The Game Changer by Louise Phillips

Author:Louise Phillips
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: FIC050000, FIC031000
ISBN: 9781444789393
Publisher: Hachette Books Ireland
Published: 2015-09-02T16:00:00+00:00

Kate

IT SEEMED TO KATE THAT EVER SINCE CHARLIE HAD left with Declan a couple of weeks earlier, everything had come to a standstill, including the investigation. Adam had managed to get limited surveillance organised, and even though it was good to see the squad car passing by, she still felt like a prisoner inside her own home.

When her mobile phone rang, she picked it up. It was Adam.

‘How are you feeling?’ he asked.

‘I’m okay. This virus seems to be coming and going.’

‘It’s stress, Kate. Why don’t you see a doctor?’

‘If it doesn’t pass in the next few days, I will.’

‘You’re losing weight too.’

‘Stop worrying about me. I’m fine.’

‘If you say so.’

‘I’m missing Charlie.’

‘I know.’

‘He can’t be kept out of school indefinitely.’

‘Listen, Kate.’ He paused. ‘Something’s come up.’

‘What?’

Almost reading her mind, he said reassuringly, ‘It’s nothing to do with you personally, only …’

‘Only what?’

‘It’s to do with the investigation, but I’m hesitant about getting you involved.’

‘Whatever it is, it can’t make me feel any worse.’

‘Lee Fisher’s back from leave. They’ve managed to have a more in-depth interview with Mason’s sister, pushing her on this group thing.’

‘Fisher’s confirmed Mason’s involvement in the Dublin grouping?’

‘Yeah.’

‘It could be the common denominator?’

‘Perhaps. We’re both trying to track down other members. They may not all be in Ireland, but that’s not why I phoned you.’

‘Oh?’

‘I’m looking for your advice. We might have linked O’Neill’s death to two missing-person cases – well, not exactly missing.’

‘I’m not getting you.’

‘Technically, they’re no longer classified as missing, but they were at one point. Look, Kate, I probably shouldn’t have called. Maybe this is a bad idea.’

‘No, go on. You said you think they’re connected to O’Neill’s death – why do you think that?’

‘Okay – if you’re sure?’

‘I’m sure.’

‘The number of people reported missing in Ireland annually is around three thousand.’

‘But most are found?’

‘Thankfully, yes, and the couple of dozen who aren’t are generally people who don’t want to be found – adults who want to get away, rebellious teenagers, that kind of thing. Most have probably gone to another jurisdiction.’

‘So how are these missing-person cases connected to O’Neill?’

‘They may be connected, we don’t have anything conclusive, but something has come up with similar cash withdrawals.’

‘Really?’

‘We set up a team to trawl through PULSE, looking for anything that involved large sums of money going missing. Most of it was fraud stuff, a few cases of reported blackmail, extortion, et cetera, none of it was similar to O’Neill, with the exception of two missing-person cases: Amanda Doyle and Robert Cotter. They had no connection with each other, but both withdrew large sums of money in cash from their bank accounts before they made contact with home, one by way of a telephone call and the other with a letter.’

‘And that’s why they’re no longer considered missing persons?’

‘Precisely, but neither of them told their family where they were, only that they needed time to themselves, and that the money they’d withdrawn was in part to help them form a new life. If contact was going to be made, it would be from them.

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