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mouth. ‘That would be a precise cause of death for most people, wouldn’t you say?’
    ‘For all we know, he may have already been dead before he was shot,’ said Katie. ‘So, like I say, we’re waiting for the coroner.’
    ‘There was a girl locked in with the body,’ said Fionnuala. ‘Do you know who she was? Is she a suspect?’
    ‘An African female was discovered in the flat along with the victim. She wasn’t locked in, but it appears that she had been there ever since he was killed.’
    ‘How long was that?’
    ‘We don’t know for certain, but seventy-two hours at least, possibly longer.’
    ‘If she wasn’t locked in, why didn’t she try to get out of there? The body must have been bealing by then!’
    ‘Again, we don’t know for sure.’
    ‘When you say “African”, what was she?’ asked Dan. ‘Nigerian? Senegalese? Somali?’
    ‘We haven’t established that, either. She’s deeply traumatized, as you can imagine, and we haven’t had the opportunity to interview her yet. We will, though, when she’s up to it.’
    ‘Did she actually witness the victim being shot?’ asked Branna.
    Katie thought:
Good question, girl
. But in reply she said, ‘We don’t have any way of knowing at the moment, not until she talks to us.’
    She paused, and made a point of looking straight at Fionnuala’s cameraman. ‘If you saw or heard anything unusual around Lower Shandon Street in the past three or four days, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. Just dial 021 452 2000. Your identity will be kept secret and it doesn’t matter if you think it was important or not, it’s surprising what small bits and pieces of information can help us to make an arrest.’
    ‘This African girl,’ Branna persisted. ‘Was she a prostitute?’
    Jesus, aren’t you
the blunt one
, thought Katie. She turned back to Branna and said, ‘We don’t yet know who she is or where she came from, and so we have no idea if she was a sex worker or not.’
    ‘She was almost naked when she was found.’
    ‘Branna, in this job we come across plenty of people with their pants down. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re sex workers.’
    ‘But that will be one of your lines of inquiry?’
    Katie gave her a brief, uncommunicative smile. ‘As soon as we have any firm information, we’ll be sure to pass it on to you.’
    ‘But it is a major problem in Cork, isn’t it? Vice, and prostitution? I mean, some people are calling Cork the sex-trade centre of Ireland.’
    ‘That’s all for now, Branna,’ said Katie. ‘We’ll be holding a full media conference at Anglesea Street when we have something concrete to tell you.’
    ‘There’s at least ten brothels operating in the city centre alone, though, right this minute while we’re talking, and more than a hundred prostitutes, easy. I mean, what are you doing about them?’
    Katie went over to Branna, took her arm, and drew her aside.
    ‘Branna, if you want to talk to me about vice, then you’re welcome to make an appointment and come to Anglesea Street and we’ll talk about vice. Right now, I’m dealing with a violent homicide and I’m not going to stand here in the street speculating who might have done it or whether it’s connected with the sex trade.’
    ‘But –’ Branna began, but Katie lifted a finger to shush her.
    ‘How long have you been with the
Echo
?’
    ‘A week. Well, last week and yesterday, and this morning.’
    ‘I wish you the best of luck, but just remember that this is Cork, not Limerick, or Dublin, and you’re not Donal Macintyre. Get to know your contacts first, build up some trust. Then you can start crusading.’
    Branna’s cheeks flushed pink. ‘I’m sorry, superintendent. I didn’t mean to overstep the mark, like.’
    ‘That’s all right. And don’t worry. I’m as much concerned about the vice in this city as you are. But it isn’t easy to put a stop to it, for a whole lot of different reasons, and if you come and talk to