by Val Collins
‘I did it yesterday, thanks. The new card should be here the day before I leave. Actually, I meant to talk to you about the hotel. One of the main art critics is going to the exhibition. I’ve been wanting to meet up with him for a while and he’s finally agreed to see me, but he can only fit me in the day before I’m scheduled to arrive. Can you change the flight?’
‘Sure. Can it wait until tomorrow?’
‘I’m afraid not, but take the laptop home and you can change it there. Oh, and can you text me when it’s done. It’s really important I meet with Giorgio and I want to be sure everything’s arranged.’
‘No problem. See you tomorrow.’
*
‘Jason!’
‘Yeah.’
‘Could you look after Amy for fifteen minutes? I need to book a flight for my boss.’
‘You’re working from home?’
‘It won’t take long.’
‘He has no right to ask you to work outside your agreed hours.’
‘I don’t think fifteen minutes will kill me. Amy, put that down! Jason, please! Take her downstairs until I finish this.’
‘Okay but you’re setting a bad precedent. Most bosses will take advantage of you if you let them.’ He paused. ‘You’re paying for it with your own credit card?’
‘Cian lost his. He says he’ll include the cash with my salary on Friday. I’ll have time to pay it off long before the bill arrives.’
Jason threw his eyes up to heaven. ‘I knew there was something dodgy about that guy. You’re never going to see that money, Aoife. You’re working for nothing and you’re paying for that creep’s holidays.’
‘He’s not a creep. He lost his credit card, that’s all. And he didn’t ask me to put his flight on my card. I chose to do that because it was more convenient for me.’
‘He’s a con man.’
‘He isn’t. And I’ll prove it to you on Friday when I get paid.’
‘Okay, I can see there’s no point talking to you, but when you can’t pay your credit card, I’ll be the one out of pocket.’ He held out his hand. ‘Come on, Amy. Let’s see if we can find some biccies. Not too many, though, they might be all we have to eat soon.’
*
Aoife had expected Jason to be in foul humour until she got paid, but he was a little more cheerful than usual. Aoife suspected he believed she would be unemployed by Friday and that, in Jason’s mind, a plane ticket to Italy was a small price to pay for Aoife being at home all day. He didn’t even object when Aoife told him she was having dinner with Elaine. Amy did enough objecting for both of them. It took a bowl of ice cream, a bar of chocolate and her favourite princess DVD to reconcile her to Aoife’s absence.
Elaine had suggested they meet in Roly’s. Aoife would rather not have to drive all the way to Ballsbridge, but she could hardly expect Elaine to travel to Kildare. Besides, she’d always loved Roly’s. It was the first place she’d ever tasted pork with prune stuffing. It was a revelation and had led to a stage of experimental cookery which had almost driven Jason crazy. Of course, Amy had put an end to that. As yet, Amy’s tastes were decidedly unadventurous. Unless chocolate was involved. Then she would try anything.
Aoife gave Elaine’s name at the desk and was shown upstairs. She was led to a booth where the table was set for four. Aoife hoped Elaine was coming alone. They needed to have a private conversation. Aoife worried Maura was keeping secrets from her. After all, Maura had never mentioned she suspected Danny had been involved in a bank robbery. Aoife needed a different perspective on Danny. She hoped Elaine could provide that.
*
‘Hey, we got a booth.’ Elaine threw her bag on the empty seat and sat opposite Aoife. A waiter arrived and removed two of the place settings. ‘I reserved a table for four,’ Elaine said when he left. ‘They wouldn’t give me a booth otherwise. I love Roly’s, but there’s barely room to move out there.’ She nodded at the main seating area which was so packed the chairs were almost touching. ‘Isn’t the weather frightful? I tell you, I can’t wait to get back to Florida. There’s no place like home and all that, but really, are they trying to drown me?’ She shook out her raincoat, ran her fingers through her short black curls and smiled at Aoife. ‘Hi.’
‘Hi, Elaine. Thanks for agreeing to meet me.’
‘We’re family. I’m thrilled to get the opportunity to know you. I was hoping you’d bring Amy. I’d love to meet Danny’s granddaughter.’
‘We wouldn’t get much of a chance to speak if she were here, but you’re always welcome to drop around to the house.’
‘I’d like that.’ Elaine nodded at the waiter, who handed her a menu. ‘What did you want to talk about?’
‘The police think Maura was involved in Danny’s death. I’m trying to talk to everyone who knew him. See if I can come up with anything to prove Maura’s innocent.’
‘Are you sure she is?’
‘Innocent? Of course! I know Bridget hates Maura, but do you really see her as a murderer?’
‘I hope she’s not. I don’t want Danny’s kids to find out their mother killed their father, but—’
‘What?’
‘There have always been rumours about Maura. She comes across as pleasant and ordinary, but there is nothing ordinary about Maura and she is very, very far from normal.’
SIXTEEN
‘Not normal? How do you mean?’
‘Well, have you ever noticed that Jason looks very different from his brothers?’
‘I figured they took after their father. Jason has Maura’s colouring and he’s a smaller build than his brothers, but they all have the same nose. Ryan and Jason have the same chin.’
‘I think Jason looks completely different. He bears no resemblance to Danny at all.’
‘You think Jason isn’t Danny’s son?’
‘He’s darker and shorter. Danny was broad and Jason’s slender.’
‘Maura’s slender.’
‘She’s thin. She doesn’t have a small frame. Do you know anything about Maura’s family?’
‘I met Brendan. The others are dead, aren’t they?’
Elaine snorted. ‘It would take a lot to kill the Shaughnessys. Hard as nails, every one of them—well, except for Brendan. He was always on the delicate side. When I said Maura wasn’t normal, I meant—’ She paused.
‘Yes?’
Elaine opened her mouth, closed it again, then burst out, ‘I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but there were rumours back then that Maura and Brendan were a bit too close, if you get my meaning.’
‘What! You mean—? You can’t be serious, Elaine. You think Maura got pregnant by her brother and passed off the child as Danny’s? That’s sick! And, anyway, Jason’s perfectly healthy. Wouldn’t a child of siblings have developmental problems?’
‘Not necessarily. Brendan and Maura are only half-siblings. Maura’s the product of their father’s second marriage. I googled it when I first suspected Danny wasn’t Jason’s father. There is a greater risk of passing on inherited conditions, but it’s also possible that the child would be completely normal.’
‘The fact that Brendan is a half-brother doesn’t make it any better. How could you even think Maura was capable of such a thing?’
‘I’m not the only person who thought it. Maura’s own family believed it. Not one of them has spoken to her since the day she moved out. And they threw Brendan out around the same time.’
‘He went to Scotland.’
‘I know. I heard he was in Kildare last weekend.’
‘Yes. It was his first visit since he was teenager.’
‘No, it wasn’t. He was there the day Danny was murdered.’
‘No, Elaine. Brendan goes to Belfast occasionally and he was in Dublin overnight a few weeks ago, but he hasn’t been in Kildare since he was a kid.’
‘Like I said, he was there the day my brother was murdered.’
‘What makes you think that?’
‘Well…’ Elaine paused. ‘I supp
ose I can’t be certain he was in Kildare. He certainly made it as far as Dublin.’
‘You must be mistaken, Elaine. Brendan might have intended to come to Dublin, but he must have cancelled. He definitely said he’d only been in Dublin once since he was a teenager and that was very recently.’
Elaine gave her order to the waiter. ‘I’m not mistaken. He was here the day Danny died, and he met with Maura. I’m absolutely positive.’
‘Why would Brendan lie?’
Elaine raised an eyebrow. ‘Why do you think?’
‘You’re saying Brendan was involved in Danny’s murder? Why would he want Danny dead?’
‘Jealousy?’
‘Oh, come on, Elaine! You can’t really believe that. This whole brother and sister thing is ridiculous. You have brothers. Did you ever think of them sexually?’
Elaine laughed.
‘See? People just don’t do that.’
‘That’s not true, Aoife. There have been several cases of siblings having sexual relationships.’
‘Not siblings who grew up together. It just doesn’t happen. You said Maura’s brother was a slight man. Obviously that’s where Jason got his build.’
‘My thoughts exactly.’
‘I mean that Maura shares her brother’s genes. It’s not unusual for a child to resemble his uncle.’
‘If you’d seen them together back then, Aoife, you’d understand. Brendan always had his arm around Maura. He never stopped touching her. It wasn’t natural.’
‘Plenty of brothers and sisters are affectionate.’
‘Not like that, and we’re talking twenty-six years ago. In those days the Irish weren’t known for being tactile. The norm then was for adult siblings to have no physical contact whatsoever. Something was definitely wrong there. Everyone said so.’
*
The waiter arrived with their starters. Neither spoke until he was out of earshot.
‘What you’re saying doesn’t make any sense, Elaine. Even if you were right about them, Brendan and Maura hadn’t seen each other in over ten years. Why suddenly decide to kill Danny?’
‘That Saturday, the older kids were at a party and the younger ones were too young to know what was going on. Danny was at Mum’s. What if Danny came home unexpectedly and caught Maura and Brendan together?’
Aoife raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s your theory? And then I suppose they stuffed Danny somewhere until his children were asleep, left the kids in the house alone and drove to Dublin to dump the dead body?’
‘It’s possible.’
‘It’s not likely. Why would they kill Danny in the first place?’
‘I don’t imagine Danny would have been very happy to find his wife and her brother having sex. He and Brendan probably got in a fight. Maybe Brendan’s the murderer and Maura’s covering for him.’
‘How could Brendan be the murderer? You said Danny was bigger and stronger.’
‘You don’t have to be stronger to stab someone in the back. Maybe Maura and Danny were arguing and Brendan came up behind him and stabbed Danny. Or maybe it was the other way around and Maura was trying to defend Brendan. I’m not saying I think Maura’s a cold-blooded murderer.’
‘I don’t believe it for a second.’
‘Really? Then you tell me why Brendan stayed less than twenty-four hours on his first visit home in years.’
‘There could be any number of reasons. Problems with his business, one of his kids was sick, his wife needed him. Anyway, I don’t believe Brendan was in Ireland.’
‘Brendan was seen in Dublin the night Danny was murdered.’ Elaine leaned forward. ‘In Dublin, Aoife. Where Danny’s body was found. And Maura was with him. They were standing in a taxi queue. Brendan hugged Maura, then got into the taxi. That was around eleven p.m. They had plenty of time to murder Danny and bury his body.’
‘Who saw them? The people who claimed they were lovers?’
‘Somebody who had no reason to lie.’
‘Who, Elaine?’
‘A member of Danny’s family.’
A waiter approached. He nodded at their untouched food and asked, ‘Is everything okay?’
They both picked up their forks. ‘Lovely, thank you.’
Aoife crammed three forkfuls into her mouth in quick succession. She didn’t even taste them. ‘Why won’t you tell me who it was, Elaine?’
Elaine hesitated. ‘My mother is convinced that Maura murdered Danny. Not all of us are certain she’s right, but most of us agree that nothing can be achieved by having Maura convicted. We have a responsibility to her sons to ensure they don’t lose both their parents. Whatever type of wife she might have been, Maura’s always been a good mother. It would destroy those boys if they believed she murdered their father.’
Aoife nodded. ‘I agree, but I don’t understand your point.’
‘Mam would have a stroke if she knew any of us had evidence that could convict Maura, and we refused to tell the police. None of us want to have to choose between her and Danny’s kids. The person who saw Maura and Brendan doesn’t want to have to lie to the police or to my mother.’
‘It’s you, Elaine. Isn’t it?’
Elaine reached for her coat. ‘I have to go now.’
SEVENTEEN
Aoife barely slept that night. She didn’t believe for a second that Maura and her brother had been lovers. It was a ludicrous suggestion. Ordinary people didn’t do things like that. But she was going to have to mention it to Maura. If Maura and Brendan’s relationship had once been public gossip, it wouldn’t be long before the police heard about it. Maura needed to be warned. But how the hell do you raise a subject like that?
She woke late and barely made it to work on time. Cian was standing at her desk waiting for her.
‘You didn’t change my hotel.’
‘Yes, I did. Didn’t you get my text? You’re booked into the hotel a day earlier.’
‘But it’s the airport hotel. I told you Giorgio wanted us to stay in the same hotel so he could fit me in when he had a few minutes between appointments. It would take me an hour to get to him from the airport.’
‘I’m sorry, Cian, but you never mentioned changing your hotel.’
‘Yes, I did.’
‘Well, it’s not a problem. I’ll book you into Giorgio’s hotel now.’
‘I already tried.’ He held up a printed list. ‘I phoned every hotel on that street. They don’t have any vacancies.’
‘Okay, well, there must be hotels nearby. Give me a minute and I’ll look into it.’
Aoife’s heart raced as she googled hotels in the area. Cian had never mentioned changing the hotel, she was sure of that. But he was convinced he had, and in his eyes, she had screwed up.
Most of the hotels in the area were booked out. Aoife had a provisional booking in a three-star hotel that was a fifteen-minute taxi drive from Giorgio’s. Cian would hate it. On her second occasion phoning every hotel in the area, Aoife finally struck gold. A five-star hotel that was a two-minute walk from Giorgio’s had just had a cancellation. Aoife was so relieved she couldn’t stop thanking the receptionist.
She found Cian in the kitchen and told him of her achievement. ‘I didn’t want to risk losing the reservation, so I gave them my credit card number. Can you give me the number of your new card?’
‘I don’t give my credit card details to anyone. I’ll pay the hotel in cash when I check in. Let me see that printout.’
Aoife handed him the hotel’s details. ‘It will have to do, I suppose,’ he said and turned his back on her.
She returned to her desk, but she couldn’t concentrate on her work. Cian obviously doubted her abilities as a secretary. But he definitely hadn’t asked her to change his hotel. Had he? Could she have misunderstood?
*
Aoife was so stressed by the mix-up over the hotels that she was still thinking about it as she drove home. While preparing dinner, she went over and over the conversation with Cian in her head. She was so distracted
it was several minutes before she noticed that Amy had dragged a chair across the kitchen floor, climbed up on it to reach the treat jar and helped herself to a packet of chocolate stars.
In the midst of Amy’s howls at being denied her chocolate, Aoife’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen. Why would Jack ring her? She let the call go to voicemail. It was several hours before she remembered to listen to the message. Jack wanted to hire her.
As an experiment, Jack had asked Maura to help out in the halfway house last week. She had got on so well with the boys that he decided to offer her a job as his secretary. It was a four-day-a-week role, but for the first six months, Maura would work three days and Aoife would work one. At first they would work together while Aoife taught her how to run an office. After a few weeks, Maura would work alone and Aoife would come in on one of her days off to pick up the slack until Maura was fully up to speed. Aoife couldn’t believe her ears. She replayed the message. Jack was definitely offering her work. Jack, who had always seemed to dislike her! Aoife would have to take the job, of course. As a single mother, she couldn’t afford to turn down work. Jason would have a fit when he found out.
*
She couldn’t accept the job without talking to Jason, so she phoned him at work. ‘I know you don’t want Amy in a crèche, Jason, but we don’t have a choice. Your mother can’t live on her savings forever. It was very good of Jack to give her a job.’
‘He must be out of his mind. What does Mum know about office work? It’s unreasonable to expect someone her age to manage computers and stuff.’
‘For heaven’s sake, Jason. Maura’s in her early forties. Of course she can learn. And even when I’m working at Cian’s, she can call me if she has any questions.’
‘So that’s four days you’re planning to leave Amy in a crèche?’
‘Only temporarily.’
‘I’m not having it.’
‘Then you come up with another solution, because I can’t think of one. And don’t even suggest I give up work, because that is not an option.’
