Murder in an Irish Village

by Carlene O'Connor

  “Thank you,” she said softly.

  “For what?”

  “For trying to protect me.”

  “I’m not trying to protect you,” Macdara said, squeezing her hand as his voice lifted into a jovial register. “I’m doing my best to protect everyone else in town from the likes of you.”

  Chapter 35

  Siobhán spent the next day focusing on the bistro with some much needed help from Maria. Siobhán insisted the young ones take the day off. Normally they’d only be helping out part-time, but the murder had taken up too much of Siobhán’s focus. Giving them a break was long overdue. Ciarán and Eoin were off to a hurling match, while Gráinne and Ann were going to hit the shops in Charlesville. Siobhán felt bad about leaving Maria last night, especially in light of how helpful she was being today.

  When the lunch break came, Maria stayed to clean up so Siobhán could head for the bank. She was thankful for the scooter and its little basket. She had just returned and said good-bye to Maria. They were going to go out for drinks that evening to make up for the night before. She had almost finished putting groceries away when she heard her mobile ringing across the room. She hurried to the register, where she’d left it, but by the time she reached it, her voice mail had already picked up.

  Courtney Kirby’s name flashed across the screen. There was no such thing as a short conversation with Courtney, and Siobhán had a few more things to do before she could put her feet up. She’d hurry through the rest of her to-do list and call Courtney back when she had a spot of time.

  It turned out to be an hour later. Aching feet propped up, cup of tea in hand, Siobhán listened to Courtney’s voice mail before calling her back. She sounded frantic. Siobhán immediately put her teacup on the table and her feet on the floor as she listened.

  “I found out something that’s going to crack the case wide open,” Courtney cried. “Hurry over.” The message cut off. Oh, why had Siobhán waited to listen to Courtney’s message? Typical. This was just typical. Was Courtney still there? What was it? Had she called the guards? Siobhán tried to call her back as she hurried out to her scooter. The call went directly to Courtney’s voice mail. She called Macdara and was told he was out of the office.

  “Did Courtney Kirby call in for him?” Siobhán asked.

  “Several times,” the girl said. “I left him a message to call her back. Is something wrong?”

  “I don’t know,” Siobhán said. “I’m going to check.”

  “Call us back if you need us,” the girl said. Siobhán headed for Courtney’s shop. When she pulled up, she immediately saw that the curtains were shut and the CLOSED sign had been turned around. Siobhán knocked. No answer. The shop, like many in town, had a back garden. The buildings were too close together for her to be able to maneuver herself between them, She would have to ride down the street, make a left as soon as she could, and come up behind Courtney’s shop. She was prepared to do that when she saw Bridie coming down the street.

  “Do you have a key?” Siobhán asked as she approached.

  “I do, luv,” Bridie said. “But it’s my day off.”

  “We need to get in.”

  Bridie stopped and looked at the window. “Courtney isn’t there?”

  “I knocked,” Siobhán said.

  “She must have run out. I’m sorry I can’t let you in.”

  “She left me an urgent message. I need to make sure she’s okay.”

  “What kind of an urgent message?”

  Siobhán hesitated. Courtney had called her, not Bridie. But this was no time to keep secrets. “She said she’d learned something that was going to crack the case wide open and to hurry over.”

  “And she’s not answering?”

  “I pounded on the door.”

  “Should we call Garda Flannery?”

  “I tried. He’s out.”

  “Maybe I should call Séamus.”

  “Why?”

  “You’re not the only one afraid of a killer. If you think she’s in trouble, he could still be in there.”

  “Or she,” Siobhán said. “How long would it take Séamus to get here?”

  “It depends what he’s in the middle of.” Bridie fumbled in her purse for her mobile.

  “Would you just open the door? I’ll go in myself.”

  Bridie sighed. “You’re stubborn, aren’t ye?”

  “I’m worried about Courtney. You have to let me check on her.”

  Bridie shook her head but handed Siobhán the key. “I’m still calling himself.”

  “Suit yourself.” Siobhán opened the door and pushed it open. It was dark. She listened for any sounds.

  “She always keeps lights on,” Bridie said. “Even when she leaves.” Siobhán felt around the wall for a switch and, upon finding it, flicked on the light. It took a second for her to blink, and another second to take in the room, after which she wished she hadn’t. Courtney Kirby was lying on her back on top of the middle display table, eyes open and staring at the ceiling, her arms and legs hanging over the sides. Her expression was frozen as if she were a porcelain doll.

  “Courtney,” Siobhán cried. “Are you hurt?”

  “What is it?” Bridie entered behind Siobhán, then cried out when she saw Courtney. She lunged forward, but Siobhán held her back.

  “It’s too late,” Siobhán said. “Don’t touch anything.”

  It was indeed too late. It took a minute to notice that there was a pair of hot pink scissors protruding from Courtney’s chest.

  Bridie crumpled to the ground. “No, no, no, no,” she cried.

  Siobhán wanted to crumple to the ground beside her. Instead, she dialed for the guards. Even as she told them to hurry, she couldn’t believe this had happened again. And once more, she was the one to have discovered the body. Why, when she defied the odds, was it always for the worst? Not that this was any time to be feeling sorry for herself.

  Poor Courtney. What had she discovered? If Siobhán had only answered her mobile, Courtney might still be alive. Or maybe Siobhán too would be dead. Hurry, I’ve got something that’s going to crack the case wide open. Siobhán shuddered. Apparently, she’d been dead right.

  Siobhán didn’t want to be seen at another crime scene, so as soon as Macdara arrived she gave him her mobile and let him listen to the frantic message from Courtney. Then she jumped on her scooter and was about to head back to the bistro when she spotted Bridie pacing on the footpath. Siobhán stopped to watch her. It took a few seconds to realize that Bridie was talking on her mobile. Of course, she was probably just giving Séamus a ring, but something about the look of panic in Bridie’s eyes made Siobhán keep watching. It was more than just shock at finding Courtney—at least it appeared that way.

  Bridie looked guilty. Siobhán couldn’t put her finger on it, but every time she looked at Bridie or talked to her, she had that same nagging feeling—that Bridie was hiding something. And so when Bridie slipped away and hurried down the footpath Siobhán jumped off her scooter, parked it on the footpath, and followed her on foot.

  She kept a decent distance, although it was hardly necessary. Bridie didn’t look back once. All those spinning classes had apparently paid off for her, as Siobhán had to jog to keep up. She expected Bridie to either take a turn for the cycle shop or their home, so she was surprised when Bridie disappeared into Mike’s Market. All this fuss and she’s doing her messages? What an odd time to pick up your bits and bobs. Maybe Bridie wanted to comfort herself with chocolates or biscuits, or maybe she was there for an entirely different reason. Siobhán hesitated and then hurried into the shop. If Bridie saw her, she could always claim to be in search of chocolates herself.

  She entered in time to see Bridie being ushered into Mike’s office and the door shutting behind them. Siobhán stood, wondering what to make of that. Siobhán meandered around the store, hanging as close to Mike’s door as possible. But it was of no use; she couldn’t hear a word they were saying. Should she just knock on the door
? Just then it swung open. Siobhán reacted instinctively and dove for the floor.

  “Siobhán?” Mike Granger stood over her.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I must have slipped.”

  “Is there a wet patch on the floor?” He looked stricken.

  “No. Just my clumsy feet.” He held his hand out and helped her up. Bridie was standing next to him, her face so pale she looked ghostly.

  “I’ll tell Séamus to have a word with you,” she said to Mike, then hurried on with a nod to Siobhán.

  “Excuse me,” Siobhán said. She was done playing games. She caught up with Bridie and looped her arm into hers.

  Bridie jumped. “Jaysus. You put me heart in crossways.”

  “Come to the bistro and have a cup of tea,” Siobhán said. “We’ve both had a shock.”

  “I can’t,” Bridie said. “I have to get home.”

  “You can come in for a cuppa,” Siobhán said. “I insist.”

  “Not today,” Bridie said, extracting her arm. They were outside now in front of the shop.

  “Do you have any idea how Courtney was involved in all this?”

  Bridie stopped. “They’re going to have to let James go now. Isn’t that enough?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Did you follow me here?”

  “Of course not. I wanted some chocolates.”

  Bridie scanned Siobhán. “Where are they?”

  “I fell, and then you and Mike came out, and I forgot all about them.”

  Now Bridie glanced around the footpath. “Where’s your scooter?”

  “I decided to walk.”

  “You were following me! Who do you think you are? A detective superintendent?”

  “No. I’m just trying to catch a killer.”

  “To free James, is that it?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then you’re finished.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “He obviously isn’t the killer, so they’ll have to let him go.”

  “Do you think so?”

  “He couldn’t have stabbed Courtney from jail, could he?”

  “Of course not.”

  “So James will be free. You can stop now. I’m begging you. Stop.”

  “I can’t. Not with a killer on the loose. I care about Courtney.” Cared. Siobhán just couldn’t bring herself to talk about Courtney in the past tense.

  “We all cared about Courtney. I worked closer with her than anyone.”

  “Which is why I thought you might know something.”

  “I don’t. I told ye.” Bridie started to walk away.

  Siobhán cut her off. “I think you’re hiding something, Bridie Sheedy. No. I know you’re hiding something.”

  Bridie put her hands on her hips. “You know?”

  “The day I walked into the cycle shop and saw you there with Niall. The look on your face. It was as if I had caught you.”

  “We’ve been through this. I showed you the gear.”

  “You showed me a large envelope. I didn’t open it.”

  “You’re not going to stop, are you?”

  “No,” Siobhán said. “I’m not.” Bridie was right. This was no longer just about James. It was about stopping a killer.

  Bridie slumped as if defeated. “I’ll have that cup of tea, alright,” she said.

  This time the bistro was jammers, and nobody hesitated to speculate about the murder. Voices were raised outright instead of hushed. Her siblings were running around like mad, and once again Siobhán hadn’t been there for them. She set Bridie up with tea but had to delay their talk. A neighbor down the street, one of the ladies Siobhán had overheard talking about James during the fund-raiser, whisked up to Siobhán and squeezed the life out of her hands.

  “I knew James couldn’t have done such a t’ing!” she said. “Mark my words, I told everyone. He is not the murderer!”

  “Thank you,” Siobhán said, withdrawing her hands as soon as she could. She threw on an apron and dove right into the kitchen to help serve. They shooed her to the register, where she had to engage in talk of the murder while taking care of people’s bills. Suddenly everyone was trying to assure her that they never for one minute thought the murderer was James.

  By the time the lunch shift was over and her siblings had scattered for a well-deserved break, Siobhán fully expected Bridie to be gone. She was shocked to find Bridie still at her table. She sank down in the seat across from her. Bridie’s eyes were red from crying. Siobhán reached out and touched her hand. It was ice-cold.

  “Are you alright, pet?” Siobhán asked.

  “It’s my fault,” Bridie said. “I don’t know how. But maybe if I had told the truth from the beginning, Courtney would still be alive.”

  “Tell me,” Siobhán said.

  “I did buy a gear. But I didn’t need Niall’s help to do that.”

  “I didn’t think so,” Siobhán said. “I’m sure you know more about bicycle parts than he did.”

  Bridie swallowed and then tilted her chin up and looked Siobhán in the eye. “I was showing Niall our financial records. So he could see.”

  “So he could see you didn’t have twenty thousand euro.”

  Bridie gasped. “How did you know?”

  “He tried to get me to give him ten thousand euro. I knew he had to be targeting others as well.”

  “So now you know.”

  “What did he have on you?”

  Bridie squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them. “I did have an affair. Just not with Niall. But Niall found out about it and was threatening to tell Séamus.”

  Chapter 36

  Was it Mike Granger? Siobhán wondered. She didn’t ask. Bridie was ready to talk, and she wasn’t going to interrupt her.

  “It happened last year. When Séamus was racing day in and day out. Always training. I was stressed from trying to get pregnant and lonely because he was gone half the time. So I let myself be taken in by another man. It was wrong, I know it. I’m so ashamed.”

  “I see,” Siobhán said. She didn’t know why she felt so betrayed. Because she didn’t want to imagine how much this would hurt Séamus. Because she wanted to think there were some couples out there who actually made it. Because everything was changing.

  “Please don’t tell him. Everything is better now. He even gave up racing.”

  “How did Niall find out about the affair?”

  “The man I was seeing didn’t want me to break it off. Niall overheard us in O’Rourke’s one night. The man was drunk and saying things he shouldn’t have.”

  So that’s why Mike lit into Niall at the bistro. He was furious with Niall for holding the affair over their heads. “So Niall was blackmailing the two of you for twenty thousand pounds?”

  “He said he’d accept ten from me and ten from the man I was with.”

  “How generous.”

  “He said he videotaped our conversation with his mobile.”

  “Did he ever show you the video?”

  Bridie shook her head. “He said I couldn’t see it until I had paid at least ten thousand euro.”

  More reason to support Macdara’s theory. Niall didn’t have anything on the accident. No proof. No video. He simply knew enough about his victims to know their weak spots. Where they were desperate for information. How dare he? Using others’ grief and secrets to his advantage.

  “Why in the world did you keep saying what a good lad Niall was?”

  “I was hoping if I generated enough positive energy around him, he’d stop. You know what kind of life those boys have had. I’m not trying to make excuses for him.”

  “Yet that’s exactly what you’re doing.”

  “I’m the one to blame. For the affair. I guess part of me felt like I deserved the punishment.”

  “Next time go to confession instead.”

  “I couldn’t bear to tell Father Kearney what I did.”

  “You have to tell Macdara.”

  Bridie swallowed, then n
odded. “There’s more.”

  Siobhán leaned in. “Go on.”

  “The man I was with. His reaction to being extorted might have been very different than mine.”

  “More aggressive?”

  Bridie nodded. “He even stole Niall’s passport, thinking he could somehow use that to threaten Niall.”

  Mike Granger! “Threaten Niall how?”

  “This man was convinced that once Niall had the money, he was going to use it to get out of the country. He’d need his passport to do that, of course.”

  “What was the plan? Take Niall’s passport and then what?”

  “That’s just it. I don’t know. He just said he wasn’t going to let Niall get away with it.”

  So Siobhán was right. She knew Mike had been lying about the passport. Bridie had no idea she’d just divulged the identity of the man with whom she’d had an affair. She certainly did have a type. Both Séamus and Mike were older than her, and a bit on the gruff side. And Mike certainly did have a temper. So much for thinking he was standing up for the O’Sullivans that day in the bistro, Mike was furious with Niall for very personal reasons.

  “How did Mike even get hold of Niall’s passport?”

  Bridie’s head jerked up. “I didn’t say it was Mike.”

  “I won’t tell.”

  “It’s not Mike. I didn’t say it was Mike.”

  Siobhán could hear the panic in Bridie’s voice. “I saw Niall’s passport on his desk the other day. Macdara knows about it too. Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone else. Now how did he get the passport?”

  Bridie sighed, and her shoulders slumped. “Niall was always leaving things on the bar. His money, his phone, his passport.”

  “Why was Niall carrying around his passport?” Siobhán wanted to see if Bridie would substantiate the gossip about Niall leaving the country.

  “He said he was going to Australia the minute Billy was out and he had enough money. He was carrying it around like a good luck charm. Anyway, Mike took it off the bar the night of his murder. Even Declan didn’t notice. The minute I heard Niall had been killed, I told Mike he had to either give the passport to the guards and tell them everything—or destroy it.”