Erin Hart - The Book of Killowen

The door swung open to reveal Stella Cusack, with Detective Molloy behind her.

“Mr. Dawson?” she said. And suddenly the tiny room seemed far too crowded. Niall looked up from the microscope, elation draining from his face.

“Niall Dawson, I’m here to arrest you for the murder of Vincent Claffey. You are not obliged to say anything unless you wish to do so, but anything you say will be taken down in writing and may be given in evidence—”

“What?” Dawson studied Cusack’s face as if there was some disconnect between it and the words issuing from her lips, and Molloy came around from behind, reaching for a pair of handcuffs from his belt.

“Wait a minute, this can’t be right,” Dawson said, pulling his arm from the junior detective’s grip.

Cormac turned to Stella Cusack. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t suppose you can vouch for Mr. Dawson’s whereabouts two nights ago, between the hours of one and five A.M.?”

“For Christ’s sake, Detective, we were all asleep,” Cormac said.

Niall still held his left wrist aloft, as though doing so could stave off the inevitable.

Molloy said, “If you would just come along, Mr. Dawson. It’s better for all of us if you don’t make a fuss.”

“I’ll make a fuss. I’ll make a fuckin’ stink if I like,” Dawson said. “Because I haven’t murdered anyone. You can’t possibly have any evidence.”

“What we have is an eyewitness who saw you kill Vincent Claffey,” Molloy said. “I’m afraid we’ve got to bring you in.”

“What eyewitness? That’s impossible. Somebody’s lying.”

Cusack replied, “If you’d just come with us, Mr. Dawson.”

Niall’s shoulders sagged as he turned to Cormac. “Please be careful. That tablet is—”

Cormac tried to reassure him. “I’ll make sure it’s safe.”

“Could you take a few photos first?” Dawson asked. “Document that mark. It’s very important. I didn’t do this, Cormac, you’ve got to believe me.”

“Do you want me to phone someone? Gráinne, or a lawyer? Anyone?”

“No, don’t call my wife,” Dawson said. “Not yet. And there’s no need for a lawyer. I’m sure this will all blow over—it’s a misunderstanding, has to be.” At last he brought down his other wrist and submitted to being handcuffed. “It’s all a dreadful mistake.” He sounded as though he was trying to convince himself, and not succeeding.

Cormac was left standing alone in the little laboratory, the microscope lens still focused on a string of words written a thousand years before.

Cormac sat at the lab bench, knowing he had to do something to help Niall, but what? Get past all the qualms he’d been feeling last night and actually do something, start digging. If Niall hadn’t killed Vincent Claffey—and Cormac believed he hadn’t—then someone else had, someone else who also had just as much in the way of motive. Claffey had threatened every person at that dinner table. He had something on all of them, it seemed.

Cormac switched off the lamp. He should finish up here at the hospital and get back to the farm, talk things over with Nora.

He told her about Niall’s arrest and about the shadows he had followed to the storehouse last night.

“Cusack said she had a witness to Vincent Claffey’s murder?” Nora asked.

“That’s what Detective Molloy said.”

“But who would say such a thing, if it wasn’t true?”

“Someone who wanted to deflect suspicion from himself, I’d imagine.”

“Surely Cusack gets that. Maybe she’s just playing with the real suspect, making him think the heat’s off. Let’s wait a minute now. We haven’t stopped to put together all the facts.”

“We can’t rule out the possibility of a conspiracy. Do you remember the way everyone at the table that night seemed to be in agreement about one thing—the need to protect Deirdre Claffey from her father?”

“There did seem to be a general consensus.”

“So maybe there was a similar pact about protecting Mairéad Broome from her husband.”

Nora rubbed her arms. “Not a very comforting thought. I suppose it’s a good thing we’re out here where no one can hear us.”

They were sitting on the ground in the middle of the open field above Killowen’s geothermal system, far from any possible eavesdropping. Joseph and Eliana were doing flash cards under the tree at the edge of the meadow, well out of earshot.

“Claffey might have discovered who murdered Kavanagh, and the killer might have taken his threats the other night seriously,” Cormac said. “The cloven tongues and oak galls found in the victims’ mouths—those are the details tying the two murders together. Who would have known enough about Kavanagh’s murder except the person who put those galls down his throat?”

“Or persons, if you’re sticking with your conspiracy theory. So what do we do next?”

“Keep our eyes open, try to find out more about Kavanagh’s connections here at Killowen. And anything to do with Claffey’s blackmail schemes, manuscript smuggling. There’s definitely something strange going on at that storehouse. Conspiracy or no, I get the distinct feeling that everyone here knows more than they’re telling.”

“What did you find out about the wax tablet?”

“Niall thinks the impressions in the wax came from the stylus that Shawn Kearney found. The point of the stylus has a unique imperfection that makes a distinctive mark.”

“You have photos?”

Cormac pulled a memory card from his pocket. “Did you want a look?”

“What would you think of printing off a few pictures and showing them to Martin Gwynne? He’s apparently worked with old manuscripts; maybe he could decipher the writing.”

“Isn’t he one of our suspects?”

“Of course he is, but at this point, who isn’t?”

Stella Cusack needed to speak to Anca Popescu once more. The girl claimed she had witnessed Vincent Claffey’s murder. Stella pulled into the drive at the safe house where she’d sent Anca and Deirdre Claffey and the baby, expecting to see the Guards officer she’d assigned to the door. No one there. The door was open, and she found the officer, Stephen Murray, tied to a chair in the kitchen. Stella felt no qualms about causing pain as she ripped the tape from his mouth. “Christ, Murray, what happened?”

“That little one, the Romanian, she’s a right devil. I turned my back for one second, and the next thing you know, I’m trussed up here like a Christmas turkey, and they’re away in me car. Sorry, Stella, I know she was your witness.”

“I’ll deal with you later. Which way did they go?”

Murray pointed with his head. “East on the Mill Road, I think. They can pick up the N52 from there. They didn’t say anything about where they were going, like. Been gone about twenty minutes or so.”

“What’s the number plate on the car?”

Murray rattled off a Tipperary registration, and Stella got on her radio and put out a bulletin for all available cars to check the numbers on all Garda vehicles within a sixty-kilometer radius. She returned to Murray, still strapped to the chair, and cut the tape from around his arms and torso. “You can do the rest yourself,” she said, handing him the knife. “Then get back to the station and write up a report. Don’t leave anything out.”

Stella trudged back to her car. She’d had some serious doubts about Anca’s story all along. Now she had a sinking feeling that it had only been a ploy to buy time. If Anca had been any way involved in Vincent Claffey’s death, she’d be deported straight back to Romania. The Immigration Ministry had no qualms about ejecting criminal offenders. The girl was running scared. She’d turn up; you could get only so far driving a Garda officer’s vehicle, especially with a baby. And petrol cost money. Stella suddenly realized that they’d never found the brown envelope that Claffey had received from Graham Healy. If Anca had taken it, she’d have enough to keep running for a while—but was it enough to leave the country? The way things were with the economy right now, you might easily find a fishing boat that would drop you on some faraway coastline for the right price. Stella couldn’t help thinking of the two girls, one the same age as Liadán, and the baby, and all the harm that had come to them already. She could only hope that they would be found again, and soon.