Irish Secrets (4 page)

"No harm in trying."

She gave him a wan smile. "That's true. Anyway, thank you so much for bringing me back here. May I give you something toward the cost of the gas? Oh, I mean petrol, don't I?"

As she brought out her wallet, he reached his hand out to stop her but jerked back when his fingers touched her warm skin. "No need. My pleasure. I was driving back from Galway anyway."

"Okay, thanks. I'm sure we'll need your taxi service again next time we go to the pub."

He handed her one of his cards. "Call me direct when you do."

"Will do. Bye for now."

After watching her as she headed to the front door of the grey stone house, he turned his car around and drove back down the driveway toward the road. At the main gate, he stopped and exhaled deeply. He should be feeling well satisfied that he'd learnt the lesson from his past and was directing his concentration to the current investigation. Tomorrow he'd chat to Tom Wild and see what else he could…

Dammit! Stop codding yourself, Ryan.

Kara had lit a spark that was different from anything he'd ever felt before. He'd wanted to accept her invitation to supper, wanted to spend more time with her, wanted to put his arm around her and reassure her that somehow they would find out about her mother. He accelerated along the narrow lane toward the main road and closed his mind to everything else he wanted.

Once he pulled up outside his apartment above the hardware store, he scrolled through the contact list on his phone, and hit the number he needed. It rang a couple of times before Declan Collins, his assigned contact at Galway
Garda
HQ, answered.

"Dec, Ryan O'Neill here. I need your help. Private matter, not work."

"Go on. Might be more interesting than the sampling survey I've been doing for the last three days."

He picked up Kara's piece of paper. "Baby girl, born April 2nd, 1959, Ballykane, Tipperary. Mother probably not married."

"No names?"

"No, the baby was adopted."

"Okay, I'll take a look."

"Thanks, and—" He glanced again at the paper with Kara's phone number. "Call me if you find anything, will you?"

* * * * *

During the next four days, Kara was fully occupied with Mist Na Mara's annual Film Festival. This year, they were featuring the career of Alice Vernon, a legendary English actress who now lived in Connemara. Each day, two of her movies were shown, and people travelled from as far afield as Galway and Westport to the event.

The highlight of the festival was the showing of Alice's first film,
Now and Forever
, on Sunday evening. It had been filmed in Connemara, and over a hundred people crammed the main meeting room in the modern extension behind the original Victorian house. Alice herself, now in her nineties, had agreed to take part in a question and answer session after the showing.

Kara stood at the side of the room with the other Mist Na Mara staff, fascinated by the actress's recollections of the local area in the 1940s, until her phone's loud rendering of the
Star Wars
theme rang out.

Alice stopped mid-sentence and turned in her direction, while she fumbled in her pocket, mortified that she'd forgotten to turn the sound off.

"Hadn't you better answer your phone?" Alice said. "It might be something important."

Blushing furiously, she muttered, "I'm so sorry. Excuse me," and rushed out of the room.

She didn't recognise the number, but pressed her screen. "Hello?"

"Hi, Kara. Ryan Brady here."

Her heart, already beating frantically, jerked in her chest, and she struggled to keep her voice neutral. "Oh, hi, Ryan."

"I've heard back from my researcher friend, and there are six female births in Ballykane in the second quarter of 1959 where the mother's maiden name is the same as the child's surname. Declan says that may indicate an illegitimate birth."

She drew in a deep breath in an effort to focus her mind. "Is there any way of finding out which one might be the right one?"

"He can apply to the General Register Office for the birth certificates. They will show the date of birth, the child's name, the mother's full name, and the father's, too, unless that's left blank."

"And one of them would be my mother's? That would be amazing."

"Okay, I'll ask Dec to apply for them."

And let me know the cost, so I can reimburse him."

"Will do. He says they usually take between seven and ten days to arrive, but in the meantime – well, I don't know when you have another day off, but if you'd like to go to Ballykane one day this coming week, I'll be happy to take you there."

Now her heart went into triple beat. "Oh! Thank you so much. My days off are Tuesday and Wednesday."

"Wednesday will be grand. I checked, by the way, and the mother and baby home was demolished in the 1970s, apart from the chapel, which is now a community centre, so at least you'll be able to see that. Will I pick you up at Mist Na Mara?"

Kara hesitated. "Could I meet you at the bus stop on Market Street instead?"

"Fer sure. About nine-thirty?"

"Perfect. Thanks, Ryan. See you on Wednesday."

After clicking off her phone, she stood in the corridor for a few moments, unable to keep the grin from her face. Only two more days, and then she would see him again, and at least he had accepted her request to meet in the town. Perhaps he guessed she didn't want anyone at Mist Na Mara to know about her search.

Least of all Guy, who might mention it to his mother, her father's sister. At this stage, she didn't want any hint getting back to her parents of what she hoped to find. Not until she had some conclusive evidence about her mother's birth.

Chapter 4

Reluctant to disturb Alice's question and answer session again, Kara wandered along the corridor to the Victorian part of the house and crossed the hallway to the dining room. The long oak table had been covered with a white linen cloth, and Ellen, one of the young kitchen staff, was setting out cups and saucers.

"Need any help?" she asked.

Ellen's eyes widened. "Oh my, is the film finished?"

"Don't panic, they'll be a while. Dozens of people are asking Alice questions."

"Praise be all the saints. Some of these cups and saucers haven't been used for a few months, so we had to put them all in the dishwasher, else we'd have been ready an hour ago."

As Kara helped to set out the crockery, she thought again about what Ryan had told her. Six possible illegitimate births in Ballykane, one of which could be her mother. A feather of excitement tickled the nape of her neck. Maybe she didn't need the Adoption Agency or the Sisters of Calvary, after all. Ryan's researcher might be able to provide all the answers she needed. A different, and even more pleasurable, sensation raced down her spine at the thought of seeing him again.

"Coffee's ready," said Maggie Tynan, the buxom head cook, wheeling a metal cart into the room with half a dozen tall white coffee jugs. "It sounds like they're finishing off in the meeting room now. They were all clapping when I came past the door, so you can start wetting the tea now, Ellen. Oh, hallo, Kara," she added. "You wouldn't like to be chief coffee pourer tonight, would you? Annie should have been here, but she's poorly, so Ellen and me have been rushed off us feet."

"Sure I'll help," Kara said, as she transferred the jugs from the cart to the table.

The next fifteen minutes were a blur, as she poured coffee and repeated the information about milk and sugar being available at the end of the table.

"Good evening. Miss Stewart, isn't it?"

The coffee pot jerked in Kara's hand as she looked across the table. "Oh! I didn't expect to see you here, Sister."

Sister Gabriel gave a stiff smile. "I've been a fan of Alice Vernon ever since her first film, and I've seen most of her later films."

Kara blinked in surprise. She'd assumed nuns would only watch religious movies, and now had to readjust her ideas. "Did she live up to your expectations, Sister?"

"Indeed she did. A wonderful actress, and very gracious of her to answer so many questions. Thank you," she added as Kara handed her a cup of coffee.

Kara glanced along the line of people waiting by the table. "By the time you've finished your coffee, I'll be through pouring the drinks here, and I can take you to meet her, if you want."

The nun's stern features relaxed as her jaw dropped slightly. "Well now, if you're sure? I wouldn't want to trouble her, but the fact is, I grew up in Skelleen, the village where a lot of
Now and Forever
was filmed, and I was what they call an extra one day."

"Really? That's awesome!"

"I was only about eight or nine at the time, and my two friends and I were told to play with a ball in the main street while they filmed Miss Vernon walking past us on her way to meet her man. She was so kind to us, and gave us each a big bag of iced caramels which, of course, every child loved at that time."

Kara had no idea what iced caramels were, but smiled at the nun. "What a wonderful memory, Sister. Give me a few minutes, and I'll come and find you after I've served everyone."

As she continued to pour the coffee, she wondered what prompted her to make her initial offer when the nun had been so abrupt and unhelpful at the convent door, but now, after learning of her personal link with the movie, she was glad she had.

When the line of people ended, she glanced around the dining room, but couldn't see Alice Vernon. She turned to Maggie. "Any idea where Alice is?"

"She's in the lounge with Guy and Jenna, and some of the others. I took in a tray for them earlier."

"Thanks."

She wound her way through the crowds, crossed the hallway to the lounge, and opened the oak door. Most of the people in the room were either specially invited guests or Mist Na Mara staff. Alice, smartly dressed in a dark green trouser suit, sat on the couch between Jenna and Charley.

Guy glanced around as Kara took a couple of steps into the room. "Hey, Kara, I wondered where you were. You've met Alice, haven't you?"

"Yes, at New Year, and also when you came to the Film Festival planning meeting, Miss Vernon."

"And I'm sure I told you to call me Alice, and not Miss Vernon," the actress said. "Oh, you're the young woman with the phone, aren't you?"

Kara's cheeks heated. "I'm so sorry. I forgot to turn it off."

"And
was
it an important call?"

"Erm – yes, it was."

Alice's green eyes twinkled. "In that case, I shall forgive you for not staying to listen to my ramblings about life in Connemara in the 1940s."

"Thank you – and I'm not sure if you'll be interested, but there's a nun here tonight who remembers you from that time. She was a child extra in one of the Skelleen scenes and says you gave her a bag of iced caramels."

"And now she's a nun? Please tell her I'll be delighted to meet her again."

Kara smiled. "I hoped you'd agree. Thank you. I'll go find her."

* * * * *

At seven-thirty on Monday morning, Ryan parked further away from the taxi office than last week, and this time he faced toward the office, with the aim of following the transit van if Mr. Walsh turned up again with his cardboard box.

While he waited, ostensibly reading the morning paper, his thoughts drifted yet again to Kara. When Declan called him the previous evening with the information about the birth records, common sense told him he should give Kara's phone number to his friend, but he ignored the warning voice. Not only that, but he went on to suggest the trip to Ballykane.

Okay, so he'd promised Enya there'd be no distractions, but this was different. Kara was different. The whole situation was different.

For one thing, he started dating Sinead Ellis before he went undercover on the McGuffin case, so she knew he was a
Garda
officer, whereas Kara only knew him as taxi driver Ryan Brady. There was no danger of her blowing his cover like Sinead did when he broke up with her.

He peered cautiously around the edge of his paper when a white van passed him. Galway number plate, registered second half of last year. Quickly he scribbled the last five digits into the notebook he always carried. The photos he'd taken the previous weekend were too blurred even when enlarged to make out the numbers, but now it would be easy to trace the van.

He watched as it pulled up outside the taxi office but dodged back behind his newspaper when Tom Wild came out. After half a minute, he risked taking a quick look. The same man he'd seen the previous week put his box on the back seat of Tom's car and climbed into the passenger seat.

He waited until Tom drove away, and switched on his engine when the van turned into Market Street. At the junction he gave way to another car. Experience told him it was better to keep out of the suspect's rear view mirror for as long as possible. There was a steady stream of traffic but he had no problems seeing the van ahead of him, even when another car pulled between them.

At the end of Market Street, the van turned left, and he frowned. He'd half-expected it to turn right toward the main road, but if this eejit was taking one of the minor roads, it would be a damn sight more difficult to tail him without being spotted.

He kept his distance along the winding road, but muttered a small curse when a car turned from the Bayview Hotel into the gap between himself and the van. It bore the familiar yellow and blue
Garda
strip and logo. If the van driver thought the
Garda
car was following him, God only knew how he would react.

A couple of minutes later, he wasn't surprised when he spotted the left turn light blinking at the back of the van. He assumed the driver saw the turning ahead as an escape route and probably breathed a sigh of relief when the
Garda
car continued past the junction.

Recognising the turning, Ryan made a split second decision to do the same, but he pulled up on the grass verge a couple of hundred yards after the junction. The narrower road down which the van had turned was a dead end, leading only to the Leary farm, with the entrance to Mist Na Mara Arts Centre about halfway along. If the driver had been employing evasive tactics by taking the minor road, he'd probably turn somewhere, and continue on his original route to wherever he was heading.

Checking his watch, Ryan waited. How long would a van take to reach the farm and return to the junction? Two minutes, three maybe?

Five minutes passed agonisingly slowly, and then ten…

After twenty minutes, he came to the conclusion the van wasn't going to reappear. Either the driver had got stuck in a ditch, or he intended to turn left down the lane anyway.

He pulled out his phone, hit the key for Declan's number, and gave him the number of the van.

"Might be a false plate, of course, but will you check it out?"

"Sure," Declan said. "I'll get back to you ASAP. And the Chief is waiting for your latest update."

He grinned. "Tell her it's either a work in progress or a wild goose chase."

"I'll do that. Good luck."

After clicking off his phone, Ryan did a U-turn and headed back to the junction. As he drove down the lane, he half-expected to meet the van coming the other way, but didn't.

At Leary's farm, all he could see was an old Peugeot, and an even older tractor.

"Sorry!" he shouted to the farmer's wife who appeared at the door of the farmhouse. "Took a wrong turn."

Driving back up the lane, he slowed as he approached Mist Na Mara, and turned in through the wide gateway. On his left a large gravelled area had a sign denoting this was the
Visitors' Car Park
. He scanned the half dozen cars parked there. No transit van.

After a second's hesitation, he continued up the drive to the forecourt where he'd dropped Kara off the previous week. Three cars were parked in front of the house, but again, no sign of a van.

His brow creased. It had definitely come down the lane, and he'd stopped near enough to see when it returned to the junction, which it hadn't. Vans couldn't simply disappear, so where in the name of all the saints had it gone?

With a frustrated grunt, he headed back toward Clifden. When his phone rang, he clicked the button on his steering column.

"The van you wanted checking," Declan said. "It's registered to Dolan's Rentals in Galway. They do short and long term leases. Want me to call them to find out who's hired it?"

"Not yet. I don't want anyone to get wind of any police interest in it."

"How's the work in progress?"

"Not exactly a wild good chase, more like the mystery of the disappearing van. Is the Chief in?"

"She went out ten minutes ago, and will be back about eleven."

"Okay, I'll call her later."

* * * * * *

On Wednesday morning, Ryan picked up Kara in Clifden.

"I could have come to Mist Na Mara, you know," he said as she slid into the seat beside him.

"I didn't want to bring you out of your way, and the fact is, I haven't told anyone there about my search."

"Where do they think you are today?"

"I said I was going into Clifden, which is true." She gave him a pert grin. "They didn't ask where else I might be going, so I didn't tell them."

"Least said, soonest mended, eh? Why haven't you told anyone?"

She hesitated. "Mainly because I don't want to risk my cousin saying something to his mom that she might repeat to my mom."

"Okay, fair enough. So how did your Film Festival go?"

"You know about that?"

"I've taken several people out to Mist Na Mara the last few days. They said you were holding a four-day event with Alice Vernon films. Busy weekend, was it?"

"Slight understatement. We were run off our feet, with fifty or more visitors every afternoon and evening from Thursday through Sunday."

She went on to tell him about some of the films as he drove through the Connemara hills. Occasionally he interrupted to point out a kestrel swooping down to the edge of one of the loughs, and they halted for a couple of minutes when two sheep stopped in the middle of the road, heedless of the car.

"Did you meet Alice Vernon?" he asked as he set off again.

"Yes, but I already met her a couple of times. She's amazing. Ninety-two now, but she looks at least twenty years younger. Oh, and something interesting happened on Sunday. Do you remember me telling you about the nun who kept me standing on the doorstep of the convent?"

"Was that the young one or the old one?"

"The older one, Sister Gabriel. She came to Sunday evening's event and told me she was an extra in Alice's first film, so I introduced her to Alice. She was so thrilled to meet her, and I think Alice was equally thrilled. They sat talking and reminiscing for ages, and they both gave me huge hugs afterwards and thanked me."