Free First Death In Dublin City (Thomas Bishop Book 1) by Colm-Christopher Collins

down, her eyes remained level. They were open, almost in shock, the dark green unable to understand why someone would want to do something like this to a child.
    ‘I don’t understand either.’ Said Tommy and he turned back and walked towards the gate.
     

4
     
     
     
    Tommy had showered and shaved, putting on a nice suit and a black tie. Anne similarly had dressed formally. A heavy weight hung over both Detectives.
    ‘How bad was it?’ Anne asked.
    Tommy, sitting in traffic he was too lethargic to wish away, looked over at her.
    ‘Her face; she had a big puffy bruise on one side, otherwise it was completely intact. Her legs, from what I could see, had ligature marks. It was the torso though – it was completely shredded to pieces, her intestines spilling out into the water, each of her ribs broken, her breast bone just gone – smashed into pieces so small I couldn’t even see it.’
    ‘Do we tell the Clancy’s?’
    ‘Only if they ask.’ Tommy said.
    Then, both Anne and Tommy’s phones buzzed loudly in their pockets. Anne took hers out, and Tommy saw as her face lost colour. She turned the screen to him.
    Open was a news application, which had pushed a story through so that it would buzz on half the country’s phones. The headline was simple, and left no one in any doubt as to the content of the story.
    Body Found By Gardaí In Amy Clancy Case
    ‘Fuck.’ Tommy said in frustration. ‘Can’t the Gardaí keep a secret for ten minutes nowadays? If Amy’s parents have found out through the internet before we can let them know, I’m actually going to kill someone.’ Tommy said, as he flicked on the sirens so as to drastically reduce the journey to the Clancy house.
    Tommy knew that there just is no proper way to inform someone that their daughter has been murdered. Of course, he was going to try not to be overtly abrupt, but from the moment he and Anne asked the Clancy’s to sit with them, they would fear the worst. Tommy was the senior officer, and unlike Anne had gone through this process twice in the position of receiver of the news, so he therefore felt it necessary to be the one to impart this knowledge on the Clancy’s.
    Back in his father’s time, all Gardaí used to use the euphemism ‘Spread the Bad News’, or ‘Share the Devil’s Gospel’ in a twist on Catholic catchphrases. As the church had disappeared so had the euphemism, but Tommy still felt that it accurately described the weight pressing upon a copper in giving this news to an innocent family member.
    From his experience on the other side of the fence, Tommy knew some of the main things not to do. Still, to this day, he could remember as a child staring from the box room of his house down on the road, where a Garda car remained parked for five minutes, while the two Detectives inside worked up the courage to tell the family that Tommy’s dad was missing and wouldn’t in all likeliness be coming home again. No, he would charge straight in and tell the Clancy’s. The moment they saw him, they would know that Amy was dead, there was no point beating around the bush, or in being polite. It didn’t matter how the Devil’s Gospel was spread, the venom was in the message.
    He pulled into Castlewood Avenue and put the car into neutral before turning off the engine. He got out, faster than his trepidation could stop him, and walked purposefully up the path to the front door. He scanned the windows for a face looking down anxiously, much as he had done twenty-five years ago, but the house was completely asleep. Anne on his shoulder, he took a deep breath, and pushed down heavily on the doorbell.
    It was five minutes before the door opened, and a bleary eyed Gary Clancy stared out at the two Gardaí.
    ‘Detectives?’ He said by way of a greeting. He was dressed still in his pyjamas, and his eyes were ringed and studded with red veins.
    ‘Gary, may we come in?’ Asked Tommy.
    ‘Oh, um, yes sure. Come on in. Has there been a break in