Ivan Kavanagh’s The Vanishing Triangle chronicled the story of Lisa Wallace (India Mullen), an investigative journalist who was troubled by haunting memories of the past. Years ago, Lisa’s mother, Janice Wallace, was murdered in her own house. The kidnapper also assaulted Lisa, locked her inside a wardrobe, and raped her mother. The depraved man also took pictures of her. Unfortunately, the killer was never found, and the investigation was closed soon after. However, the killer resurfaced when Lisa wrote a new article.
Spoilers Ahead
What Was Inside The Package?
At the beginning of The Vanishing Triangle, Lisa received a strange courier. The courier contained pictures that suggested that the killer had kidnapped another woman. But why did the killer choose to contact Lisa after 15 years? On the 15th anniversary of her mother’s death, Lisa penned an article. In the piece, she berated the killer, calling him a coward for killing a helpless woman. Maybe this was the killer’s way of mocking Lisa and the authorities. He was giving both Lisa and the cops another chance to catch him before he killed another innocent.
Detective Burkely (Allen Leech) was a bit skeptical. He strongly felt that the photos were staged and that someone was playing a cruel prank on Lisa. However, Lisa took it upon herself to save the girl and bring her mother’s killer to justice. Lisa began her investigation, and it didn’t take long for her to find that the girl in the picture was Amy (Gráinne Good). Amy’s mother and sister, Susan (Laoise Sweeney), confirmed that Amy always wore black nail polish, the exact same color shown in the photographs. Amy was kidnapped the night before Lisa’s article made headlines. The very next day, Lisa received those cards and the accompanying pictures. Unfortunately, since there was no positive ID, Burkely was told to drop the case and direct his attention where it actually mattered. However, when Lisa found a wooden wedge in Amy’s house, Burkely got curious. This was exactly the same technique the killer used to enter Lisa’s house. Thus, it was clear that both cases were connected.
Who Is Mark Bulger?
According to a taxi driver, Mark Bulger, (Brian Moore) forced a half-naked woman into his car the same day Amy went missing. The taxi driver didn’t mention this in his first statement, as he feared for his life. Mark Bulger was a convicted felon who had served jail time for robbery, sexual assault, and whatnot! He was out on bail the year Janice Wallace was killed. Since Burkely had no strong evidence against Mark, he couldn’t hold him in custody. Bulger definitely had a girl with him that night, but was it Amy or someone else? Lisa launched her own probe into Bulger. She tricked one of the Gardai into giving her Bulger’s address. In the dead of the night, Lisa followed Bulger to a cottage built inside the woods. Berger was holding a woman here, but thanks to Lisa, she survived. The woman Lisa found was Teresa (Emily Kilkenny Roddy). She was way too frightened to say anything. Lisa got through to her and learned that Bulger had raped and assaulted her. Since Teresa wasn’t keen on giving a statement, Burkely had no grounds to arrest Bulger. Fortunately, he pulled some strings and found a witness to testify against Bulger. Bulger was also connected to Lisa’s father, Chris. Years ago, he was arrested on drug charges with Billy Miller (Paul Ward). The latter was part of the same gang Lisa’s father was associated with. Chris was serving a life sentence for killing a member of a rival gang. Chris was convinced that Bulger wasn’t his wife’s killer. Whoever killed Janice was methodical, while Bulger was a hot-headed hoodlum, said Chris. Billy was of the same opinion as Chris.
What Do Lisa And Burkely Find Out About Gough?
Susan received a call from a girl who claimed to have some information about Amy. The girl was Mandy, the second girl the killer kidnapped after Amy. He forced Mandy to call Susan and lure her into the parking lot so that he could kidnap her. The killer had threatened to kill Mandy’s grandmother if she refused to do his bidding. Lisa found Susan’s hairband on the scene and immediately realized that she had been abducted. Plus, the killer also called Lisa and presented her with a tough choice. Lisa was to choose which one of them would live. The killer also slapped her with a 24-hour deadline and a threat that he would kill both if she went to the cops. Mandy’s neighbors maintained that they had seen her with an older man in many instances. Mandy was a bit of a wild girl with an interest in older men, they claimed.
Chris told Lisa about Evans, a pedophile locked in the same jail as him. Evan had claimed that he slept with Mandy at a brothel in Rathkilly. He also gave Mandy the address of the brothel. The place was littered with sex toys, lingerie, and photos. One of the pictures showed Mandy with Ger Gough (Stephen Hogan), one of the Gardai. This hinted that the old man Mandy was seeing was Gough. However, before Burkely could arrest Gough, he went AWOL. Their suspicion of Gough deepened when the killer broke into Lisa’s house and killed her security guard. He also threatened her that he was going to kill both Mandy and Susan since Lisa had failed to make her choice. Whoever the killer was, he was a sociopath who loved to see people suffer. The best way for him to do that was to put people in difficult situations where they had to choose between saving two lives. 15 years ago, he gave the same choice to Lisa, and the latter chose herself. Lisa’s memory of this had been dormant for years. Unfortunately, it all flashed right before her eyes when she heard the killer’s voice in person.
Why Was Gill Protecting Gough?
Gough was eventually picked up by the cops, some two miles away from Lisa’s home. Gough maintained that he did meet Mandy in the brothel but never slept with her. The reason Gough didn’t mention this during the investigation was because, as a cop, he knew how it would reflect on him. Gough also had an alibi for the night Lisa was attacked in her house. Gough’s alibi was rock solid, proving he didn’t attack Lisa and kill the young guard. Thus, Burkely had no choice but to let Gough go. But Burkely and Lisa were still confident that Gough was the killer. Moreover, Gill (Philip O’Sullivan) threatened to take away Burkely’s job if he investigated Gough any further. Gill also knew about Tommy (Adam John Richardson), Burkely’s gay lover. But why was Gill protecting Gough? He was no saint and was one of the most corrupt officers on the force. Gough was transferred because he was accused of pimping young girls in Dubin. He used to arrest the girls for minor crimes and force them to sell their skin. Gill was protecting Gough mainly because he was in on it, too. Seeing his warnings to Burkely had fallen on deaf ears, Gill had his officers pick up Tommy. As The Vanishing Triangle advanced to its final episode, Lisa concluded that Gough wasn’t her mother’s killer. He was a crooked cop, no doubt, but Gough didn’t kill her mother; Lisa sent a message to Burkely.
Who Is The Real Killer Of Janice Wallace?
Since Burkely was occupied with his own issues, Lisa had to seek the help of Detective Brennan. However, at this point, it became highly dangerous, as Gill and the others were hot on Lisa’s trail. Gill had even given orders to scale back searches for Amy and the other kidnapped girls. Lisa met with Miller, the man who worked with her father. However, Miller, too, had no idea about Janice Wallace’s murderer, but he told her something that was much more shocking. As established from the start, Chris Wallace was serving time for a murder. In reality, Chris was innocent and had been framed by Billy Miller. Chris had tried everything to convince Lisa that he was innocent, but she’d never believed him. Unfortunately, Lisa might never get the chance, as Chris was now on his deathbed after being stabbed by a fellow inmate.
Lisa, Brennan, and Burkely were tipped off about an abandoned factory in Wicklow. The caller alleged that he heard strange noises and saw a strange man going in and out. The tip was rock-solid, and it was the same place where the kidnapper had been hiding the girls. Unfortunately, Brennan was shot. Lisa managed to find Mandy and Susan and escape the abandoned factory. As The Vanishing Triangle nears its conclusion, Burkely also arrives at the factory. However, the most pressing question still remains unanswered. If Gough wasn’t the killer everyone was looking for, then who was? In reality, the killer had been working alongside Burkley since the start. The kidnapper was Detective Brennan, the man who’d personally volunteered to work with Burkely in the missing persons case. Since Brennan was personally working with Burkely, he knew all about his strategies and plan of action. This was why Brennan was always two steps ahead of the Gardai. Brennan shot and killed Burkely during the struggle. He then staged the crime scene to make it look like Burkely was the real kidnapper. Brennan also shot himself to make his story much more convincing. Also, the fact that everyone had started to abhor Burkely on the force would also help his story.
The Vanishing Triangle culminated with Lisa meeting her father in the hospital, who had miraculously survived. So, was Brennan behind Janice Wallace’s murder? In my opinion, Brennan and the man who killed Janice were the same people. Brennan abducted Amy, Susan, and Mandy, and he also raped and killed Lisa’s mother. Lisa also found a brown stuffed bear and a nightlamp in the factory, and they were exactly the same as the ones she had as a kid. However, it could also be possible that Brennan wasn’t Janice’s killer. Maybe Brennan was a copycat killer who was fascinated by Janice’s case. Since Brennan was on the force, it was a child’s play for him to know everything about Janice’s case. Also, there’s another theory. What if Brennan, Gough, and Gill were in cahoots, and the trio were kidnapping girls for trafficking? The only reason they started investigating was because Lisa published a piece about the Gardai’s incompetence.
