by Amy Cronin
When William opened his eyes, it was with renewed clarity. He understood how the situation had unfolded. He strode purposefully from the room and pulled off his shoe-covers. There was much to do.
48
Tuesday
Anna woke late, the sleeping-tablets having worked as the doctor promised. When she first opened her eyes the events of the day before came to her as though it had been a dream. And Sunday night, the attacker in her home – had this all really happened? She felt sluggish. The pain in her head returned as soon as she sat up, and nausea crept quickly up her throat, but she persevered. She was anxious to telephone the hospital and get an update on Myles’ condition.
Alex was downstairs and had turned her kitchen into a workstation. He insisted she sit on the sofa and he served her a breakfast of toast there – there was no room at the table – Alex had littered it with pages that were covered in his scribbled notes and figures. He was relieved to see her awake and looking relatively normal – albeit bruised.
Anna was somewhat annoyed that her brother appeared to have moved in. But she decided to park her irritation and resign herself to the fact that he was overprotective. She smiled at him and accepted his gentle hug.
As Anna attempted to eat the toast, Alex explained he had been in touch with the hospital and with William Ryan.
“I had to pretend to be Myles’ brother before they would tell me anything. Basically, Myles is going to be fine. The surgeons were able to repair the damage from the bullets. He’s had blood transfusions and will be in hospital for a while yet. There’s tendon and muscle damage, and he’ll need physio. He’s in intensive care and not allowed visitors.”
Anna sagged against the sofa cushions in relief. She was surprised by the tears that clouded her vision. Blinking them away, she sipped the water Alex had given her – her throat was in agony.
“Detective Ryan said he’ll be difficult to contact for a few days but to sit tight. He’s following up with Myles to get his side of things once he can speak to him, and he’s putting together a team to gather as much evidence as he can on Elise Taylor. Plus, there’s major panic about the political conference. Ryan said that Chief Superintendent Doherty had been summoned to Dublin and we can expect to see a lot more security personnel on the streets this week and into Thursday!”
“So the conference is still going ahead?” Anna was surprised it wasn’t going to be cancelled.
God, it hurt to speak!
Alex nodded. “Apparently so. There’s been huge money ploughed into Cork for it, and the mayor nearly had a coronary when the idea of it being moved to another location was mentioned. I assume the security plans you found on the memory key will be changed.”
I bet they’ve been changed all along, Anna thought, remembering Janet and Myles’ lack of concern that the information had been stolen. They had seemed to her to be more curious about the fact that the information was in the hands of a Gallagher. It bothered her that Myles had seemed to know as much as the Chief Superintendent.
“Is there any news on Kate?”
Alex shook his head.
Anna nodded, feeling tired again. She stretched out on the sofa. Now that she knew Myles was out of the woods, she felt able to relax somewhat. Alex had lit the stove and Anna felt her eyelids closing. Sleep came quickly.
When Anna awoke again it was dark outside. She heard hushed voices coming from the kitchen and sat up, wincing at the pain in her head that just wouldn’t quit.
Alex, Samantha and Chloe were sitting at her kitchen table, tucking into bowls of soup, dunking chunks of crusty white bread into them, chatting. Anna felt emotion surge within her as the sight of them brought back memories of her own parents, sitting with her and Alex after an outing somewhere, the four of them at the table with steaming bowls and torn chunks of bread. She moved gingerly into the kitchen and sat down on the remaining seat. The smell of tomato soup assailed her and compounded the crushing feeling of nostalgia.
“Aunty Anna!” Chloe squealed and abandoned her soup. She hopped onto Anna’s lap and hugged her.
Alex made to stop her, but Anna indicated she was fine. She squeezed her niece back, inhaling the smell of her shampoo, feeling happiness rush over her in waves.
“You smell like strawberries!” she said, smiling, forcing strength into her voice, hoping she sounded normal to the little girl.
“Aunty Anna, what happened to your face?”
Alex and Samantha stopped eating and looked at Anna with bated breath.
Anna smiled at her niece.
“I fell off my bike, aren’t I silly?” she lied. “But I’ll be OK. Tell me all your news. Did you get taller?”
As Chloe chatted animatedly and bounced on her knee, Anna’s thoughts drifted to Kate. She must have heard her twin sister lie to her own children many times about why her face was bruised and bloody. Anna could understand the level of hatred she would have felt for David Gallagher. She wondered where she was, and if she was OK.
Alex passed her a bowl of tomato soup and coaxed Chloe back to her own chair. Anna sipped the soup cautiously – it was lukewarm, and she was able to swallow it. She pushed away the tears that threatened to fall. She felt so emotional.
“Aunty Anna, I saw all the boxes in the hall and I took a peek!” Chloe giggled. “They’re full of tinsel and sparkly balls for the tree. Can we decorate? Please?”
“Of course!” Anna beamed.
“Well, we’ll need to find you a Christmas tree!” Alex’s eyes were bright.
“Isn’t it a bit early for that? It’s still November!”
“It’s never too early for Christmas!” Sam said.
Slowly, in the presence of her family, Anna began to feel like herself again.
49
Wednesday
Acting Chief Superintendent Doherty had not given William Ryan a moment’s rest since the shooting on Monday. Even though he had been called to Dublin to get a dressing-down and orders to revamp security for the political conference, he had found time to harass the man several times a day. He was a demanding superior officer, and he wanted a full report. William had until Saturday morning to complete his investigation. The clock was ticking.
Elise had been charged with capital murder and one count of attempted murder for the attack on Janet and Myles. The charge of grievous bodily harm was added for the injuries Anna had suffered. William was still gathering evidence relating to the information contained on the memory key, but he fully expected her to be charged with conspiracy to sell classified information as soon as possible. She was facing the rest of her life in prison.
Elise was currently in isolation for her own protection. She had helped to put a large portion of the prison’s population behind bars, and it would be inhumane to house her in with the other prisoners. There had been no application for bail but, even if there had, William was confident it would have been denied. She had committed capital murder – there would be no hope of leniency.
She had received stitches and treatment for her broken nose in hospital, and then been released into Garda custody, after which she had shut down. Elise Taylor had refused to say a word. She had remained completely silent, not even confirming her name.
William visited Elise on Wednesday morning. She sat at a table in the interview room, wearing a dark tracksuit, her hands cuffed at the wrists and resting in her lap. She glared at William throughout the visit, her eyes boring into his. William had had a sense she disliked him since his transfer into the station. This must be infuriating for her.
“I like your outfit,” he said, opening the conversation. “Black really is your colour, it sets off your eyes.”
Elise’s mouth twitched but she didn’t speak or break her stare into William’s eyes.
“So was David Gallagher your boyfriend then?” William continued.
Colour rose in Elise’s cheeks but still she remained silent.
“I wouldn’t have thought he was your type. Maybe you like a bit of rough, eh? A
nd we all know Gallagher was rough. Just ask Natalie Crowley. You took enough statements from her sister.”
William knew he was wasting his time. Nothing was going to penetrate Elise’s stony façade. He stood up, pushing in his chair, preparing to leave.
“A forensic examination of your apartment is happening as we speak. We’ll find out everything, Elise. It would be better for you to cooperate. You’re looking at forty years inside!”
Still silence.
“Why did you do it?” His voice was soft. “Janet didn’t deserve that!”
Elise lowered her eyes.
William pulled a letter from his breast pocket. It had been pre-read, of course. He slid it across the table, saw Elise eye it with suspicion.
“It’s from your sister. She’s upset for you. She seems a bit lost without you.”
Nothing. Elise was a wall of silence.
As William left the room, he thought he heard a tiny sob, but he could have been imagining it.
50
Thursday
The snow had abated, turning to slush. On Thursday, it returned in earnest. Beautiful thick flakes covered the ground. Cork resembled a winter wonderland. Alex finally left the house after breakfast. Anna had been encouraging him out for two days, but now that he was gone she realised she missed him. They had settled into a nice routine. He had worked at the kitchen table while she rested on the sofa. Her strength began to return as she was able to eat more, her throat no long aching.
Samantha and Chloe had come over in the afternoons and the house was filled with chatter and laughter. Anna’s house was decorated to resemble Lapland thanks to Chloe’s help. In the evenings, while Alex and Samantha cooked dinner, Anna played games with Chloe by the heat of the fire. She found herself laughing more and thinking about the events of Monday less. She pondered less on Kate’s fate, resigning herself to the fact that the woman had made her choice to leave.
Now that Myles was able to use his mobile phone again, Anna was able to text him and make sure he was OK. He was seriously concerned he would fade away due to the tiny hospital food portions and he texted his concern with photographs of each meal. He still made Anna smile, and it was reassuring he was getting better. They texted as often as possible, growing closer every day.
William Ryan had called to the house to interview Anna again on Wednesday evening. He was still gathering evidence, but he promised to fill in the gaps for her about Elise’s motives and intentions as soon as he could. Anna understood he couldn’t do anything to jeopardise Elise’s conviction. She could wait to learn Elise’s motives. She again told William everything she could remember, and it was not hard to recall the details – the sounds and images of Monday night replayed in her dreams, a nightly terror she was relieved to wake from each morning.
The political conference took place at the Rebel Event Centre on Thursday as planned. The winter sun was bright and strong against the snowy backdrop of the city. It was televised and, as Anna settled down on the sofa with her comforter wrapped around her to eagerly watch it, she marvelled at how beautiful the city looked. Alex had lit the stove before he left and the house was cosy. Anna felt a lot warmer than the VIPs she saw standing on the steps outside the event centre. She recognised some of the politicians as they waved to the press and spectators gathered there.
She searched her TV screen for the presence of security guards, and it didn’t take long to find them. Men and women in dark suits and glasses swarmed around the entrance to the building at the foot of the steps. She knew the enhanced security detail were all over the city, in the hotels and throughout the event centre.
She observed a tall, heavily built man in a long black trench coat standing at the entrance door of the event centre. His bald head was gleaming in the bright lights and he looked red and sweaty, despite the cold. Acting Chief Superintendent Doherty.
Now there was a man under pressure.
Once the VIPs were inside, the television coverage switched to inside the main chamber of the building and the opening speeches began. Anna switched off the TV, bored. She decided to head out and get some groceries. It was a while since she had stocked up her fridge, and she felt bad that Alex and Samantha were doing so much. Samantha had taken the week off work; she had wrapped up work on the project that had demanded so much of her time lately and was glad now to be able to spend more time with Chloe while Alex took care of Anna. But Anna felt better. And she longed to return to the gym and to her Taekwon-Do training.
As Anna was about to leave the cosy warmth of her living room, her mobile phone rang. Kristian Lane, the private investigator. Anna stared at his name on the screen, her heart pounding. He was no doubt keen to reschedule their meeting; he charged a hefty fee. With a determined sigh Anna cut off the call. At that moment in time she was undecided whether she wanted to dig up the past, but she knew for sure K.R. Lane wasn’t the man to help her do it.
As she pulled on her coat the doorbell rang. Anna opened it and her breath caught in her throat.
“Vivian!”
Her best friend stood in the doorway, smiling. She looked just like her old self, albeit freezing as she stood in the snow.
Vivian’s smile faded quickly as she observed Anna’s face and neck.
“What the hell happened to you? I thought you said you knocked the guy out before he had a chance to –”
Anna smiled and pulled her friend in for a hug.
“We have so much to talk about!” she said, shrugging off her coat again.
51
Saturday
On Saturday morning Acting Chief Superintendent Frank Doherty sat at his desk and chewed on a large wad of gum. He was trying it out to help with his stress levels. Noreen hadn’t been too pleased he was going in to work at the weekend, but she reassured herself it wouldn’t be for much longer.
“When you retire they can pass the weekend jobs down to somebody else!” she had said before turning over and going back to sleep.
Frank Doherty loved his wife; she was the eternal optimist. But he had no intention of telling her yet that he was quite enjoying this semi-promotion.
There was a huge mess in his own camp. Elise Taylor was his subordinate and she had violated his trust, and Janet McCarthy’s trust, in the worst way. Doherty knew Elise had had a tough childhood, but he didn’t subscribe to the idea that that could shape her for life. Elise had been a fine detective, thorough and honest. At least Doherty had thought so. She had been a woman with choices; the fact that she had made the wrong one was her fault alone.
Doherty felt that he had taken his eye off the ball where his employees were concerned, and he wouldn’t be going anywhere until he had this mess well and truly cleaned up. He was aware now that the security detail for the political conference had long ago been changed, once it was realised the files had been accessed and downloaded. The security breach had been kept quiet; the finer details known to only a handful. He felt slightly resentful to have been kept out of that particular circle of trust. After all the years of service he had given, all the sacrifices … he hadn’t been brought into the loop … somehow, Doherty felt a renewed enthusiasm for the job, a vigour that had long ago abandoned him. He had something to prove again.
He had given William Ryan the least amount of time humanly possible to get the facts of this bizarre case together, and he was hungry for answers.
Doherty was still smarting from the dressing-down he had received, that one of his own detectives had stolen classified security details. It was still unclear how Elise Taylor had managed to steal the classified data – far more technical minds than Frank Doherty’s were working on that. It was to his greatest relief that the political conference went off without a hitch. On Thursday and Friday, the European dignitaries didn’t suffer so much as a toothache. Doherty wasn’t normally a man for whiskey, but he had nursed one Friday night, savouring the way it burned in his throat and obliterated all other thoughts.
Doherty remained clueless as to how Elise ha
d done it, or why. Clueless, and deeply rankled – someone he had worked closely with and respected had turned out to be a devious killer. Doherty had always thought of himself as an astute man, but maybe he was losing his touch. He wasn’t ready to be put out to pasture just yet though – he had assured the top brass he’d have a full report in their hands before the weekend was out. So, he had put pressure on William Ryan, now his most promising detective. The man was due in any minute.
Detective Sergeant William Ryan was right on time. It was becoming one of his trademarks. Doherty spat the large ball of chewing gum into the bin under his desk and straightened up in his seat, shoulders back. He needed to command authority, even if he still felt shaken by the unprecedented violence Elise had wrought on the station. There were times Doherty found it hard to believe Janet McCarthy was dead. He shook a blood-pressure tablet into his hand, then added another for good measure. He had a feeling they would barely take the edge off.
“What have you got for me, Ryan?” Doherty stood and shook the younger man’s hand. He gestured to the seat opposite his own and William settled into it.
“Everything, sir,” he answered with an air of confidence.
Doherty eyed him with interest. William was dressed in a full suit despite the fact that it was Saturday. Doherty appreciated his professionalism. He wore a long dark woollen overcoat that looked like a good defence against the bitter cold.