Carla Neggers - Liar's Key

Oliver squeezed between the oak and a holly and jumped onto the lane, missing a puddle by inches. He was, indeed, splattered with mud, from his Wellingtons to his well-worn waxed-cotton jacket. His tawny hair was tousled and his cheeks were red, no doubt from the windier conditions up by the crosses.

“Mary Bracken,” he said cheerfully. “Father Bracken’s youngest sister. Hello, Mary. I don’t know if you remember me. Oliver York.”

“I do remember you. How are you, Oliver? It’s a beautiful afternoon for a walk.”

“I suppose it is. I’m not much on rambling, I’m afraid.” He glanced out at the sea, a deep turquoise in the late-day light. “This is a good spot to nourish the soul, if one goes for that sort of thing.”

“Do you?”

“Sometimes. Here, especially. I can’t explain.”

He shifted his gaze back to her, scrutinizing her with a frankness she didn’t find unsettling, perhaps because of his overall good cheer and easygoing manner. She was dressed casually, in leggings, a simple top under her jacket and waterproof walking shoes.

“I didn’t expect to walk this far,” she said. “Did you just arrive in Declan’s Cross?”

“Last night. I stayed at the charming O’Byrne House Hotel. I enjoyed Bracken whiskey in the lounge before turning in and then a full Irish breakfast this morning while I looked out at the Irish Sea. I checked out before I started up here.”

“Did I interrupt your contemplation of ancient Irish Celtic myths and legends?”

“Hardly. I was contemplating getting on with my drive to Cork in time for my flight back to London.” He tilted his head to one side, his green eyes narrowing on her. “And you, Mary? What are you contemplating on your ramble among the sheep, sea and ruins?”

“I was just enjoying the scenery.” It wasn’t the entire truth, of course, but she wasn’t baring her soul to this man. “I leave for Dublin soon. I have an early flight to Boston tomorrow.”

Oliver’s eyebrows went up. “Is that right?”

Yet...he didn’t seem surprised. Mary couldn’t put her finger on why she thought that. She heard a bird twittering in the rushes and suddenly wished she wasn’t leaving for Dublin and America but could stay on here for a few days.

“Will you be visiting your brother in Maine?”

She nodded. “I want to see him before his year there is up. I’m staying with him at the rectory. He can’t take much time off, but I’ll be able to amuse myself.”

“I’ve no doubt. Is this a sudden trip?”

“The priest he’s replacing is finishing his Irish sabbatical in a few weeks. If I don’t visit now, I’ll never have this chance again.”

“You hope, if it means he’ll be back in Ireland,” Oliver said.

“Maybe so.”

“Did you drive here from Killarney? Declan’s Cross is a bit out of the way if you’re on your way to Dublin Airport.”

“I know, but I couldn’t resist. Have you been in touch with Finian lately?”

“Not in a while, but he and I are great friends. You must say hello to him for me.”

“I will,” Mary said.

“Did he warn you about me?”

She smiled. “Everyone’s warned me about you.”

“Ah.” Oliver’s lively eyes sparked with humor. “Let me guess. I’m an eccentric, solitary Englishman steeped in the language of myth, legend and folklore.”

“Also that you’re a teller of tall tales and, like Fin, friends with dangerous types—such as the two FBI agents who were at the gathering here in February.”

“Egad.” Oliver shuddered. “Agents Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan would throw me in irons if I referred to them as friends. That’s only the slightest exaggeration, mind you.” He kicked a clump of mud off the toe of his boot. “Does your work with Bracken Distillers put you in contact with many dangerous types?”

“Not me personally, no, but we had a brush with smugglers last spring, just as Fin was moving to America. The smugglers used an abandoned section of the old distillery for their illicit activities. They were caught with help from Fin. I missed most of the excitement, or whatever you want to call it.”

“Sean Murphy was injured in the fracas.”

For reasons to which Mary wasn’t privy, Sean didn’t approve of Oliver York. She didn’t know if his reasons were personal or professional, as an elite garda detective.

She angled a look at the Englishman. “You seem to know a lot about us.”

“I suspect Detective Garda Murphy and the FBI know far more about me than I do them. Shall we walk back to the village together, or do you want to ramble some more? I wasn’t joking about the mud up on the hill.”

“I’ll walk back to Declan’s Cross with you.”

The lane was the only route on the headland to the village. Oliver didn’t seem at all out of breath as he walked with her, the breeze picking up as they emerged from the protection of the wall and ruins. Mary found it curious if not suspicious that he’d shown up in Declan’s Cross as she was leaving for Maine to see her brother. She didn’t know if Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan would be there, but she expected they would be.

Oliver slowed as they came to the Murphy farmhouse. Paddy, Sean’s uncle, had returned from the fields and was cleaning off the tractor in front of the barn. Sean owned the farm, but Paddy mostly worked it.

“I love listening to the lambs,” Oliver said. “Can you hear them?”

Mary smiled without looking at him. “I can.”

“I have a farm in England. I inherited it from my grandparents.”

“It’s in the Cotswolds, isn’t it? I’ve been there—to the Cotswolds, I mean. Obviously I haven’t been to your farm. I did one of those inn-to-inn walking tours.”

“More rambling,” Oliver said with a wry smile. “You went on your own?”

“Yes. It was after the deaths of my sister-in-law and nieces in a sailing accident. I was on summer break before my final year at university in Cork. I needed...” Mary broke off, searching for the right words. “I suppose you could say my solitary walk in the English countryside was good for the soul. Are you here in Ireland alone?”

The wind caught the ends of his tawny hair. “I am, yes.”

“Is your visit because of mythology or because of the dangerous types you know?”

“Perhaps both.”

He spoke lightly, but Mary detected an edgy undertone, as if her question had struck a nerve. She wondered if his response might be the truth. “When did you arrive in Ireland?” she asked.

“Yesterday. I flew into Dublin.”

“And you’re leaving tonight. That’s a brief visit.”

“I’d hoped to see Wendell Sharpe but discovered he’d already left for America. Do you know him?”

“Not personally, no.”

“He’s gone home to Maine for the first time in years. He’s attending the open house for the new Sharpe Fine Art Recovery offices.”

“Wonderful,” Mary said. “Fin and I will be there. Did you know the Sharpes investigated an art theft at the O’Byrne house about ten years ago?”

“I’ve heard,” Oliver said.

“It wasn’t a hotel then. Kitty’s uncle owned it. It was a drafty old place, I understand. The thief made off with several valuable artworks, including two landscapes by Jack Butler Yeats that are worth a fortune now.”

“He was the younger brother of William Butler Yeats. A talented family.”

“Most of the stolen works mysteriously reappeared last fall.” Mary could hear the drama in her voice, but she didn’t care. It was a captivating tale. “Only a landscape painting of the crosses and ruin out on the headland is still missing. It’s unsigned and probably of little value. Some people think it’s an early work by Aoife O’Byrne, but she hasn’t claimed it. She says she became an artist in part because of the theft.”