re planning to do this again.’
‘Do you think they’re the same people who killed Micky Crounan?’
‘It wouldn’t surprise me at all. And it wouldn’t surprise me if we never saw Derek Hagerty
‘Yes, no, you’re right, but I don’t have any idea why it didn’t. It only takes one twenty-fifth of a second for an airbag to inflate fully from the moment of impact, but maybe the blast was faster, who knows?’
Now Detective Sergeant Ni Nuallán came climbing up the ramp, followed by three more firefighters carrying Holmatro hydraulic cutters, as well as a petrol-driven generator and hoses. She stopped for a moment to look into the spider-like wreckage of the Renault, then she joined Katie and Inspector Fennessy.
‘How is she?’ she asked. The firefighters had now freed Garda McCracken’s seat from the floor of the Mondeo and two of them were slowly inching it backwards. Garda McCracken let out a muffled mewling sound behind her oxygen mask, but that was all.
‘I’m praying for her,’ said Katie. ‘To be truthful, though, I’m not holding out much hope. Father Burney’s on his way from Holy Trinity.’
‘Oh, Jesus. That’s so sad. She’s always so happy out. And such a future ahead of her. I always thought she was going to be another you.’
‘How’s the surveillance going?’ asked Katie. ‘Did you see the suspect leave the shopping centre? That fellow in the black baseball cap, with the scarf around his face?’
Detective Sergeant Ni Nuallán shook her head. ‘Tony Brennan’s still watching out for any sign of him, and he’s going to run through all of the recordings for Merchants Quay and Patrick Street immediately prior to the bomb going off, and immediately afterwards. But by the time I left we still hadn’t spotted him, or anybody else carrying a bag big enough to fit all that money into.’
‘Well, that’s just grand,’ said Katie. ‘There’s so many different ways he could have taken out of the building. He could have gone through Dunne’s Stores, or Marks & Spencer, and there’s a service door on Merchants Quay. It’s likely that he changed his clothes, too, and that he had more than one accomplice to split up the money and carry it in smaller bags. We have no idea who he was, or what he looked like, or where he went.’
‘There might be some forensics in the car,’ said Detective Sergeant Ni Nuallán.
‘We’ll be able to find out what explosive he used, C-4 or Semtex probably, but that’s about all. He took his own bag away with the money in it, so there won’t be any traces of that. And he was wearing gloves.’
Katie was watching as Garda McCracken’s seat was pulled back as far as it would go. Dark red blood was beginning to soak through the front of her sweater with alarming speed, and the paramedic took out a pair of surgical scissors to cut the fabric.
Detective Sergeant Ni Nuallán, though, was watching Katie and trying to read the expression on her face. ‘What are you thinking?’ she said.
‘I think you know very well what I’m thinking,’ said Katie, still without taking her eyes off Garda McCracken. ‘I’m thinking that our abductors weren’t just being wide about the possibility that we were keeping them under surveillance.’
‘Somebody tipped them off?’
‘It must have been more than just a tip-off. I think they knew exactly how we planned to keep track of them. If our suspect wasn’t aware that Garda McCracken was following close behind him, why did he blow up Shelagh Hagerty’s car? It doesn’t make any sense otherwise. What would be the point?’
‘But why blow it up at all?’ asked Detective Sergeant Ni Nuallán. ‘He could have just climbed out and hopped off.’
‘No – I’ll tell you something else about these characters,’ said Katie. ‘They’re out to show us that they’re highly dangerous and they’re not to be messed with. And do you know why I think that is? I think they’re planning to do this again.’
‘Do you think they’re the same people who killed Micky Crounan?’
‘It wouldn’t surprise me at all. And it wouldn’t surprise me if we never saw Derek Hagerty
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