The Drowned Read online

  ‘Detective Superintendent Maguire,’ he said, as she sat down. Kyna sat next to her and Katie couldn’t help noticing her perfume.

  ‘I intend to plead guilty to killing Ruarí Barrett and all those other boys,’ Fergus continued. ‘You really don’t have to give me the third degree.’

  ‘You should have come to us in the first place,’ said Katie. ‘We could have dealt with them.’

  ‘I’m sure you could,’ said Fergus. ‘But what kind of punishment would a judge have given them? A couple of years in jail. They took my precious daughter’s life for their own perverted pleasure and as far as I’m concerned there was only one possible punishment for that.’

  ‘So you’re prepared to make a statement to that effect?’

  Fergus nodded. ‘No, I’m not. I’m prepared only to admit to killing them. I don’t have to give an explanation. I don’t want my Caoimhe’s name dragged through the mire.’

  ‘A judge will need to know why you killed them, Fergus. And he’ll probably go much easier on you if he understands why.’

  ‘I don’t care. My life ended when I found my Caoimhe hanging in the garage.’

  ‘I can produce her note to you in court.’

  ‘I know. I wanted you to read it, because I wanted somebody to understand why I killed those boys. But I’m begging you now, just as Caoimhe begged me, please don’t tell the world what they did to her. I want her memory to shine clean and unsullied forever.’

  *

  Katie returned to her office while Fergus wrote his statement. When he had finished it and signed it, Kyna came up to show it to her.

  ‘You shouldn’t feel like you’ve failed, ma’am,’ Kyna said gently.

  ‘I gave him Ruarí Barrett’s name. He probably couldn’t have found him if I hadn’t done that.’

  ‘Well, I think you gave him Ruarí Barrett’s name because God wanted you to. Sometimes I think we have to remember that we’re only the agents of justice, not judges, and we’re not executioners, either.’

  It took Katie only a moment to read Fergus’s statement. All he had written was, ‘I drowned those five boys and I stabbed Ruarí Barrett because I heard voices in my head and they told me to.’

  ‘If he sticks to that story, they’ll probably only send him to St Stephen’s,’ said Kyna.

  Katie put the statement to one side. Underneath, in a clear plastic sleeve, was Caoimhe O’Farrell’s suicide note. She looked down at it for a long time.

  I beg beg beg you not to tell anybody why I have decided that this is my only way out. I have suffered enough shame already without the whole world knowing why.

  Katie took out the note and tore it into small pieces. She dropped them into her wastepaper basket, and then she stood up.

  ‘You realize that it’s an offence to destroy evidence,’ said Kyna.

  ‘It’s a worse offence to destroy a young girl’s memory. Besides, as you said, God wanted me to.’

  She put her arms around Kyna and held her very close and kissed her. Then she stood back, and smiled, although she had tears in her eyes – not for herself, but for Caoimhe, who would always be virginal now and pure.

  We hope you enjoyed this book!

  Graham Masterton’s next book, Dead Girls Dancing, is coming in Winter 2016

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  About Graham Masterton

  GRAHAM MASTERTON was a bestselling horror writer for many years before he turned his talent to crime. He lived in Cork for five years, an experience that inspired the Katie Maguire series.

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  About the Katie Maguire Series

  Katie Maguire was one of seven sisters born to a police Inspector in Cork, but the only sister who decided to follow her father into An Garda Siochana.

  With her bright green eyes and short redhair, she looks like an Irish pixie, but she is no soft touch. To the dismay of some of her male subordinates, she rose quickly through the ranks, gaining a reputation for catching Cork’s killers, often at great personal cost.

  Katie spent seven years in a turbulent marriage in which she bore, and lost, a son – an event that continues to haunt her. Despite facing turmoil at home and prejudice at work, she is one of the most fearless detectives in Ireland.

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  London, 1750

  Beatrice Scarlet is the apothecary’s daughter. She can mix medicines and herbs to save the lives of her neighbours - but, try as she might, she can’t save the lives of her parents. An orphan at just sixteen, Beatrice marries a preacher and emigrates to America.

  New Hampshire, 1756

  In the farming community where Beatrice now lives, six pigs are found viciously slaughtered; slices of looking-glass embedded in their mouths. According to scripture, this is the work of Satan - but Beatrice Scarlet suspects the hands of men. As she closes in on the killer, she must act quickly to unmask him - or become the next victim herself...

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  The second instalment in the Scarlet Widow series is coming in summer 2017

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  From the Editor of this Book

  If you enjoyed this book, you may also enjoy reading these novels recommended by the editor.

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  First published in the United Kingdom in 2016 by Head of Zeus Ltd

  Copyright © Graham Masterton, 2016

  The moral right of Graham Masterton to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  9 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 8

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN (E) 9781784976279

  Jacket Design: Estuary English

  Head of Zeus Ltd

  Clerkenwell House

  45-47 Clerkenwell Green

  London EC1R 0HT

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