TRACE - CSI Reilly Steel #5 (Forensic novel Police Procedural Series) by Casey Hill Page B

anything deliberately. The mind was a powerful thing, and would do what it could to protect a person from harm.
    But she definitely felt that Lucy was hiding something from herself. If she wanted to find out what happened to her sister, she would have to take the plunge and confront her own memories. People were afraid of what their psyche held. Reilly would be afraid too. But she had a feeling that Lucy might change her mind. This was more important to her than anything else.
    She just needed time.
     
    In the excitement of the day before, Kennedy had neglected to update the others about his exploits at Jimbo’s. He was starting late that morning, so he decided to drop into the fancy restaurant on Baggot Street the waitress had mentioned and check out Rose Cooper’s old workmate Harry McMurty before considering it seriously as an avenue.
    Hammer and Tongs was just opening when he walked in at eleven a.m. He guessed it was the very antithesis of the place he had been in the day before. It was an old warehouse, with huge high ceilings and the sound in the room flew about and bounced off the walls like a panicked bird.
    ‘Can I help you, sir?’ A waiter rushed him as soon as he walked in, seeming alarmed at the sight of a man who looked like he really should be out ploughing a field darkening the door of one of the best restaurants in Dublin.
    ‘I’d like to speak to Harry McMurty, please,’ said Kennedy.
    ‘I’m afraid that Mr McMurty is working right now, and can’t entertain friends.’
    ‘This isn’t a friendly visit,’ Kennedy replied gruffly, annoyed by these hoity toity places. ‘You’d do well to sit yourself down and entertain the law. You’re wearing a name-tag, you gobshite. ’
    McMurty blushed but remained defiant. ‘What’s this all about? I’ve had enough of you guards. I already told you everything I know about Rose.’
    ‘How did you know I’m here about that?’ asked Kennedy.
    ‘Girl I used to work with rang me up and told me you’d been sniffing around.’
    ‘I got the impression she wasn’t a fan,’ said Kennedy, surprised. ‘What’s she doing ringing you up?’
    ‘They all hate me until they need something,’ he sneered.
    He was handsome, Kennedy supposed, but underlyingly threatening. He had a face that was smooth and unblemished, glossy black hair and was slim and lithe. A tiny diamond glinted in his earlobe and tattoos peeked out from beneath his sleeves. His eyes were the only thing that gave him away. They were a deep blue, but shot through with red. He obviously didn’t get much sleep. It was the ones who looked like this who were often the most trouble, thought Kennedy. Their good looks reeled people in, made them trust them. They should come with a bloody warning sign.
    ‘Just sit down,’ said Kennedy. ‘I won’t take up much of your time. Not if you behave yourself.’
    McMurty threw himself into a chair like a sulky child.
    ‘You were seeing that girl, weren’t you?’ asked Kennedy.
    ‘Which one? Pick a number,’ said Harry. ‘I was seeing all of them. Easy, the lot of them.’
    ‘What did they see in you, I wonder?’
    ‘What do you think?’ he replied with a grin, making a vague gesture to his crotch.
    ‘Don’t give me that. Those women were desperate for something all right, but it wasn’t that.’
    Harry sighed. ‘You know this is all on record already don’t you? You could just do your job and read the reports.’
    ‘I want you to tell me.’
    ‘OK, I was giving them stuff, wasn’t I? Something they wanted for something I wanted. A simple trade. It didn’t hurt anyone.’
    ‘I’d beg to differ,’ said Kennedy. ‘That girl ended up dead.’
    ‘Not by my hand, granddad,’ said Harry getting back up. ‘I’ve got a job to do. You’ve got nothing on me. Come back when you do.’
    ‘I will, believe me. I get my kicks out of putting slime balls like you in jail.’
    ‘Things have a funny way of happening to silly ‘oul fellas like