Blood Sisters Read Free Page B

atmosphere here,’ said Nevina. ‘Like I say, many of the residents do have their ways, and some of them are not aware of where they are, or even who they are, God protect them. But I certainly can’t see any of them doing what was done to Sister Bridget.’
    She stood there twitchily for a moment, squeezing and unsqueezing her fists. ‘If that’s all, then?’ she said. ‘It’ll be lunchtime soon and I have so much to be getting on with.’
    ‘Oh yes, please, carry on,’ Katie told her. ‘We may need to talk to you again, but that’ll do for the moment. We’ll be removing Sister Bridget’s body in a short while and taking her to the University Hospital for an autopsy. We’ll keep in touch with you so that you can inform any relatives or friends she may have had.’
    ‘Not that I know of,’ said Nevina. ‘She told me once that all of her brothers and sisters and cousins had died and she was alone in the world.’
    Katie and Detective Inspector O’Rourke and Detective Sergeant Ni Nuallán went outside, and Detective O’Donovan came out to join them. The fog had lifted now and the wet car park was dazzling, so Katie put on her round-lensed sunglasses.
    ‘I’ve questioned almost all of the residents now, ma’am,’ said Detective O’Donovan. ‘About a third of them make some sort of sense, but like Nevina said, the rest of them don’t know one end of a knife from the other.’
    ‘Maybe one of them could have suffered some kind of psychotic episode?’ Katie suggested.
    ‘Theoretically, like, I suppose it’s possible. But none of them that I’ve interviewed so far would have had the physical strength to hold Sister Bridget down and spiflicate her, even though she was so old and feeble. Most of them couldn’t wave their arms to swat a wazzer.’
    ‘What about visitors, or intruders?’ asked Detective Inspector O’Rourke.
    ‘Nobody saw anybody coming to see Sister Bridget this morning,’ said Detective Sergeant Ni Nuallan. ‘In any case, they don’t usually allow visitors until the residents have had their lunch, which is about twelve. If they get too excited or upset it puts them off their food. There’s a CCTV recording from the reception area, though, and we’ll be running through that. The only other access into the building is through the garden gate, and that’s always kept locked to stop the residents from wandering off.’
    ‘Do you think the motive was sexual?’ said Katie, as she walked back towards her car.
    Detective Inspector O’ Rourke shook his head. ‘I wouldn’t have thought so. I mean, I’ve come across a few cases where sexual predators have a taste for ladies of a certain age, and more than a few cases where priests have taken advantage of elderly nuns. It could be a bit of both, admittedly, but that figurine – that definitely leads me to think that the motive was more religious than sexual.’
    ‘I agree,’ said Detective Sergeant Ni Nuallán. ‘It’s like a deliberate blasphemy. Like, your religion hurt me so I’m going to use your religion to hurt you back.’
    ‘You might be on the right track,’ said Katie. ‘It’s conceivable, of course, that the offender could have been nothing more than a header. On the other hand, it does seem more likely that somebody wanted to take their revenge on Sister Bridget, for some grievance or other.’
    She paused. ‘Maybe they weren’t looking for revenge on Sister Bridget herself – not personally, like – but on the nuns of Bon Sauveur, or nuns in general. When you think of those priests who were murdered in revenge for abusing young boys – ’
    She opened her car door and said, ‘Kyna, why don’t you go up to the Bon Sauveur Convent and ask a few questions about Sister Bridget? I doubt if there’s anybody still there who knew her, but she might still have a reputation. There might be stories about her, and there must be records.’
    ‘Okay,’ said Detective Sergeant Ni Nuallán. ‘I’ll get up there