Edward Marston - Five Dead Canaries

‘Well, she still has several other lessons to learn,’ said the older woman, tartly, ‘when she can spare the time to learn them, that is.’

On that sarcastic note, Thelma Gale headed for the door and went into the building. Alice tried to suppress her irritation. Keedy stepped in to lift her chin up with a finger so that he could kiss her on the lips.

‘If that’s unprofessional behaviour,’ he said with a wicked grin, ‘then I have to say that I’m all in favour of it.’

The events of the previous evening had left the Quinn family in disarray. Diane feared that they’d all be arrested, Maureen blamed herself for letting her cousin into the house and Lily was chastised by her father for raising the alarm and alerting the detectives. Eamonn Quinn himself swung between bravado and apprehension, boasting that he’d defy any attempts by the police to arrest him, then sharing in the general unease. When he went off to work, he warned them once again to say as little as possible to Marmion and Keedy.

Left alone together, the female members of the household began to speculate.

‘What do you think happened to Niall?’ asked Lily.

‘I’m sure they’ll tell us,’ said her mother.

‘Well, I hope that he got away.’

‘I don’t,’ said Maureen.

‘He’s our cousin. You don’t want him caught, do you?’

‘I don’t like the idea of him being on the loose with that gun, Lily. Somebody could easily get killed. Besides,’ Maureen went on, ‘if they did arrest him, it could help us. Niall could tell them that we weren’t really hiding him at all.’

‘Daddy would have let him stay here all night, if need be.’

‘There’s no point in going on about it until we know what’s happened,’ said Diane. ‘Inspector Marmion and Sergeant Keedy have got to know us quite well by now. They’ll realise that we wouldn’t willingly break the law.’

‘Daddy did,’ Lily piped up.

‘That’s different.’

‘He got himself banned from that pub.’

‘Be quiet, Lily. You don’t know anything about it.’

‘Yes, I do. The girls at school told me about him being arrested.’

‘That’s all in the past,’ said Diane with a gesture to indicate that the discussion was over. ‘What are you going to do today, Maureen?’

‘I thought I might go to church,’ she replied.

‘Do you want to see Father Cleary again?’

‘In time, perhaps — I just want to be somewhere where I can sit and think.’

‘Lily and I might come with you.’

‘But Daddy doesn’t like us going to church,’ said Lily.

‘He doesn’t have to know, does he?’ asked Diane, giving each of them a stern look. ‘Since Maureen survived that explosion, we have a lot to be thankful for. It’s high time we got down on our knees to pray.’

June Ingles had spent so many years letting her husband pay all the bills and make all the decisions that she never dared to challenge his authority. It suited her to accept his domination because she was also cosseted most of the time. She was permitted an occasional whinge but it rarely went beyond that. As she watched him that morning, however, she saw that he was a changed man and decided that it was perhaps the moment that she underwent a transformation herself. Lost in thought, Ingles was walking up and down the living room. She planted herself in front of him.

‘This has gone far enough, Brian,’ she said, firmly.

‘What are you talking about?’

‘I’m talking about the state you’re in, of course.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with me.’

‘Yes, there is. Ever since you took that phone call yesterday, you’ve been in the most peculiar mood. You wouldn’t even tell me who rang you.’

‘It’s none of your business, that’s why,’ he snapped.

‘Was it the police? Was it someone at work?’ When he turned away from her, she walked around to face him once more. ‘We never used to have secrets. Why start now?’ He avoided her gaze. ‘We’re in the middle of a crisis, Brian. We’ve simply got to stick together.’

‘I know,’ he mumbled.

‘So who was it on the phone?’

‘It was … a friend of mine.’

‘Is it someone I know?’

‘No, June,’ he said, evasively. ‘He’s more of an acquaintance than a friend. He just gave me some useful information, that’s all.’

‘What about?’

‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘Will you please stop lying to me,’ she begged. ‘I’ve lived with you long enough to know when something’s getting you down. You look hunted and in pain. What on earth did this acquaintance of yours tell you?’

‘I’d rather not go into it.’

‘Is it something to do with your job?’

‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘yes, it is. I don’t want to bother you with the details, June. It’s all rather petty, to be honest.’ He dredged up an unconvincing smile. ‘As for being hunted, nothing could be further from the truth.’

‘It’s all part of a pattern,’ said his wife, trying to work it out in her head, ‘and it started before Florrie was killed. You were more tetchy than usual and you stayed out later. Also, you began to drink more. I assumed that you’d had a bad time at work. Then came the news about Florrie and I thought you were going to have a heart attack. The next minute, you were talking about selling our home.’

‘That may still be on the agenda.’

‘But you said that we could stay here,’ she protested.

‘I said that it was a possibility.’

‘You were even ready to talk about new curtains.’

‘Well, you might as well forget about those,’ he said with controlled fury, ‘because we’re not going to buy them. I have things to sort out, June. Is it too much to ask that I can be left alone without having you breathing down my neck all the time? Stop being such a confounded nuisance, woman!’

June was aghast. They’d had their disagreements before and warm words had been exchanged but she’d never been put down with such venom and it was humiliating. All she could do was to stand there and stare at him open-mouthed. Overcome with guilt at his outburst, he hung his head. The telephone rang and he stiffened visibly.

‘Do you want me to answer that?’ she asked.

‘No,’ he grunted. ‘Stay here.’

Going out of the room, he closed the door firmly behind him.

Before they could leave for church, they saw the car pull up outside. When they let the detectives into the house, they demanded to know what had happened to Niall. Tense and frightened, all three talked excitedly at once. After calming them down, Marmion told them that he’d been caught and arrested. No decision had yet been made on whether or not they’d be prosecuted but he had recommended sympathy for their predicament. Lily was sent up to her room so that the visitors could talk alone with Maureen and her mother. Both of them gasped when Keedy removed his hat to reveal the stitches in his head wound. Marmion’s wound was also clearly visible but he forbore to tell them how the injuries had been acquired. He wanted to concentrate on the investigation into the explosion. Diane was ready with a question.

‘Why were you asking about Florrie’s private life?’ she said. ‘I don’t see that it has anything to do with the case.’

‘We have to explore every avenue, Mrs Quinn,’ he told her, ‘and this is a valid one. If Florrie really was pregnant, the man involved may have been very upset by the news.’

‘He could equally well have been pleased, Inspector.’

‘I don’t think so. We have evidence to suggest that she’d been let down by whoever it was. Why did she hold that party in the first place? If she was in love with a man, he was the obvious person with whom she’d have celebrated the birthday.’