Brothers & Sisters

by Brothers

  Rose nodded her consent. She was feeling fragile. The combination of the shocking news coupled with her low blood pressure had conspired to drain her of her ability to refuse, even if she wanted to.

  ‘Get that into you,’ Nora instructed kindly as she placed a sweetened cup of tea and two ginger nut biscuits in front of her. ‘It’s all a bit much to take in at first,’ Nora said sweetly.

  ‘It is a bit,’ Rose agreed and sipped her tea. It had been a while since she had sugar and it tasted sickly-sweet.

  ‘Is there someone I could call for you, you know to explain anything?’ said Nora.

  ‘No I’m fine,’ Rose said, stoic to a fault.

  ‘Is there anyone at home?’ Nora was opening her notes and produced a form. ‘There are just a few things I need to get for your file if you don’t mind answering a few questions.’

  ‘No, I’m a widow.’

  ‘How long is your husband dead?’ Nora was pleasant and even though her questions were personal they weren’t probing.

  ‘Just a year,’ Rose said.

  ‘Tough year for you.’ Nora smiled comfortingly and pulled an information leaflet from Rose’s pack. ‘I’ll explain the medication to you too, it can be hard to get used to, but once you get into the rhythm of it you won’t even notice.’ Nora continued to fill in her form. ‘And how many children do you have?’

  ‘Just the one.’ It was a question Rose could never get used to answering. ‘Lizzie, she’s thirty-three.’

  ‘Oh that’s marvellous, any grandchildren?’ Nora was skilled at conversation. She liked to get a picture of her patients’ supports, but did it in a non-intrusive way.

  ‘No, not yet,’ Rose said as she sipped her tea.

  ‘Bring this pack home and have a read through.’ All the details were bound in a red plastic folder. ‘My number is in there as well as Mr Tomkinson’s email, so if you have any questions that can’t wait till you’re back with us, just ring up or email. There is an answering service if we are not here. We could be in theatre or anything. Like today.’ Nora held the front of her scrubs out for demonstration. ‘Make sure you tell your daughter and give her a read through. It’ll give her a chance to absorb it too.’

  ‘Okay, thank you, Nora.’ Rose was grateful for her time, but there was no way she was going to bother Lizzie with this; the first thing that Lizzie would do would be to pack up her life in London and race home to look after her and she didn’t want to worry her, not yet anyhow.

  ‘Have you far to go?’ Nora’s calmness went a little way to ease the chaos that Rose was feeling.

  ‘No, not far, I’m just up in Kilternan.’

  ‘Ah, a mountain woman, they’re made of good stuff. I’m a Wicklow Hills woman myself,’ Nora said. ‘Takes a lot to knock us over.’ Nora winked, Rose smiled. ‘Take your time now, going home, there’s no rush.’ Nora helped Rose up even though she didn’t need it, not in Rose’s opinion anyhow.

  ‘I will, Nora, thanks, I’m going to ring my brother before I leave. Thanks again.’

  Rose exited through the clinic door onto the main concourse of the hospital and took a café seat to dial Tim.

  ‘Hi Tim, how are you?’ Rose spoke deliberately cheerfully, trying to mask any giveaway signs in her voice.

  ‘Great, looking forward to later, I’ll wait for the traffic to ease and get on the road about a quarter to seven.’

  ‘That’s why I’m ringing; I think I’ve a cold coming on. I think I’ll give tonight a miss if you don’t mind and we’ll rearrange for later in the week.’ She spoke through her nose to bolster the fib she was spinning.

  ‘No way, Rose O’Reilly, you’re not standing me up.’ Tim was determined to see her tonight. Rose needed to be told. If Tim’s suspicions were right, that weasel of a detective would do his best to drag her in to the investigation and she needed to be prepared.

  ‘Genuinely though, I really am coming down with some…’

  ‘No worries,’ he cut in, reluctant to lose the opportunity, ‘I’ll still come out and check on you and bring you some dinner.’ It wasn’t something he could tell her over the phone, he was sorry he had to tell her anything at all, but by the way the investigation was stacking up, something was urging him to warn her, before it was too late.

  ‘If you’re sure.’ Rose would have preferred not to see Tim, she needed to process what she had just been told, but with her brother’s perseverance, there was no reasonable way she could have avoided his visit. ‘See you later, then.’

  ‘Where are you? It sounds noisy.’ Tim was surprised that Rose wasn’t at home tucked up on the sofa as she normally would have been with a cold coming on.

  Rose froze, unable to think of anything to say and her silence concerned him.

  ‘Rose, where are you?’ he asked again, laughing nervously waiting for her answer.

  ‘I’ll tell you later.’ She couldn’t bring herself to lie. ‘I’m okay though,’ she added, knowing that she had sounded strange.

  ‘Well that’s a load of crap,’ Tim snorted as he tried to figure out where she was. He could tell she was hiding something.

  ‘Okay,’ Rose said. ‘I’m actually at the hospital. Don’t worry though; it’s just a check-up,’ Rose was quick to add.

  ‘A check-up for what, wait, what hospital?’ Tim raised his arm, getting Robert to notice him. He had just settled on the brown leather sofa and kicked his shoes to the side. Tim stood and jerked his head towards the door and Robert understood. He patted his pockets, searching for his keys and found them in the bowl on the radiator shelf. Robert reached for them and hurried out to the car.

  ‘I’m in St. Vincent’s. It’s just a usual thing. You know blood pressure and things.’ Rose tried to minimise his concerns. She had no intention of discussing what she didn’t understand herself, especially not over the phone.

  Tim repeated ‘Vincent’s’ so that Robert would know where they were headed. He pulled on his shoes, leaving the laces untied.

  Robert mouthed, ‘Okay.’

  ‘And how’d you get on?’ Tim said as he headed out the door, his house was only ten minutes away at most; he kept her on the call.

  ‘Oh, grand, I’ve to come back again next month.’

  Robert drove as efficiently as he could, avoiding tailbacks by taking the bus lane.

  ‘I see, and are you feeling alright in yourself or why did you go in there?’ His questions were a deliberate attempt to stall her from leaving.

  Robert sped on the inside, there wasn’t much that would make him break the rules, but Rose was one of them.

  ‘Oh yes, fine, I had just been in with the GP and he had set up this appointment for me, so I took it. Nothing to worry about,’ she added, her voice pitched a smidgen too high. ‘Anyway, I’ll fill you in later, if you are still insisting on coming out.’ Her attempts at nonchalance fooled no one. ‘Mind you, if I thought I could convince you, I’d tell you to leave it till tomorrow.’ Rose hoped for a miracle.

  ‘Nope, you still have to eat, so I’ll bring us something,’ Tim said as Robert weaved the car through the waiting ambulances into the set-down area. He unclasped his belt and jumped out of the car.

  ‘I best go, Tim. I want to get out of town before the traffic gets heavy.’

  Tim nodded to Robert knowingly; they hadn’t needed to discuss what to do next.

  ‘What was I going to say to you,’ Tim stalled the conversation as though trying to remember something to tell her and he raced inside. He stood at the door and surveyed the hospital lobby. He noticed the information desk in front of him. He was thinking on his feet.

  ‘Actually.’ The solution just dawned on him. ‘Could you do me a favour, are you anywhere near the information desk there before you leave.’

  ‘Em, why?’ Rose looked across the lobby. It was like Connolly Street Train Station on a Friday evening. Hundreds of patients, visitors and staff milled around the area.

  ‘I was going to send a card to a pal of ours that’s in for a knee re
placement. Would you ask them what ward John Cannon is in for me, so I can make sure the card gets to him?’ He smiled, hoping his ruse would work.

  ‘Okay.’ Rose had thought his request strange, but obliged anyhow. ‘I’ll just go check now, do you want me to ring you back with it?’

  Tim noticed her silver hair pulled back into a clip as she slowly turned from the busy lobby area in front of the shops. He ended his call. He watched her as she took the phone from her ear to check if they were still connected. She walked closer and realised the man that was standing at the desk was Tim.

  ‘What on earth?’ Rose was in disbelief. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘We were just outside, when you rang, so Robert just turned in.’

  ‘Oh, Tim.’ Rose’s eyes began to water, she didn’t know how he did it, but somehow Tim always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.

  ‘Let’s get you back home, you can tell me on the way.’

  Rose patted her tears dry.

  ‘Where’d you park, I’ll drive,’ Tim said.

  Gladly, Rose surrendered her keys.

  ‘How is it, you always know where to find me?’ she asked.

  ‘I’m your big brother, I’ll always find you’. Tim answered.

  Chapter 11

  Tuesday Evening – 2016

  The weather had been diabolical all day and the grey, damp Kilkenny streets were illuminated by bumper-to-bumper red brake lights. Detective Kelly parked his car in his usual spot and made his way to the office.

  ‘Right, I’m back.’ He threw his coat over the back of his chair and sat at his desk. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Just been talking to the coroner’s office,’ Louise answered across their desks. ‘They’ve confirmed, it’s Patrick Fitzpatrick.’ She raised her eyebrows waiting for Kelly’s response. ‘They’re contacting the next of kin to release the remains tomorrow.’ Louise had phoned Kelly as soon as she had finished the call. ‘Cause of death,’ Louise picked up the yellow Post-it note that stuck to her screen and read, ‘subdural haemorrhage from blunt force trauma to the head. Catastrophic brain injury, they said.’ Louise paused to hear Kelly’s reaction.

  ‘I could have told them that,’ Kelly said. ‘What else?’

  ‘Secondary to that, he had cirrhosis of the liver, which made him very vulnerable, they said, not sure if they meant physiologically or psychologically.’ Both Kelly and Louise smirked. In their line of work, dark humour was exactly what they needed to get through the working day, even if the Inspector might have called it irreverence. ‘And there was vomit at the scene. Most likely a physiological response to the brain trauma, they said.’ Louise re-stuck the note to her screen. ‘Only the victim’s blood, no one else’s.’

  ‘Forty-six-year-old vomit, nice.’ Detective Kelly was raring to investigate. ‘Nothing else?’

  ‘Nope, it’s amazing what is preserved in a bog,’ Louise said.

  ‘But no indication of anyone else at the scene.’ Kelly checked again. ‘No “frozen in time” footprints to go with their “frozen in time” vomit?’

  ‘Nope.’

  ‘Any idea of what could have caused the trauma?’

  ‘Nope, could have been an assault, or equally could have been a fall, given the fact that he had so much alcohol in his system.’

  ‘Right so, I think I’ll go for my dinner You coming?’ He asked. ‘We’ll go down to the Brasserie on Castle street.’ He added.

  ‘What time is it?’ Louise turned her watch on her wrist. The strap was loose and her watch always fell to the side. It was nearly seven. ‘I might as well,’ she answered. Kelly’s offer sounded a great deal better than the lunch left-overs from the hot counter in the garage on the way home.

  ‘So what are you thinking now?’ Louise had waited until their order was taken before she asked. Given that they had both ordered steak and chips, she knew they would have plenty of time to discuss before the food arrived, especially since she had asked for hers to be well done. ‘Definitely looks suspicious.’ She grabbed a slice of tomato bread from the basket and covered it in butter.

  ‘I’m not sure.’ Kelly poured two glasses from the bottle of red wine that sat at their table. ‘We can rule Michael out anyhow. Seeing as he was only born the year the victim died.’ He took the glass in his hand and swirled the liquid around.

  ‘I had a chat today with the solicitor who completed the sale,’ Louise said. Kelly wasn’t the only one with a hunch and Louise’s had led her to wonder about the timing. ‘He didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know, but he did mention, which I’m sure he wasn’t meant to—’

  ‘Jesus, woman will you just get to the point.’

  ‘All right.’ She shot a warning look across his bow. ‘Everything in the sale was above board and they did complete all the necessary documentation in relation to declaring the uncle missing for seven years, presumed dead, etcetera, etcetera.’

  ‘And?’ Kelly’s impatience was about to explode out of him like a bull in a cage.

  ‘The farm was severely undervalued by the Fitzpatricks. Actually, the solicitor reckons by about half the market value.’ Louise was delighted with her discovery and Kelly’s intrigue in her discovery was written all over his face. ‘Although, he did say, when you took factors such as the property market, the recession and the fact that the farmhouse was completely derelict when they first took over the lease, that it wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility for the value to be so low.’

  ‘That’s very bloody interesting.’ Kelly tore a mouthful of bread with his teeth and chewed. ‘Very bloody interesting indeed.’ He grinned. ‘I presume Michael McGrath knows he got a bargain then, he’s no fool.’ Kelly’s eyes squinted as he plotted.

  ‘Well, the estate agent said that given the cost of the remedial works that Michael undertook, the low purchase price was justified, at least partly,’ Louise said. ‘But yeah, I’d say he thought he hit the jackpot when they agreed to his offer.’

  ‘I think we might have to talk to Michael after all.’ He washed down the bread with a mouthful of water. ‘Before I talk to Tim again.’

  Their meals arrived and Kelly had his devoured in minutes. Louise tried to ignore his slurping and slopping as he gobbled his way through his steak.

  ‘You’ll get indigestion.’ It wasn’t the first time Louise had said this to him. ‘You’re eating those Rennies like they’re Smarties.’ He didn’t respond to her. ‘Anyway, where did you go earlier?’

  ‘Bloody hell, Louise, the cops wouldn’t ask me that.’ Kelly feigned offence. It was peculiar how they could work so intuitively together and yet be completely oblivious to each other’s personal lives.

  ‘That’s not an answer, Kelly.’ Louise was using her best interrogation voice. She gulped another mouthful of wine.

  ‘What’s it to you, where I go on my time off,’ Kelly said. He topped up her glass again. He was both delighted that she had noticed and pissed off that she thought she had the right to ask. If he had wanted her to know what he was doing, he probably would have told her.

  ‘I’m just interested, is all,’ Louise said and spooned another bite into her mouth. She stopped short of telling him that for the past while she had noticed a pattern in his movements and, for some reason, on Tuesday afternoons, for the past number of weeks, he was unreachable, nowhere to be found. ‘It’s just, I tried ringing you and your phone was off, that’s all, no big deal.’

  ‘Oh, leave a message the next time.’ He avoided the question that she was trying to ask and, for some reason, he felt bad for not confiding in her.

  ‘It’s just that I didn’t know if I was to cover for you or if the Inspector knew you were off, that’s all.’

  ‘Don’t you worry about me, I’ll let you know if I need anything.’ Kelly winked at her, surprised by her interest. ‘All you need to worry about is this case, the quicker we get to the bottom of it, the less you’ll have to put up with me.’ Kelly smiled.

  ‘Well if that�
�s not incentive for me to solve it I don’t know what is.’

  Louise’s responses were always sharp and humorous; it was what Kelly liked about her most. If he was twenty years younger, he decided, he would have married her for her wit alone, it was just a bonus that she was as gorgeous as she was.

  ‘I’m going to go back up to the station, do you want a lift home?’ Kelly said once they’d finished eating. They shared many a meal together and, if the truth be told, Kelly enjoyed it. Not that he’d admit it to her. He had taken her under his wing since the day she arrived at his station and never once regretted it. It had helped of course that one of the first things she did when she arrived was to put one of the other detectives in his place with a quick-witted retort. He had admired her for that, that and her ‘take no prisoners’ attitude.

  ‘Yeah, but you should go home too.’

  Kelly had taken only one glass of wine from the bottle, discreetly topping up her glass as they talked. The three glasses of wine were beginning to tell on her. Her normally stern expression had softened and her movements were less regimented and clumsier.

  ‘I will, I’ll drop you first.’ Kelly took her by the hand and steadied her to her feet.

  ‘What time is it?’ Louise rotated her wrist, looking for the face of her watch. Her skinny wrists were dwarfed by the oversized titanium. It was like watching a dog chase his own tail.

  ‘Eight thirty,’ Kelly answered. He reached for her hand and righted her watch. ‘I don’t know why you use that bloody thing. It’s far too big for your tiny wrists.’

  ‘It’s sentimental, I told you.’ Louise leaned on him as he walked her outside.

  ‘Mental is right.’ Kelly opened the passenger door and watched her flop ungracefully onto the seat. He insisted on driving her even though her apartment building was only five minutes away. Besides she had needed that time to rummage in her bag for her keys. ‘You need to sleep. I’ll ring you in the morning, make sure you wake up,’ he said.