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The phone rang
for what seemed a very long time, and she was about to hang up when a slightly breathless voice answered, ‘Hello?’

‘Hi.  Is that Eimear O’Halloran?’

‘Yes, how may I help you?’

‘I’m sorry to disturb you, Mrs
. O’Halloran, my name is Kate Bennett.  I’m a psychologist working as a consultant to Dr. Jordan on your niece Grainne’s case.  I was wondering if you might help me by answering a few questions?’

‘Oh.  I see.’  There was a pause, then, ‘
Bennett
, did you say?  You’re not the woman from that bloody awful
Sunday News
story yesterday, are you?’

‘Yes,’ replied Kate in a thin voice, ‘
I am.  Though since they didn’t print my name I don’t see how you made that connection.’

‘Oh, I get the
Daily
News
too, and they named you in it today.  Though I thought they said you were a teacher.  Besides, I rang Michael last night, and he told me all about the two of you.’  She lowered her voice sympathetically, ‘It must have been awful for you, being all over the paper like that.  And the
pictures
!’

‘Well, yes, it i
s awful,’ replied Kate slowly, wondering what the “all” was that Michael had told his dead wife’s sister, ‘and I’m trying to forget about it, to be honest.  Now, would you mind answering a few questions?’

There was a silence and then a loud sig
h came down the line, ‘Well, okay, I suppose so.  Just give me a moment to get my breath back first.  I was working in my garden and ran back inside when I heard the phone ring.’

‘Sorry about that,’ said Kate a little coldly, and sounding anything but; she was not at all pleased that Michael was discussing her
behind her back.  And not even with his own family but with in-laws, at that.

Eimear laughed and said dryly, ‘Don’t be.  I hate gardening and I’m glad of any excuse to get away from it.  But at this time of the year I have to put in some
work because everything looks so dead and bedraggled.  Every autumn I start thinking about emigrating somewhere sunny.  Mind you, with this recession I suppose I’m not the only one dreaming of sunnier climes.  What did you want to ask me about?’

‘Well, I’m trying to get to the root of Grainne’s aberrant behav
iour, which I believe is trauma-induced, and I was wondering if perhaps you knew of any...well, any unpleasant episodes in her childhood?’

‘Hardly,’ came the reply, in an even dryer tone, ‘I never saw a child
as spoiled as Grainne, which probably caused half her problems.  Michael doted on her, and because he worked such long hours he fulfilled her every whim when he
was
around.  And I’m sure I don’t need to tell a psychiatrist that
nothing
could be worse for a child.’

‘I see,’ said Kate
, not bothering to correct the other woman as to her profession; many people made the same mistake.  This was not what she needed to hear if she was ever to make any progress so she took a deep breath and said, ‘I don’t want you to become angry, so please remember that I’m trying to help Grainne, that she is my priority.’

‘Oh dear,’ said Eimear with a touch of grim amusement, ‘That sounds rather ominous!  But fire away by all means.  If I hang up you’ll know I
am
offended.’

Kate steeled herself, dreading the answer, ‘Was there
ever any suspicion that Grainne was abused as a child?’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Eimear in a shocked tone, ‘
Sexual
abuse?’

‘
Well, yes, but really
any
sort of abuse, beatings or form of mistreatment.  By a family member or
either
parent.’

‘What a foul, filthy allegation,’ said Eimear O’Hal
loran softly, her voice icy with anger, ‘How dare you slander my sister like that?’

Kate
pricked up her ears, ‘I said a family member, Mrs O’Halloran.  What made you think I was referring to Therese in particular?’

‘T
he way you accented the
with self-j at a funeral.  o whatever conflict is going on inside her so i XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
either
parent!’ said Eimear angrily, before adding caustically, ‘Besides, you’d hardly be sleeping with Michael if you thought he was a child molester.  I certainly don’t believe he would do such a thing, and I know him better than you.’  Then, even more caustically, ‘Or at least,
longer
.  However, neither was my sister some sort of pervert.  Quite the reverse, if anything.  She was extremely attractive, of course, but rather shy and nervous with men.  A bit of a prude, even.  Not that
you
would know anything about that, of course.  Do I take it then, that Michael is also a suspect?’

‘No one is suspected of anything,’ replied Kate, trying to be pati
ent in spite of the jibes, ‘I’m merely trying to find out what caused Grainne’s breakdown.’

‘And, as usual with you people,’ said Eimear sarcastically, ‘you turned to sex as the onl
y possible answer.  Your minds run on set tracks, don’t they?  Like sordid little trains.  Personality problems?  Why, she was abused as a child, of course!  In spite of what you pretend, you lot haven’t really progressed much since Freud’s time, have you, with
his
disgusting theories? 
Fraud
, more like.  Well, in my opinion what you just said is an outrageous slander, and if I ever hear it repeated I shall take legal action.  And my husband is a barrister, so please don’t think I’m bluffing.  Therese was a very sweet girl, and Michael Riordan is one of the finest men I’ve ever met...no, I take that back, he
is
the finest man I’ve ever met, and any suggestion that either of them might have harmed their own daughter is as ridiculous as it is insulting.  My sister wasn’t perfect but she wasn’t a child abuser either!’

‘Forgive me, Mrs O’Halloran,’ said Kate, struggling to keep her own temper, ‘I meant no insult to your family but you must understand that I have to explore
every
possibility.  And if that means offending people; well, so be it.  And I was talking about
any
sort of mistreatment; it was you who assumed I meant sexual abuse.  All I’m trying to do is understand, and if I can,
help
your niece!  And unfortunately I can’t begin to understand her until I know as much as possible about everything she has experienced in her short life.’

Eimear breathed heavily down the phone but at last said, in a calmer tone, ‘Very well, I accept that you’re just trying to hel
p my niece.  And I suppose you can’t dig without getting your hands dirty.  But you must understand that I consider your questions both impertinent and insulting.’

‘Good,’ said Kate, a little sharply, ‘If you’re so insulted then obviously
I can strike being abused off my list of possible reasons for Grainne’s problems, yes?  Your sister was a good mother?’

There was another pause, then, ‘I didn’t say that, just that she wasn’t some sort of pervert.  To be honest,
I thought Therese was far too soft with the girl, spoiling her dreadfully when Michael was around.’

‘And wh
en he wasn’t?’ asked Kate.

Eimear sighed,
‘I don’t know.  I don’t believe for a second that Therese abused her but…well, this sort of family history is very painful for me to relate but Therese and Grainne didn’t get on.  At
all
.  In fact, they did nothing but fight from day one.  Therese suffered terrible post-natal depression and rejected the baby entirely.  She kept saying that Grainne wasn’t hers, that the hospital had given her the wrong child.’

‘That’s not uncommon,
unfortunately,’ said Kate in a gentler tone.

‘No,’ said the older woman uncomfortably, ‘Well, Therese was always a bit unstable, a bit neurotic, and after the baby was born
…  They never bonded, I’m afraid, and Therese was distant with her even as a toddler.  I don’t believe she
hurt
her but I often thought that Grainne was starved of affection.  And, of course, when she hit her teens and went off the rails their relationship broke down completely.  I got the impression that she resented her mother, had a grudge against her.’

She paused before adding, even more reluctantly, ‘
I know my sister drank very heavily, so perhaps that’s all it was.  She was very shy, you see, and hated the press attention and living in the limelight generally.  She really wasn’t cut out to be married to a high-flier, either in the business or political world.’

And you were, perhaps?
Kate thought but did not say.  It might just have been her imagination but it seemed to her that Eimear was a bit too defensive where Michael was concerned, and might have more than sisterly feelings towards him.  Had she perhaps been jealous that her sister had married him? 
Jesus, was any woman safe from him?
  But she kept her mouth firmly shut, knowing that the only way to learn is by listening.

‘She could only f
ace her social duties with a few drinks in her,’ continued Eimear unwillingly, ‘and by the time she died I think she was drinking round the clock.  She never cared much for reality, poor thing, and preferred to look at life through the bottom of a wine glass.  I think that’s where Grainne gets her own…weakness.  That’s why I suppose it’s
theoretically
possible that she mistreated Grainne when Michael wasn’t around.  But I really,
really
doubt it.  She was a kind and gentle soul and just didn’t have it in her.  Besides, they had a housekeeper, and after the fire the police questioned her thoroughly.  She’d never seen
any
evidence of ill treatment, by either of them.’

‘Mrs. Tormney,’ noted K
ate, ‘Yes, I read her report.  She said that Therese paid no attention at all to Grainne, and Michael was never there.  Her exact words.’

‘Yes,’ agreed the older woman,’ That’s why I think you’re barking up the wrong tree.  Grainne’s resentment can only have come from her mother’s drink problem.  Actually, during her tantrums she often mentioned her mother’s drinking, calling her a drunk and an alc
o and... Well, other, less savory names.’

‘I see,’ said Kate thoughtfully
, ‘But it’s still not really grounds for the kind of instability Grainne exhibited before her final breakdown.’

‘It was puberty!’ said Eimear firmly, ‘That’s when Gr
ainne’s problems started.  Like most kids, I suppose.  She was an angel up until twelve or so.  Obviously the flood of hormones affected her mind as well as her body.  That’s when she started acing up.’

‘Well, thanks very much,’ said Kate with just the faintest touch of sarcasm, nobly refraining from pointing out that Eimear was also
guilty of referring Grainne’s problems back to sex, albeit obliquely, ‘Er, at the risk of offending you further, Grainne has an uncle too, hasn’t she?’

‘Yes,’ came the icy reply, ‘My brother, Josh.  I suppose
he
molested Grainne now?’  She sighed and said, ‘I know!  I know!  You’re just trying to help Grainne!  Well, Josh only moved back here from Australia a couple of years ago.  He never even set eyes on Grainne until she was thirteen or fourteen.’

Still time enough to
have abused her,
thought Kate, but even so she mentally pushed him onto the back burner of her mind.  And she said resignedly, and not entirely truthfully, ‘Well, thank you, Mrs. O’Halloran, you’ve been most helpful.  I won’t take up any more of your time.’  She hung up the phone, little clearer on the source of Grainne’s behavior.  She was pretty certain her final breakdown was caused by guilt at her mother’s death, but what about her wild behavior prior to that?  Many children resent their parents for one reason or another, but they don’t go insane and
kill
them.  Well, not often.  Her mother being a drunk should have been a source of embarrassment rather than resentment for the girl, particularly if Therese was otherwise a reasonably good mother. 
So what
was
the answer?
  Kate abandoned her speculation with a sigh and looked at her watch; almost two o’clock.  Time to get something to eat.  Certainly it would be better than sitting there banging her head against a brick wall.  There were two mysteries here; that of Grainne’s wild carry on and that of Jimmy Shiels murder, and she could make sense of neither.  So what was she was missing?  And, if she solved one of these riddles, would it also answer the other?

    Kate usually went out for lunch, to get a break from the too familiar surrounds of Trinity.  And, of course, from the endless, swarming crowds roaming its halls and courtyards.  The gray old college was undoubtedly attractive, in a dark, Gothic sort of way, but it was also a thronging hive of thousands of young students, and Kate occasionally tired of the constant noise and bustle.  So she told herself, anyway; another view might have been that she simply didn’t have the nerve to show her face in any of the Universities eateries that day.