No matter how much he resisted the thought of calling Orla Leary, it was unavoidable. Angela’s fate was not indifferent to Shane, and the case was far from closed. The fact that the girl had managed to reach the surface answered none of the million questions that had arisen. They did not know who she was or how she had ended up in the cellar at such an age.

  Only one step had been taken. A tiny step. Ahead lay a long, impenetrable road, wrapped in the fog of the young woman’s past. Ten years in a dark, filthy place. It was no longer surprising that she had lost the ability to speak. Yet Shane could not forget her brown eyes, full of life. Angela still perceived the world through a child’s gaze. And she was afraid. Behind the ease with which she made contact with strangers hid the fear of being deceived again.

  Shane himself did not know where these thoughts had come from, but they were as clear as the daylight outside the window.

  “Doctor Leary.”

  Shane flinched at the sound of Orla’s voice.

  “This is Detective O’Halloran…”

  “Ah, Inspector.”

  “I’m calling to ask about Angela’s condition. How are things progressing?”

  “At the moment, I have nothing to tell you, Inspector,” Leary replied with a trace of irritation in her voice. “We placed her in a private room. She is refusing food and does not want to see anyone. I asked the staff not to insist on communication. We took some samples. The results will be ready tomorrow.”

  “Maybe we should return her to Molly? I have the feeling the house is holding her.”

  “We would be causing inconvenience to the Daniels family, Inspector,” Orla insisted. “Besides, Angela needs to be examined. She lived among… for so many years. Are you sure she is healthy? I am not.”

  Shane could not be certain of anything. It was not in his nature to follow feelings or personal conclusions. They had facts that needed to be verified. So he did not argue.

  He spent the entire day in his office, thinking about the case, building theories, comparing known facts. But even by evening he had come to no conclusion. After work, he wanted to stop by the hospital to visit Angela, but restrained himself, deciding that today was not the right time. Gallagher suggested having dinner at a restaurant downtown, and Shane did not refuse. He needed to talk through his thoughts and arguments with his partner, so why not do it over a meal?

  “Do you still think that at eight years old Angela found the hole into the cellar by herself and started living there?” Evan asked, diligently dealing with his steak.

  “It’s just an assumption.”

  “The expert called me this morning and told me something interesting. With all the paperwork, I forgot to tell you. And if his words are true, your version doesn’t hold up.”

  “What did the expert say?” Shane grabbed his wine glass.

  “The tunnel was dug from the inside.”

  “You think a small child dug such a long tunnel on her own?”

  “Ten years, Shane!” Evan set aside his knife and fork and began gesturing, as he usually did when reasoning. “Let’s assume someone put the girl there. Maybe at first they fed her or even let her outside. What if the owners of that house were lunatics and kidnapped a child? Or the opposite. Maybe they were hiding her from someone. And then they forgot about her when she was thirteen or fourteen. She didn’t want to die, so she started digging the tunnel and stored the dirt in the potato compartment, which, by the way, was also her toilet. At that age, she could have done it.”

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  “If they stopped feeding her, Angela should have grown weak,” Shane countered skeptically. He barely ate, only poked at his food and drank wine.

  “In the fight for survival, people do far worse things!”

  “Your version is logical, but a lot still doesn’t add up.”

  “They found something else in the cellar.”

  “Interesting. I thought they searched everything possible.”

  “And didn’t you ask yourself how she survived the winter? I can’t imagine how she dug the tunnel through snow. That place must have been buried right up to the roof. If she managed to crawl out through the snow, then our girl is smart and strong.”

  “I don’t understand why she didn’t run away.”

  “You’re right. That’s a huge snag in our case.” Evan wiped his mouth with a napkin and pushed away his empty plate. Then he leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach. A loud burp made Shane grimace. “You barely ate anything.”

  “This case gives me indigestion,” Shane joked, though there was some truth in it. “So what did they find in the cellar?”

  “Oh!” Gallagher remembered. “They found old fur coats. Yes, fur coats, plural. Three of them. Old, but warm. And matches. There were three left in the box. But she hardly lit a fire in the cellar itself. And most importantly, they found the tool she used to dig.”

  “A shovel?”

  “A hand trowel.”

  Shane thought it over. He had left his notebook in the car, so he had to memorize everything his partner had just said. Without Gallagher, things would have been much harder. Sometimes he seemed like a fool, but in reality, the guy was very smart.

  All night, Shane could not close his eyes, thinking about Angela, imagining how she lived in that wretched cellar, how she managed everyday tasks. He pictured her in the garden, eating apples and other fruits and vegetables. How had she managed to remain unnoticed for so many years? After all, people lived in that house until 2024. Then he tried to imagine how her small, fragile body squeezed into the narrow tunnel day after day, sand pouring into her face as she closed her eyes but kept climbing. And then she would enjoy the cool water of the lake. And no one noticed her. And even if someone did, they had no idea that the girl lived in the cellar.

  Shane turned from side to side, remembering her hard, filthy mattress that smelled of something indescribable. And the pillow, gray and grimy. Shane buried his nose in his own pillow, the pillowcase fresh and scented with floral fabric softener.

  What did she feel?

  What does she feel now?

  Why is she not angry at the whole world?

  Angela is not aggressive, Leary had noted at one point, and that was a good sign. But who better than Shane knew what thoughts could hide in the corners of an injured mind. Maybe it was a good thing she was in the hospital. At least the Daniels family would remain safe, in case Angela was dangerous.

  A child.

  She was just a child.

  The detective closed his eyes and saw her smiling face, expressing nothing but tenderness. Her hand reached toward his face, and then Shane fell asleep.

  In the morning, Orla Leary called him to report the results of some tests.

  “I’m surprised, Inspector, but your intuition didn’t fail you. Her bloodwork is perfect. No vitamin deficiencies, no viral or sexually transmitted diseases. She was also examined by a gynecologist, and I have good news. She is a virgin. That means no one sexually abused this girl. We can rule out the pedophile theory.”

  At that moment, Shane exhaled in relief. Orla continued:

  “No worms or lice were found. I honestly cannot explain how she avoided those parasites, considering she lived side by side with rats.”

  “My people didn’t find any rats or mice. There was nothing for them to live on.”

  “Then that explains it. But still… Ten years in filth and not a single illness.”

  “She bathed in the lake. Damn it, Doctor, do you really want to find some disease in her? Homeless people live in filthy trailers, eat garbage, and still stay healthy.”

  “That’s where I would argue with you, Inspector.”

  “I’m just saying we should be glad to have such an exceptional case. Besides, she does have one defect, the absence of speech. And that’s far worse than any disease.”

  “You can be unbearable, Inspector O’Halloran.”

  “Sadly, that’s who I am.”

  “Meticulous, persistent, stubborn, but very perceptive.”

  “That too.”

  “Perhaps I should invite you to dinner sometime.”

  “In another life,” Shane tossed back and hung up. As if!

  After the briefing, he met with Fay O’Keefe to ask how things were going with the witnesses.

  “Nothing new so far,” she sighed sadly.

  “New hairstyle?”

  The girl blushed.

  “You’re the only one who noticed.”

  “Because I see you more often than anyone else,” O’Halloran remarked. They turned the corner and headed toward his office. “Any word on Stan Dillan?”

  “You assigned that to Gallagher. Why don’t you ask him?”

  “You’re right. We talked about the case yesterday, but he didn’t mention it. Probably…”

  The phone rang. Leary again? More test results? Shane’s heart began an anxious dance. He entered his office, closed the door, and only then answered.

  “Orla? Did you finally find some illness in the poor girl?”

  “Inspector, this is no time for jokes. Angela has escaped from the hospital.”