The Girl Who Lied(108)

Sean gave a laugh. ‘You’re a brave man,’ he said. ‘Or a fool. I would give Erin some space right now. You’re the last person she wants to see.’

‘I thought she’d be mad at me.’

‘That’s an understatement. You don’t want to know what she thinks of you right now. She’s blaming you for Marie being brought in. You know, getting Ed involved to give her an alibi. An alibi she didn’t want. And now her mother’s being questioned.’

Kerry wasn’t surprised at all, but he had had no choice. He couldn’t let Erin be charged for murder, not when he knew she was innocent, no matter what her reasons were. It was the worst luck that it put Marie in the frame.

‘What do you think Marie’s chances of getting off are?’ said Kerry.

Sean blew out a breath. ‘Ah, sure, I don’t know,’ he said. ‘It’s not looking good. She’s confessing to it all, as far as I know. I’ve someone at the station who is keeping me up to date with things. Marie is saying she met Roisin, that there was a scuffle and that Roisin ended up in the water. Pretty much what Erin said happened.’

‘And what’s her motive?’

‘Defending her daughter. Going with the story that Roisin was still bullying her daughter. You know, anyone would think Marie and Erin got together and hatched this story between them,’ said Sean.

‘It’s pretty close to the truth,’ said Kerry. ‘They are just leaving out one crucial detail – the baby.’

‘I know and I can’t condemn them for that,’ said Sean, his voice breaking. He took a moment before continuing. ‘I love that child like she is my own. I love her as much as I love Molly. I don’t differentiate between the two, I can’t, it just doesn’t happen. She calls me daddy and I’m her father. I was there when they brought her home, I was up in the nights feeding her when Fiona was tired. I’ve done nappy changes, bedtime stories, taught her to swim, to ride a bike. We’ve been camping in the back garden. Played football. Gone to parents’ evening, school plays. Looked after her when she was ill. I’ve done the lot.’

It took a moment for the words to register with Kerry. ‘Sean, what are saying? Are you talking about Sophie? You brought up Sophie as if she were yours?’ And then it dawned on him. ‘Sophie is the child Erin had.’

‘Jesus, Kerry, don’t tell me you didn’t know?’ said Sean. ‘For feck’s sake.’

‘I knew Erin had a baby and she gave it up, but she never told me it was Sophie.’ Kerry’s mind raced back over all the conversations he’d had with Erin and with the Keanes. No one had directly said Sophie was Erin’s baby, but now, how could he have not realised?

Somewhere amongst the shock of this, he felt a surge of understanding. He finally got what Erin was all about. She was all about protecting her family.

Sean spoke again. ‘I would give up my life for that child. I really would,’ he said. ‘But…but in my heart of hearts, I know it’s wrong what we’ve done. Not only that, but I look at how much Marie loves Sophie, how much pleasure she has from being her grandmother and then I look at Diana Marshall and I see how crushed she is from losing her son.’ There was another pause. ‘I know it’s wrong to keep her grandchild from her. Morally, it’s wrong. I didn’t think of her at the time. I knew how angry and frightened Erin was. I only wanted to fix things for Fiona and her sister. To make things right, that’s what I do. I make things right. I look after them. I always have. I wanted to take the burden from their shoulders. And that’s what I did. That’s why I went along with it.’

‘It’s okay, Sean. You don’t have to justify yourself to me,’ said Kerry, although he thought Sean was probably justifying it to himself as much as anything. The man had carried this secret around with him for ten years. He’d had plenty of time for recriminations. ‘Do you think there’s any merit in telling the truth now?’

‘What use would that be?’ said Sean. ‘Besides, I can’t see any of them going along with it. Erin might have been ready to admit to having a baby, but whether she will admit to the world that the baby is Sophie, I don’t know. And then there’s Fiona and Marie. Individually the Hurley women are strong, together they’re a force to be reckoned with,’ said Sean. ‘They are like one unit. They will do anything to protect Sophie, including go down for murder.’

Kerry found it hard to concentrate on anything else that afternoon. He really wanted to go and speak to Erin. He wanted to apologise for the situation her mother was now in, but at the same time, part of him wasn’t sorry. He was relieved Erin wasn’t going to be charged, but he knew how painful it would be for her now that her mother was in custody. Erin wouldn’t thank him for his action or his visit. No, he’d give her a bit of space. Maybe tomorrow he’d speak to her.