‘Dear God!’ exclaimed Diane.
‘I thought you were in prison,’ said Lily, goggling at him.
‘Go upstairs.’
‘But I want to talk to Niall.’
‘Go upstairs to your room now!’ ordered Diane, easing the girl through the door. ‘This doesn’t concern you.’
Lily went off reluctantly, leaving her mother to assess the situation.
‘Your uncle will have to be told,’ she decided.
‘I wasn’t meaning to stay,’ said Niall.
‘You can’t stay. Maureen will explain while I go and fetch Eamonn. He’ll know what to do.’ She looked him up and down. ‘I know you’re family, Niall, but you’ve come at a very bad time.’ She moved away. ‘I won’t be long.’
Niall turned to his cousin and gave her a winning smile.
‘What is it you need to explain to me, Maureen?’
Before they left the police station in Hayes, they were delayed by a long telephone call from Scotland Yard. The superintendent wanted to defend his position. While exonerating himself from the charge of having sent them to Rochester on a fool’s errand, he reserved the right to criticise them for their naivety in believing that they were off to arrest their prime suspect. When Marmion told him they were seeking confirmation that Florrie Duncan might have been pregnant, he took care not to mention contraception. The subject was anathema to a strict Roman Catholic like the superintendent. While he didn’t put it into words, he was very unsympathetic towards Florrie’s predicament, clearly blaming it on the sin of having sexual intercourse outside marriage. When the call finally ended, Marmion rubbed his ear.
‘I’ve just listened to a sermon,’ he complained. ‘I’m surprised that Chat doesn’t have a pulpit erected in his office.’
‘You should have known better than to let him get on to religion.’
‘I couldn’t stop him, Joe.’
‘He roasted me earlier on,’ said Keedy. ‘Now it was your turn.’
‘Let’s be off before he rings again,’ said Marmion, reaching for his hat. ‘We need to get to Maureen’s house before she goes to bed.’
They went out to their car and the driver set off. For most of the journey they travelled in silence, each wrapped up in his own thoughts. The purpose of their visit was to establish that Florrie Duncan was pregnant but it was something else altogether that made Keedy eventually speak.
‘What Mr Harte told us was very interesting,’ he said.
‘Yes,’ agreed Marmion. ‘We learnt a little more about Florrie Duncan.’
‘It was the bit about her father that surprised me. Brian Ingles goes out of his way to impress people. You’d think he was rolling in money.’ Keedy turned to him. ‘Why should he need a large loan from the bank?’
Eamonn Quinn was very unhappy about being dragged out of the pub and having to leave an unfinished pint of beer on the table. The sight of his wife urging him to leave drew sniggers from the other men. Once outside, Diane told him why she was there and his ire subsided at once. They hurried back to the house to find Niall and Maureen in the living room. Quinn shook his nephew’s hand.
‘It’s always good to see you, Niall,’ he said, ‘but, as Maureen will have told you, this is not the ideal moment to call on us.’
‘Say the word, Uncle Eamonn, and I’ll be off.’
‘You can stay the night, if you need to.’
‘That’s asking for trouble!’ cried Diane.
‘Keep out of this, woman.’
‘Remember what happened last time.’
‘I told you to keep out of it, Di,’ he snarled.
‘It’s better for everyone if I just go,’ said Niall.
‘Yes, it is,’ added Maureen.
‘I don’t want to cause any problems for you all. I’m on the run. If I’m caught on your property, you could face a spell in prison yourself.’
Quinn was perplexed. Common sense told him to let his nephew go but family loyalty had a bigger pull. He was ready to take the risk of keeping Niall there.
‘It’s why you came to us, isn’t it?’ he asked, clapping his nephew on the shoulder. ‘You knew that you could rely on us.’
‘Niall only came to get something,’ said Maureen. ‘He hid a gun here.’
Diane gasped. ‘A gun!’
‘They’re after me,’ said Niall. ‘I need to defend myself. It was hidden under the floor in the garden shed. I nailed the wood back down again.’
‘This changes everything, Eamonn,’ said his wife. ‘He can’t stay here with a gun. Think of the consequences.’
‘Calm down,’ ordered Quinn. ‘Flying into a panic will get us nowhere.’
‘Get him out of here, that’s all I ask.’
‘P’raps it would be all for the best,’ said Niall.
He stiffened as he heard a car draw to a halt outside the house. His hand went instinctively to the gun. Maureen drew back the curtain to peep out.
‘It’s Inspector Marmion and the sergeant,’ she said.
Quinn took charge. ‘Right,’ he said. ‘Get upstairs, Niall. You can go into Maureen’s room. The detectives are not here about you. They’re only interested in the explosion in that pub.’ Niall scampered off upstairs. Quinn turned to his wife and daughter. ‘You stay in here. I’ll get rid of them.’
Shutting them into the living room, he went to the front door. As soon as he heard a knock, he flung it open and blocked the doorway with arms folded.
‘Can’t you give us a moment of peace?’ he demanded.
‘We’d like to speak to Maureen, please,’ said Marmion. ‘And before you tell me that she’s gone to bed, I should warn you that we saw her clearly when she pulled back the curtain just now.’
‘You can’t talk to her.’
‘You can’t stop us, Mr Quinn.’
‘What are you going to do?’ challenged the Irishman.
‘Well, if you continue to refuse us entry, I’ll ask Sergeant Keedy to arrest you on a charge of obstructing police officers in the execution of their duty. That will mean a night in custody for you and an appearance in court.’ Marmion gave him a meaningful stare. ‘Do you really want that to happen?’
Quinn took a full minute to size up the situation. He then gave in.
‘You can talk to her for five minutes but one of us must be present.’
‘I won’t have a time limit set on it,’ said Marmion, ‘but I’m happy for a parent to be present. Given the subject, I suggest that it’s Mrs Quinn.’
After further protest, Quinn moved away to let them into the house. The detectives went into the living room and exchanged greetings with Maureen and Diane. Both of them looked distinctly uncomfortable. Quinn lurked outside the closed door to eavesdrop on what was being said. When the four of them had sat down, Marmion explained that they’d come to ask questions on a delicate subject that might have a bearing on the case. Maureen seemed to relax when told that she’d be asked about Florrie Duncan. Her mother, however, glanced uneasily towards the door.
‘You travelled to and from work with Agnes Collier,’ began Marmion.
‘That’s right, Inspector.’
‘Did she talk a lot?’
‘Agnes never stopped talking.’
‘Did she ever say anything about Florrie Duncan?’
‘Of course,’ replied Maureen. ‘She was our friend.’
‘I’m wondering if she mentioned her suspicion to you,’ said Marmion. ‘You see, the sergeant had a
