‘I do not,’ said Maura just as Nellie walked in.
‘Harry is with little Paddy,’ said Nellie, who could sense that all was not right.
‘Grand. Nellie, would you stay here and I’ll go and check on my house – and Kathleen, I’m going to talk to little Paddy, see if he can remember anything about what Peggy said, and I’ll take my bag into my own house.’
The warmth edged its way back into the kitchen and Kathleen was both sad and relieved to see that the ghosts of Kitty and Bernadette had left. Alice helped Kathleen on with her coat; she knew her mother-in-law well enough to sense that she hadn’t told them everything. As they reached the door, she held Kathleen’s arm and tugged her back.
‘Kathleen, what’s wrong?’ she asked.
Kathleen grabbed her daughter-in-law’s hand and in the light of the overhead bulb, Alice could see that her mother-in-law was pale and beads of perspiration stood out on her top lip. ‘I couldn’t look any more, Alice. Death was in every one of the cups but Mary’s and I couldn’t say that, could I? And Kitty… she was here, Alice, behind Maura’s shoulder the whole time. I had to get everyone out.’
Kathleen couldn’t tell Alice that Jerry’s first love was also in the kitchen she once called her own. Though Kathleen and Alice had had their differences over the years, the love Jerry had for Bernadette, that still burnt in his heart, was never spoken of, and was the root cause of all they had been through as a family.
‘Was it just Kitty?’ Alice asked, her brow furrowed.
Kathleen squeezed her hand as she lied. ‘Aye, just Kitty,’ and as she walked out of the door ahead of Alice, she blessed herself.
*
Maura ran, fleet of foot, down the back entry, passing by houses where she knew every occupant, hearing the sounds of babies crying and familiar arguments taking place. As she drew alongside Peggy’s gate, she heard a sound which was unfamiliar to her: the sound of silence. She thought, as it was so quiet, the children must be in her own house and was desperate to set foot in it. She opened the back gate and caught her breath. She had lived in this house all her married life and yet never had she seen it so empty and quiet. Closing the gate behind her, she tiptoed across the cobbles, wondering why Deirdre hadn’t left the light on, and stopped dead as she reached her own back door; it was ajar and she could hear a man’s voice, but not one that was familiar to her. Her heart beat fast against her ribs and she held her breath to listen. Someone was in the kitchen… And then she saw torchlight sweeping across the room. It’s the flamin’ O’Prey boys, on the rob, she thought.
A voice came clearly to her. ‘I called you as soon as I saw there were people in here, but now there’s no one and the place is empty but the fires are lit. What’s going on? Are you stringing me along because if you are, you won’t be getting your cut.’
Maura tiptoed to the window ledge and peered through the nets. Despite her fear, her first thought was one of relief that Kathleen had kept them nice and clean.
‘Don’t you come the big I am with me,’ said a second voice. ‘You seem to be forgetting who’s the boss around here and who it is who employs you. Your Margaret should be very grateful she’s not living in one of the police houses on the Dock Road. And you won’t need this poxy house if you do your job right.’
‘I need insurance, in case it doesn’t come off.’
The second man sounded impatient. ‘What are you talking about? I am your insurance. You have it already, if I turn a blind eye to the comings and goings.’
‘I’m not talking about being caught, but make no mistake, it would be worse for me as a policeman. When I’m gone, I want to know Margaret has a roof over her head, I owe her that. And now the Morry is in, Captain Conor and his band of merry men.’
The second man snorted. ‘You’ll be wetting yourself next. A deal is a deal and tonight is the night. Nothing is going to go wrong.’
It dawned on Maura who the second voice belonged to; it was Heartfelt. She almost gasped out loud.
‘All very well for you to say but something is going on, I tell you. I saw two women leave here, thought maybe they were squatting, but they’ve gone into a house down the road and we can’t hide the money in the copper boiler here if there’s women in and out.’
Heartfelt walked closer to the window. ‘I think the Dohertys are back; I saw Tommy Doherty going into the Anchor with Jerry Deane. Don’t worry, though, I’m evicting the Nolans from the house next door on Friday morning and you can have that one, although if I were you, I’d be off and forget about Margaret. No one is going to suspect you – and Tommy Doherty coming back is going to look very suspicious. It won’t be difficult to point the finger of blame up the steps towards this house. Come to the administration building in the morning and I’ll set the alert off at about ten.’
Frank looked around the kitchen; it would have been perfect for Margaret, so much nicer than the present
