A Terrible Beauty

That's a kind of weird creature that's supposed to live in the woods. It's similar to the Irish banshee because it only appears when people are about to die.'

'What did the farmer do?'

'You really want to know? He threw his wife and their three children one by one into the grinding machine that he used for pig food. Alive. The coroner reckoned that they were still conscious even when they were minced right up to their waist. His defense tried to plead insanity but I was brought in as an expert witness, and I showed that everything he had done was in strict accordance with Native American stories about the Wendigo. You're insane when you kill people for no reason whatsoever. But you're not insane if you're scrupulously observing some specific mythological ritual with the express intention of gaining some advantage out of it. In this case, the farmer was almost bankrupt and he believed that the Wendigo would kill his creditors for him. Wacky? For sure. Disturbed, yes. But not clinically insane. He was convicted on murder two and given life imprisonment.'

'So you don't think that Tomas O Conaill is insane?'

'Hard to tell for sure, without meeting him. But it took a whole lot of pretty obscure mythological knowledge to do what he did, as well as determination, and physical stamina, too. Think how hard it must have been to scrape the flesh off the legs and arms of a living girl, then completely dismember her, and drive her out to the middle of a field so that you can spread her out in the special pattern that Mor-Rioghain is supposed to insist on. Your perpetrator is completely rational, if you ask me, Katie. He's calm and methodical and the only thing that makes him different from any other calm and methodical person is that he's an absolute believer in Celtic mythology. He wastotallyconvinced that Mor-Rioghain would reappear and give him everything that he deserves.'

Katie left the dual carriageway and drove up the ramp toward Cobh, overtaking a tractor. 'What do you think about John Meagher?' she wanted to know.

'John Meagher? I'm not entirely sure. He's your typical depressed farmer but have you ever met a farmer whowasn'tdepressed? It kind of goes with the territory, doesn't it? The hours, the weather, the isolation. But there's something else about John Meagher. Another dimension.'

Katie said, 'He inherited the farm when his father died. He says that he feels responsible for carrying on the family business, but if you ask me he's not cut out for it at all. He's practically bankrupt.'

'Was he ever a suspect?'

'Not really. He was working on the farm when Fiona Kelly went missing. His dairy girl testified to that.'

'Well?it's quite possible that the man who abducted Fiona Kelly may not have been the same man who murdered her. Quite a few ritual killers work with partners, or in groups. You know, like witches' covens, or pedophile rings.'

'I can't see a cultured man like John Meagher working in partnership with a scumbag like Tomas O Conaill.'

'All the same, if his farm is failing?'

'You mean he might have wanted to ask Mor-Rioghain to save his business?'

'I don't know. I'm only speculating. But I definitely think there's something creepy about him, him and that mother of his. He reminds me of Norman Bates.'

'Oh, stop. I think he's charming.'

'I know what I'm talking about, Katie. I've interviewed hundreds of people who believe in everything from UFOs to giant monsters. They're always the same-charming, rational, you name it-but after a while you gradually begin to understand that there's a very important screw loose.'

They crossed the stone bridge that took them onto Great Island, past a bleak ruined keep with crows flapping around it. It looked like the landscape on an ill-starred Tarot card. Katie said, 'I think that John is simply an ordinary decent man who's trying extremely hard to take care of his widowed mother and to keep up his family honor. If he's guilty of anything, it's biting off more than he could chew.'

'You're probably right. But Siobhan Buckley's still missing, isn't she? And Tomas O Conaill couldn't have taken her.'

'We don't have any evidence that she was abducted for a sacrifice. Personally, I have a feeling that she'll show up. Her mother said that she wasn't upset about her parents breaking up, but a lot of the time kids never tell you how they really feel.'

'Well, I hope to God you're right.'

?   ?   ?

Paul was standing outside the house waiting for them. His Pajero was parked close to the herbaceous border with its hood raised.

'I don't know what the fuck's wrong with it. It was running perfectly yesterday. I'll have to call the garage when I get back. Meanwhile, I'm going to be late.'

He climbed into the back of the car. 'Lucy, this is my husband Paul. Paul, this is Professor Lucy Quinn.'

'Well, well. I'm overwhelmed to meet you,' said Paul, giving her his best cheesy grin. 'Katie was telling me all about you last night.'

'I hope she was flattering.'

'You don't need flattering, Professor. You look like the kind of woman who knowsexactlywhat effect she has on people.'

'God, you smoothie,' laughed Katie, as she turned the Mondeo around in the driveway. 'Don't take any notice of him, Lucy. Blarney's his middle name.'

'Come on, pet, can we get a move on? I can't afford to keep the bank waiting.'

They drove back over the stone bridge to the mainland and rejoined the dual carriageway toward Cork City. Traffic was heavy for the time of day, and for the first three kilometers they were stuck behind a slow-moving farm truck, which was trying to overtake an even slower mechanical digger. Paul began to tut with impatience.