The Doll's House

‘Yes, Kate.’


‘You need to become more direct. He still hasn’t harmed the hostage, but with his psychosis, he won’t remain lucid for much longer. Another large interval, and this could turn bad on us.’

Maloney, who was still listening through the audio link, spoke again. ‘Anne, you’ve heard what Kate has just said. We need to move now. This will go one of two ways, and it’s always been something of a long shot. I’m going to put the shooters on alert. If you push it, and his response is not what we’re looking for, we’ll be going for plan B. Do you hear what I’m saying?’

‘I hear you, sir.’

Anne backed away from the staircase, taking up position safely below potential range of gunfire. ‘Dominic, you do want me to help you, don’t you?’ Again she received no response. ‘I will help you, Dominic. The two of us will sort through this together. Why don’t you send Clodagh out, and the two of us can talk properly?’

‘I’m no coward.’ His voice was raised and angry.

‘I know that, Dominic. Now, send Clodagh to me and we can work things out.’

‘Anne?’ Maloney’s voice both low and stern was on the line. ‘The shooters say the knife is still on the ground. Give it one last go. If it doesn’t work, we’re taking him down.’

Kate spoke next. ‘Anne, the last surge of panic, when he realised your presence, will have depleted his sugar levels further. Fatigue and mental exhaustion with the psychosis are also taking their toll. I’m not saying the situation isn’t dangerous. But it won’t take a lot to weaken him.’

‘Sir, did you hear Dr Pearson?’

‘I heard her. As I said, give it one last go.’

‘Right, sir.’

The next couple of seconds would be critical. It would be either surrender, or Morgan and Quinn would be instructed to fire. Anne Holt continued, ‘Dominic, can you hear me? If you send Clodagh out, we can talk.’

‘I CAN’T.’ Both panic and anger in his voice.

‘Dominic, calm down.’ Anne had raised her voice marginally for the first time.

‘You don’t understand. Nobody does. I never wanted any of this, but I had to undo all the wrongs, especially mine.’ He was near hysteria.

Anne heard heavy movement from behind the attic door. She guessed he was going for the knife. ‘Dominic, it’s Anne. What’s going on in there?’

Maloney wasted no time. ‘We’re going less lethal. Take him with the Taser, NOW.’

Anne’s question was followed by the roar of multiple shots, reverberating through the building, echoing down the audio link.

It was Anne’s voice that Kate heard next. ‘Kate, I think he’s down. I can hear Clodagh McKay screaming.’

‘I can hear her too.’

O’Connor instructed Detective Monroe to remain with Kate, while he and the other detectives stormed out of number 75 to join the ERU team.





Clodagh


When I scream, it sounds like it’s coming from a wild and desolate place, the kind of place that brings Hell on earth with it. Anne Holt’s voice, from the other side of the attic door, had been my only tentative link to ending this madness, a madness that in its wake brings our whole life, Dominic’s and mine, sliding through every part of my mind.

I curl up in the corner, seeing his body fall onto the dried pool that is Alister Becon’s blood. I scream again, unsure if he’s alive or dead. I crawl over to him and grab hold of his body. He’s still breathing. I hear a low, painful moan leave his lips.

There are loud, fast movements coming from behind the attic wall. I can hear people running through the house, strangers. The seconds are fleeting past, but inside this room, it feels as if everything has stopped. I lie beside him, placing my hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat fast, his body like a tightened knot.

As the outside sounds become louder, they seem to become more distant. My voice is barely a whisper as I lean close to his ear, my dry lips feeling the heat from his body. My words sound like the whispers of sea shells. ‘Dominic, you don’t have to worry any more.’

He tries to speak, but I can barely hear him, his broken words escaping in low gasps, like my memory of the strand, when I tried to hear my father’s voice, my feet sinking into the sand, caught in tangled seaweed. I say again, ‘Dominic, you’re going to be okay.’

When the door bursts open, I don’t take my eyes off him. I can feel somebody beside me, a woman bending down. She’s telling me he’s going to pull through. I want to believe her more than anything in the whole world.

‘We need to get him help, Clodagh. You’re going to have to pull back.’ I feel her grab my shoulders, tugging me away. Strangers are leaning over his body, shouting at each other. Another of them turns to me, a man. He, too, tells me Dominic will be okay. But none of it is okay. None of it can ever be okay, not ever.





74 Strand Road, Sandymount