Deadly Intent (33 page)

‘That evening, I knew already …' Fergus stopped alongside Nessa. ‘That Thursday evening, when I heard about Maureen, I knew the plan wouldn't work out. I'd been sick with worry all day, even before that.'

‘But how did Maureen come into it? What difference did she make to your plan?' Zoe had been walking with the television people, but now she pushed forward to face Fergus. Nessa was not surprised to notice the cameraman behind her, twisting the lens to re-focus it on them.

‘Maureen turned everything upside down,' said Fergus. ‘Not just on Thursday, but the night before, on Wednesday.'

‘You mean the night Stella saw her going into Oscar's room?'

‘Yes, she'd got it into her head that my father fancied her, and she practically threw herself at him on Wednesday night, I'm sure of it. He told me on Thursday morning that he'd had enough of her, and had decided to go home early.'

‘She didn't just “get it into her head”, as you call it,' said Zoe scornfully. ‘Oscar flirted with her for days—'

‘I'm not making excuses for him. I saw … I knew very well what he was like.'

‘You made damn sure not to tell us what you knew,' said Redmond, putting away his phone. ‘So would you mind explaining what your masterplan was – the one that Maureen threw into disarray, as you claim?'

‘It was meant to happen on Saturday, two days later,' said Fergus flatly. ‘Darina would invite him to the Barn in the morning, and ask to do his portrait. She'd already chatted to him when we went on that group visit to her studio earlier in the week.'

‘In other words, she was going to seduce him, was that it, and then kill him? And that's what happened on Thursday instead?'

‘She hardly had to seduce him,' said Zoe. ‘If he was true to his vilest form, he'd be fired up for action anyway.'

‘But one way or another,' said Redmond, ‘by doing it on Saturday, nobody need have known that he'd met his death in Beara, because his disappearance might not have been reported for days.'

Nessa was still clutching her phone as she tried to make sense of the exchanges. ‘So Oscar's decision to leave on Thursday meant that Darina had to act quickly, and she talked him into coming to the Barn at lunchtime. But then all the hoo-ha about Maureen caused her a new problem that evening?'

Fergus just nodded, looking dazed as accusations and questions were flung at him in the deepening twilight. The circle of people seemed to have closed in around him, a crescendo of voices competing from all sides.

‘My guess is that Darina was in a fix that Thursday night,' said Redmond. ‘She had to get rid of Oscar's body, but when she stumbled on Maureen, she got delayed—'

‘You're right,' Nessa broke in. ‘She'd told Sal that she was planning to go to a pub in Kenmare, so I'd say that's when she hoped to get rid of his body. But then we called the gardai and it all got too complicated for her—'

The television director interrupted in turn, resuming her earlier argument with the cameraman. ‘I told you Darina was up to something that evening, didn't I? There was a gap in her timing all along. She spotted Maureen on the ground while there was still plenty of light in the sky, but there was a half hour delay before she told anyone. She was up to something on that cul-de-sac – probably on her way to hide Oscar's phone and rucksack.'

‘Yes, down the far end of the boreen, maybe, but then she saw Maureen as she walked right past her.'

‘And her first thought was that it was Oscar who'd attacked Maureen, hours earlier.'

Nessa stopped as dazzling headlights approached the Briary. She looked so distraught that Redmond put his hand on her shoulder, hoping she would take it as a gesture of support. A garda car pulled up and Conor jumped out, to tell them that Patrick had received a text from Sal's phone. She seemed to have written it in a hurry, to tell them that Darina was trying to escape from Beara on a back road over the mountains, up north of the peninsula.

‘Patrick has just forwarded the same text to me,' Nessa said, peering at her screen. She showed the phone to Redmond but most of the text made no sense to him: ‘sos n mtn rd bunan cmhola
.
'

‘We figure it could be an SOS,' said Conor, ‘to say that Darina is taking a mountain road to Bunane, on the Kerry side of the road between Kenmare and Glengarriff. From there, there's a very minor road across the county border at the Priest's Leap and past Coomhola Mountain. That could get her past Bantry on back roads, and make it much harder for us to track her down.'

‘Patrick says checkpoints are already up on the main roads. He's on his way to Glengarriff with Trevor. They think Darina must have boasted to Sal about her plans.'

The television people made for their vehicle, with Zoe in tow. Fergus still looked dazed, in a world of his own, and Conor murmered urgently to Redmond and Nessa, making sure the young man was out of earshot.

‘We can't rely on it that the text is genuine. Darina must be very careless, if she's left Sal in possession of her phone.'

‘But you won't ignore the text, surely? I thought—'

‘We certainly won't, Nessa. All I'm saying is that we've to keep searching in this part of Beara too.'

‘I know where we should look,' said Redmond grimly. ‘Carraig Álainn. Not just the houses, but Marcus's boat too.'

The sound of waves beating ceaselessly against the cliffs rose up to the wooden railings. Both gardai strained to hear any other sound from the small pier where Marcus's boat was tied up. There were no lights on the boat and the evening was too dark to make out whether anyone was on board.

Redmond felt in his pocket for the torch he had taken from his car. Going down the steps to the pier would be tricky at night. He looked across to the nearest house, which was also in darkness. Nessa was out of sight, creeping around the bushes to check whether Darina's van or any other vehicle had been parked round the back. Conor had left the garda car outside Carraig Álainn's gates, and the three of them walked into the holiday cluster without using a torch, to avoid alerting Darina or anyone else on the premises. A uniformed garda stayed in the car with Fergus.

Redmond leaned over the railings as something new reached him from below. A voice, perhaps, but it was impossible to recognise if it was male or female. The swish of wind in the trees added to the soundscape and he wondered if it was just a seagull's whine wafting on the night air.

He turned again to see Nessa gesturing to him. He hurried over to her and she whispered that Marcus's car was tucked in by a hedge at the side of the garage. She had stepped towards the front door of his house to see if it was open, but a security light had come on and she had had to back away quickly.

Conor was crouched at the far corner of the railings. After a few more minutes he joined them, to say that he had seen torchlight on the boat – just a pinpoint shifting about in the cabin. Whoever was down there could return to the house at any time.

Nessa and Redmond moved in behind the nearest bush. They heard a sound of footsteps from the top of the cliffside path. Conor stayed in the shadows closer to the porch to see who it was. Redmond had to dig his fingernails into his clenched fist in an effort to stay still. Just walking around Marcus O'Sullivan's property made his blood curdle.

They heard Conor's voice, firm and polite, and then a smothered shout as a scuffle broke out. The porch light almost blinded Redmond when he rushed from his hiding place. He was almost on top of the two people struggling at the front door before he made out which was which. Conor was being pinned against the door by a lanky dark-haired man.

Redmond caught the man by the shoulders and pushed him away from Conor. Those hateful mocking eyes stared back at him and he found his hands at Marcus's throat. He wanted to kill him, to shake the life out of him in return for that glinting knife in the rear-view mirror and the burning whiskey he had been forced to swallow.

‘In the name of God, don't do it!' Conor caught Redmond's wrists in a vice-like grip and bent them away from Marcus's neck. He nudged the door with his foot and pushed Marcus inside. ‘Let's find out what this fellow has to say for himself before we've another corpse to deal with!'

‘You bluebottle bastards, get the hell away from me!' Marcus glared from one to another. ‘I'll have you fuckers up for assault and trespass.'

‘Hold your curses, young man, and listen to what I said just a minute ago.' Conor kicked the door closed behind him ‘Now, will you invite us into the kitchen like a decent citizen or I'll arrest you for obstruction of urgent police work.'

Marcus blocked his way, hands held out in front of him. Redmond, still trembling from the fit of rage that had overcome him, found it hard to take in what was being said.

‘… This isn't a social call, Marcus.'

‘Get the hell away, I said, you're the fucking lawbreakers around here.'

‘Listen to me, Marcus, because we haven't a second to spare. We're looking for your cousin, Darina O'Sullivan, and for Sal Latif. It's a matter of life and death, and what's more, it relates to the murder of Oscar Malden. So just tell us straight – who's down below on your boat and what's going on?'

‘Jesus, dude, is this some sick joke or what?'

‘It's anything but a joke, I promise you. So just answer my questions now.'

Redmond took a step closer to them but Conor turned to him and whispered firmly. ‘You'd better stay outside at this point, and put a lid on things. Anyway, you've no authority for this.' He turned back to Marcus quickly, leaving Redmond to stumble outside again, his cheeks hot from his own shame at losing control. Then he realised that by leaving the door ajar and standing just to the side of it, he could hear Conor's interrogation, which continued in the hallway.

‘Listen to me now, boyo,' the sergeant was saying in a politely steely tone. ‘We've good reason to fear that Sal Latif's life is in danger from Darina. So cut the crap and tell me whether they're here at Carraig Álainn.'

‘I just got back here tonight,' said Marcus reluctantly. ‘I've been away for a while, so I can't make sense of what you're saying.'

‘Have you seen Sal Latif this evening? On your boat or anywhere else?'

‘I told you, I've been away and kind of … Anyway, I haven't seen her for weeks, I promise you.'

‘And Darina O'Sullivan, your cousin?'

‘What makes you think she'd be here? And what in Jesus' name did you mean about Sal being in danger from her?'

‘I meant what I said, so where is she? I'm in a hurry for an answer, so cough it up, you gligeen.'

Marcus mumbled in reply, and Redmond held his breath as he listened. When he spoke again, Conor's voice was low and deliberate.

‘I expect your cooperation, Marcus, especially as you're already in trouble with us. We've been looking into an allegation of illegal activity at a house on the far side of Ardgroom that's registered in your mother's name. Just last week, we found some evidence that it's being used as a makeshift cannabis growhouse, and now we're due to take a statement from someone who claims to have seen you threatening Garda Joyce.'

Redmond leaned against the doorframe for support. Trevor had not informed him of any new evidence in his case, nor had Conor given him any inkling of a hopeful outcome when they had met all those eternal hours ago at Scannive Strand.

‘Alright,' he heard Marcus say. ‘And if I admit I've seen Darina this evening, what happens then?'

‘So she's on the boat, you slippery bastard? Go on, say it to me.'

Marcus mumbled again, and then Redmond heard footsteps approach from the hall. He was already trying for a phone signal when Conor came outside to tell him to get on to Trevor immediately. Redmond cursed the mobile system for its blind spots, and ran to the gate to use the garda radio in the car. Fergus was slumped in the back seat, his eyes barely flickering as Redmond told his colleague who to call. On his way back to the house, he looked around for Nessa and found her at the railings, her face more drawn than ever. As he led her away, he gave her the news in a whisper.

‘Oh God!'was all she said.

‘We were right that the text from Sal's phone was a hoax,' said Redmond, just to fill the silence between them. ‘So much for a wild goose chase in the mountains.'

Conor signalled from the hallway to join them in the kitchen. Marcus seemed very jumpy to Redmond, sitting on the edge of a chair, his right knee jigging constantly.

‘Right, we've come up with a plan,' said Conor, ‘now that his nibs here is prepared to cooperate.'

‘Under protest, sergeant,' said Marcus, vainly attempting a lighter tone. ‘I'm all for helping Sal, but it just seems ridiculous, what you said about Darina and a gun.'

Redmond spat his words at him. ‘It's a stun gun. It burns your skin like a red hot poker. But amazingly, it leaves no mark afterwards.'

‘Darina could strangle Sal with it,' said Nessa, just as vehemently. ‘Oscar Malden designed the bloody thing, complete with a thin cable that can be released from the gun. I think that's how Darina killed him. She must have stunned him first, and then strangled him.'

‘But do you actually know that, Nessa? I'm not saying it because Darina is my cousin, but it's just … she's not the type, is she? I mean, what did Oscar ever do to her, to make her a psychopath overnight?'

Redmond felt a new wave of hatred well up in him. ‘You're the one who could tell us about psychos, you mad dangerous—'

‘Listen, my friends,' said Conor briskly. ‘We've no time for this. Darina was here at Carraig Álainn when Marcus got home a while ago. She gave him some sob story about owing a load of money and needing to get away for a while on the QT. So he agreed to bring her down the coast, and she's waiting for him this minute.'