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Back in the incident roo through public records, and had discovered that Gerry O’Reilly senior had died just before Christmas of 1982, just over a year before Jessica had been born This put the young Gerry O’Reilly junior firmly in the frame

They quickly found a picture and it was blown up and pinned to the whiteboards at the back of the incident roo on the assumption that Marianne and Martin Collins covered up the fact that Laura had given birth to Jessica at just thirteen years old…’ Erika was saying to the officers in the incident room ‘This man is Jessica’s real father, and could be our prime suspect Gerry O’Reilly is now forty-four years old I want to know everything we can find on hi for the past twenty-six years, and as he doing between 1983 and 1990 when Jessica wentWas he aware that he had fathered a child? Laura Collins gave birth in Ireland in the early eighties, in a strict Catholic environ that Gerry O’ Reilly had a nificant lead we’ve had so far Also remember that someone out there didn’t want us towe can about Gerry, I think this will lead us to the murderer’

An hour later, Moss cah to Erika’s office with Gerry O’Reilly’s cri Erika a print out

‘First brush with the laas aged 8 in 1980,’ said Erika looking up at Moss as she read,

‘Yeah, nice kid He was part of a gang of six kids who assaulted an elderly lady and stole her purse, arrest and caution,’ said Moss

‘Arrested again aged, ten, eleven, and twelve, for shoplifting, arson and stabbing another boy at school in the leg Aged seventeen he was convicted of ABH, glassed a bar a pub brawl and she lost an eye He was sent St Patrick’s Institution in Dublin for eighteen months… Then he seems to have turned his life around, joined the Irish Ar the Iran-Iraq war, for 2 years, then Eritrea for another year and then as part of a peacekeeping force in Bosnia…’

‘Then he gets into a fight with another officer, nearly kills hie,’ said Moss ‘He worked several security jobs over the years, and apart from a caution for marihuana he’s kept his nose clean and stayed off the radar But he was around during summer 1990, he would have just been released from youth detention…’

‘Pull his passport records Let’s hope he was in the country when Jessica wentLaura Collins in for questioning?’

‘No I want to first go and see her,’ said Erika

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Erika, Moss and Peterson arrived at 7 Avondale Road early afternoon, and the street was eerily quiet There were no cars, and it was silent, save for the wind, which slowly pushed a whirling pile of leaves towards them

They walked down the driveway to the house and saw Laura’s silver Range Rover parked at the botto under the hood and it was still hen Erika laid her hand on it

They exchanged a look and rang the doorbell Laura answered, her hair on end and with a look of wild panic in her eyes

‘Are you here with the para, she won’t wake up!’

They hurried inside and up the ooden staircase The second floor was glooh to thecarpeted corridor They passed a guest room, and a room filled with toys and a small bed with a pink eiderdohich Erika presumed had been Jessica’s roo one wall, and a dressing table in the baythat looked out over the garden A door led off to an en suite bathroom The double bed was empty, the covers bunched up h to a sainst the bath She wore a long white nightgown and she was still, her arms flopped open, her face white