Dead Girls Dancing (Katie Maguire Book 8) by Graham Masterton

Author:Graham Masterton [Masterton, Graham]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784976408
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2016-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

21

Katie came into the conference room and walked over to the long table where Assistant Commissioner Magorian and Chief Superintendent MacCostagáin were already seated. Beside them sat Father Eoin Whooley, white-haired and solemn, his head bowed, and Billy Kelleher, the Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North Central.

On a separate table at the side of the room stood a row of framed black-and-white photographs of all the sixteen dancers who had died in the Toirneach Damhsa fire, and beside each photograph their relatives had placed a lighted candle in their memory. The faces in the photographs were fresh and young and elated. When Katie had seen them in the flesh, most of them had been ghoulishly charred and unrecognizable.

She had never seen the room so crowded, but she had never heard it so hushed. Usually there was a low hubbub of conversation, reporters answering calls on their mobile phones, and Fionnuala Sweeney from RTÉ tapping at her microphone to test it. This afternoon the gathering of bereaved families and media and local councillors and uniformed gardaí sat grim-faced, with their arms folded or their hands in their laps as if they were seated in church.

Katie herself had changed into the black collarless Max Mara jacket and the black skirt she always kept hanging in the wardrobe in her office for funerals and solemn occasions like this.

Once she had sat down, Frank Magorian stood up and cleared his throat.

‘Father Whooley, Deputy Kelleher, ladies and gentlemen, you have been asked to come here today not only to commemorate the lives of all those young people who so tragically died in the fire at the Toirneah Damhsa dance studio, but hopefully to help us bring to justice those responsible for their deaths. First of all, though, may I ask you all to stand and for Father Whooley to say a prayer to commend their souls to the Lord, and to ask for strength and succour for their families in this terrible time of loss.’

Everybody rose to their feet. When the shuffling and coughing had died down, Father Whooley crossed himself and said, ‘Lord God, source and destiny of our lives, in Your loving providence You gave us the dancers of Toirneach Damhsa to grow in wisdom, age, and grace. Now You have called them to Yourself. We grieve over the loss of ones so young and struggle to understand Your purpose. Draw them to Yourself and give them full stature in Christ. May they stand with all the angels and saints, who know Your love and praise Your saving will. Amen.’

Once everybody had sat down again, Frank Magorian said, ‘As you know, we’ve been making repeated appeals through the media for information that might lead us to identify the arsonist or arsonists who started this fire. This case is under the personal supervision of Detective Superintendent Maguire and her team of very experienced detectives, and I’m pleased to be able to report that we’ve already made considerable progress. One of our most important findings

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