O’Day froze.
Doyle jerked around to stare at Pitt.
Finn Hennessey looked at him in total disbelief.
“Oh, it was someone who wanted to sabotage the conference all right,” Pitt continued. “Because he feared the conclusions it might come to and what recommendations it would make to Parliament. But it was chaired by a liberal Irish Catholic. It wasn’t only Fenians who had cause to be anxious over what the results might be.”
“It was Fenians!” Hennessey said defiantly.
“No it wasn’t,” Pitt contradicted with increased vehemence. “Ask your Fenian friends in London. They were infiltrated by a man with light, staring eyes who had tried to run Greville off the road earlier on, and then in London killed our man in the Fenians—”
“Your man?” Doyle said sharply.
“A policeman named Denbigh. He was murdered just before the conference started. We thought it was because he knew of the Fenian plot to murder Greville, only we now know the man who did it was no Fenian.” He looked back at Hennessey. “You were used, Finn, as you know you were … but not by your own side. You were used by the Protestants. They put you up to this, for their own reasons, and let you and the Catholic Nationalists take the blame. They wanted this conference to fail because they cannot accept any compromise at all, or they’ll lose the support of their own extremists.”
“That’s rubbish!” Moynihan exploded. “Absolute nonsense, and totally wicked and irresponsible! Of course it was the Fenians. It’s exactly the sort of thing they would do. We were close to agreement, and they couldn’t let that happen. It’s Doyle!”
“We were close to agreement,” Jack put in, his voice ringing with certainty. “It was a compromise … a real compromise, with both sides conceding something. But maybe one side never meant the conference to last? What could it matter what they gave away, to appear reasonable, if they knew it would never be implemented, in fact never be spoken of outside these walls?”
“The man with the light eyes …” Finn said, staring at Pitt. “He wasn’t a Fenian?”
“No.”
Finn turned to Doyle.
“No.” Doyle shook his head. He smiled very faintly. “We want him as much as the police do.” He glanced at Pitt. “Although if you repeat that outside Ashworth Hall, I’ll call you a liar.” He looked at Finn again. “You’ve been used, Hennessey, and not by your own.”
Fergal swung around to O’Day, horror in his face.
Finn snatched himself free of Tellman and launched himself at O’Day, fists flying, and the chair collapsed backwards, throwing them both onto the floor.
Tellman started forward.
Doyle put his hand out and held him back.
“Let him be, lad,” he said grimly. “If ever a man deserved beating, it’s Carson O’Day.” He looked at Pitt, his face filled with disgust. “You can’t even get him for instigating the murder of Greville. And if he had not prompted McGinley to try to kill Jack, Lorcan wouldn’t have blown himself up. God, it makes me sick!”
“No,” Pitt agreed with ironic satisfaction. “But with Hennessey’s help, we’ll establish the chain of evidence and we’ll hang him for conspiracy to murder Denbigh, and that will do.” He looked down at O’Day struggling on the floor beneath the burning rage of Finn, a man used and betrayed and now condemned. “I think Mr. Hennessey will make very sure he succeeds in that.”
“Oh, he will,” Doyle agreed. “God help Ireland.”
BRUNSWICK GARDENS
by
Anne Perry
When a young pregnant woman tumbles down a staircase to her death, Thomas Pitt, commander of the Bow Street police station, suspects murder. Powerful forces demand that the matter be cleared up immediately. But Pitt and his clever wife, Charlotte, refuse to settle for less than the truth … and justice.
Published by Fawcett Books.
Available at your local bookstore.
THE CATER STREET HANGMAN
THE FIRST CHARLOTTE AND THOMAS PITT NOVEL
by Anne Perry
While the Ellison girls were out paying calls one afternoon, a maid in their own household was strangled to death. Quiet young Inspector Pitt found no one above suspicion—and his investigation at the staid Ellison home caused many a composed facade to crumble into panic.
But it was not panic beating in the heart of Charlotte Ellison, and something more than brutal murder was on Inspector Pitt’s mind. Yet a romance between a society girl and a common policeman was impossible—especially during an investigation of murder …
Published by Fawcett Books.
