what happened to Niall and whether or not they’ll be prosecuted. You’ll see from my report that I recommend leniency. They didn’t invite him there and he had no intention of going into the house when he returned there. All he was after was the gun he’d hidden.’
‘Nevertheless, he was on the premises when you called there.’
‘That was a coincidence.’
‘They gave sanctuary to a man on the run.’
‘That’s not quite what happened, Superintendent.’
Chatfield sniffed. ‘I’ll make my own judgement about that when I’ve read your report.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Marmion. ‘You’ll notice that I’ve given our chauffeur a special mention. While I was still seeing stars, he was assisting in the arrest of an armed man. He and the sergeant should be singled out for their bravery.’
‘And so should you,’ said the other, grudgingly. ‘Has the sergeant arrived yet?’
‘Yes, sir, he was here before me. Sergeant Keedy is very resilient.’
‘That’s something we must all strive to be. Is he waiting in your office?’
‘No,’ replied Marmion, ‘I believe he had someone to see.’
Alice Marmion was shocked to learn of the injuries to her father and to Joe Keedy. When the sergeant met her outside Scotland Yard, he explained how the bruising on his face had got there and how he and the inspector had finished up in hospital. She scolded him for not sending for her but he told her that he didn’t want to disturb her at that time of night and that her mother had been able to supply enough succour for both of them. Alice insisted on seeing the head wound and there was a sharp intake of breath when she saw the stitches.
‘They won’t stay in for long,’ said Keedy, replacing his hat.
‘You shouldn’t have tackled an armed man, Joe.’
‘What were we supposed to do — buy him a train ticket and wave him off?’
‘I’m serious. You might have got hurt.’
He indicated his head. ‘I
‘How’s my father?’
‘You can ask him yourself. He’ll be out in a moment.’
‘Over the years, he’s had so many injuries on duty.’
‘They haven’t deterred him, Alice — or me, for that matter.’
She hugged him impulsively and he pulled her close. They were still entwined when Inspector Gale marched up. She cleared her throat to indicate displeasure and the two of them stood apart.
‘I warned you when you first joined,’ she said, oozing disapproval. ‘I don’t allow fraternisation with male officers. It’s unprofessional behaviour.’
‘Sergeant Keedy and I are engaged,’ Alice reminded her.
‘Not when you’re on duty. Domestic matters are irrelevant then.’
‘That’s a matter of opinion, Inspector.’
Gale’s eyes blazed. ‘Do you dare to criticise me?’
‘Of course not,’ said Keedy, acting as a conciliator. ‘Alice understands that the job takes precedence. It’s a lesson she’s learnt from her father.’
‘Well, she still has several other lessons to learn,’ said the older woman, tartly, ‘when she can spare the time to learn them, that is.’
On that sarcastic note, Thelma Gale headed for the door and went into the building. Alice tried to suppress her irritation. Keedy stepped in to lift her chin up with a finger so that he could kiss her on the lips.
‘If that’s unprofessional behaviour,’ he said with a wicked grin, ‘then I have to say that I’m all in favour of it.’
The events of the previous evening had left the Quinn family in disarray. Diane feared that they’d all be arrested, Maureen blamed herself for letting her cousin into the house and Lily was chastised by her father for raising the alarm and alerting the detectives. Eamonn Quinn himself swung between bravado and apprehension, boasting that he’d defy any attempts by the police to arrest him, then sharing in the general unease. When he went off to work, he warned them once again to say as little as possible to Marmion and Keedy.
Left alone together, the female members of the household began to speculate.
‘What do you think happened to Niall?’ asked Lily.
‘I’m sure they’ll tell us,’ said her mother.
‘Well, I hope that he got away.’
‘I don’t,’ said Maureen.
‘He’s our cousin. You don’t want him caught, do you?’
‘I don’t like the idea of him being on the loose with that gun, Lily. Somebody could easily get killed. Besides,’ Maureen went on, ‘if they did arrest him, it could help us. Niall could tell them that we weren’t really hiding him at all.’
‘Daddy would have let him stay here all night, if need be.’
‘There’s no point in going on about it until we know what’s happened,’ said Diane. ‘Inspector Marmion and Sergeant Keedy have got to know us quite well by now. They’ll realise that we wouldn’t willingly break the law.’
‘Daddy did,’ Lily piped up.
‘That’s different.’
‘He got himself banned from that pub.’
‘Be quiet, Lily. You don’t know anything about it.’
‘Yes, I do. The girls at school told me about him being arrested.’
‘That’s all in the past,’ said Diane with a gesture to indicate that the discussion was over. ‘What are you going to do today, Maureen?’
‘I thought I might go to church,’ she replied.
‘Do you want to see Father Cleary again?’
‘In time, perhaps — I just want to be somewhere where I can sit and think.’
‘Lily and I might come with you.’
‘But Daddy doesn’t like us going to church,’ said Lily.
‘He doesn’t have to know, does he?’ asked Diane, giving each of them a stern look. ‘Since Maureen survived that explosion, we have a lot to be thankful for. It’s high time we got down on our knees to pray.’
June Ingles had spent so many years letting her husband pay all the bills and make all the decisions that she never dared to challenge his authority. It suited her to accept his domination because she was also cosseted most of the time. She was permitted an occasional whinge but it rarely went beyond that. As she watched him that morning, however, she saw that he was a changed man and decided that it was perhaps the moment that she underwent a transformation herself. Lost in thought, Ingles was walking up and down the living room. She planted herself in front of him.
‘This has gone far enough, Brian,’ she said, firmly.
‘What are you talking about?’
‘I’m talking about the state you’re in, of course.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with me.’
‘Yes, there is. Ever since you took that phone call yesterday, you’ve been in the most peculiar mood. You wouldn’t even tell me who rang you.’
‘It’s none of your business, that’s why,’ he snapped.
‘Was it the police? Was it someone at work?’ When he turned away from her, she walked around to face him once more. ‘We never used to have secrets. Why start now?’ He avoided her gaze. ‘We’re in the middle of a crisis, Brian. We’ve simply got to stick together.’
‘I know,’ he mumbled.
‘So who was it on the phone?’
‘It was … a friend of mine.’
‘Is it someone I know?’
