by Zara Keane
“I’ve asked, and he’s put in the paperwork, but these things take time.”
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed that he finds someone soon.”
Julie, Günter, Reynolds, and I stayed on the top landing of the lighthouse as long as we dared. All too soon, it was time for us to return to Marley House to collect our things and catch the ferry back to Whisper Island.
On the way back, Julie, who’d taken everything she owned with her to Gull Island except a backpack, tied her pink rain poncho around her waist. She and Günter stayed a little ahead of Reynolds and me, talking earnestly.
Reynolds and I parted in the gardens. “I need to check the shed again,” he said, toying with my hair. “Can I call over to your house when I get back later?”
“Sure,” I whispered, feeling my breath catch at the back of my throat. We needed to talk about our not-quite-fake date this weekend, and what to do next, but the gardens of Marley House weren’t the place for that conversation.
He brushed his lips against my cheek. “Thanks again, Maggie. Have a safe trip home.”
“You, too.” I ran back to the house, not able to stop the wide grin on my face. At the fountain in front of the house, I ran into Julie—literally. “Whoa. What’s the hurry?”
“I must have dropped my rain jacket,” she said, flustered. “Günter and I, well…” she trailed off.
“You were kissing,” I finished, enjoying the pink flush on her cheeks.
“Yes, and my jacket must have fallen off.”
A raindrop fell onto my palm. “Go back inside. I’ll go and look for your jacket. There’s no point in you getting soaked.”
“Are you sure? Günter would have gone, but Carl Logan asked him to help load the van.”
“No prob. Any idea where you were when you lost it?”
My cousin frowned. “I’m not sure. Somewhere around the Japanese garden?”
“Don’t worry. I’m on it.”
I jogged back the way I’d come and reached the Japanese garden within a few minutes. If Julie had been making out with Günter, the most likely place to look would be the pagoda.
I walked up the stone steps that ran parallel to the stream.
And froze.
A prone form lay face down in the stream, a pool of red seeping from his head. It was Sergeant Reynolds.
18
FOR A SECOND, I froze, and then an adrenaline rush kicked in. I raced over to the stream, my blood ringing in my ears. I looped my arms around Reynolds’s chest and hauled him out of the water. By the time I got him onto the grass, I was out of breath. The guy was no lightweight. I rolled him onto his back and checked his pulse and breathing. Both were present, if not satisfactory.
All of a sudden, Reynolds made a gurgling noise. I rolled him onto his side an instant before he heaved up half the contents of the stream.
He moaned and stared at me through dazed eyes. “What hap—”
And then he passed out.
My stomach lurched. I didn’t know much about head injuries, but I knew enough to recognize the signs of a concussion. “Liam?” I shook him gently. “Wake up.”
But he was out cold. I eased his head back onto the ground, careful to position him on the non-injured side. The gash on the right side of his head oozed with warm blood that trickled through my shaking fingers. I needed someone with more medical knowledge than I possessed to assess the situation. Thankfully, just such a person was staying at Marley House. I whipped my phone from my pocket and called Günter.
“I need your paramedic skills,” I said the instant he picked up. “Someone attacked Liam. We’re in the Japanese garden. And rustle up a first aid kit if you can.”
Günter, to his credit, didn’t waste time asking questions. “I’m on it.”
A few tense minutes later, Julie’s new beau ran up the steps to the Japanese garden, closely followed by Lenny and Carl. I exhaled in relief at the sight of the sturdy first aid box in Carl’s hand.
“I always carry basic first aid supplies with me,” Günter said in response to my questioning look, “but Carl’s supplies truck comes equipped with a big box.”
“We need to be prepared for first aid emergencies in the kitchen,” Carl explained while Günter kneeled down to examine Reynolds. “Burns, cuts, that sort of thing. They’re a professional hazard.”
Lenny took a step closer to Reynolds’s still form. “Whoa. Dude’s got an almighty gash on his head. Are you hurt, Maggie?”
I took a shuddery breath and shook my head. “I wasn’t here when Liam was attacked. Someone must have snuck up behind him and hit him over the head.” My voice cracked, and hot tears stung my eyes. “And then they left him face down in the stream to drown.”
Lenny and Carl stared at me, wearing matching expressions of horror.
“Do you think it was the same person who killed Huff?” Carl asked me, scratching his neat goatee. “I mean, how many killers can there be on Gull Island?”
“My guess is that whoever killed Huff tried to kill Reynolds.” A muscle in my jaw flexed, and my fingers curled into fists. “When I find out who did this, I’ll make sure they pay.”
“But why attack Reynolds?” Lenny scratched his scraggly beard in an unconscious imitation of his brother. “Unlike Jimmy, Reynolds has no connection to the Huffington family.”
“When I left him, Reynolds intended to head in the direction of the shed,” I said. “That’s way over on the opposite side of the gardens. There has to be a reason he retraced his steps and ended up here.”
“Maybe he saw something,” Lenny said excitedly. “And went to investigate.”
“More like saw someone. And that person didn’t appreciate Reynolds’s interest in him or her.”
Günter, still examining Reynolds’s still form, looked up. “He has a concussion. No telling how bad it is until he comes round. I’m calling an air ambulance to take him to the hospital in Galway.”
“Thanks, Günter.” I wrapped my arms around my body to stop my shivering. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, the shock was setting in.
Lenny put his arm around my shoulders. “You need to get indoors. Have a shot of whiskey.”
“No,” I said through chattering teeth. “I’m not leaving before the air ambulance gets here.”
Carl took a hip flask out of his jacket pocket. “Try this. Granddad’s poteen is my go-to cure-all.”
Gerry Logan, a regular at the Movie Theater Café, was notorious for making moonshine strong enough to strip paint. I took the hip flask from Carl and drank deep, relishing the burn as the coarse alcohol snaked down my throat.
“Is Timms still on the island?” I asked when the poteen had worked its magic. “I guess he’s in charge until O’Shea takes over.” The notion of Sergeant O’Shea heading two murder investigations as well as an attempted murder made my blood run cold.
“I play hurling with Timms. I’ll give him a call.” Carl pulled out his phone and hit a number. “Hey, T. We need you in the Japanese garden. Reynolds got hit over the head. Yeah. Lots of blood. Okay, thanks.” To us, he said, “Timms is on his way.”
The wait for the air ambulance seemed to take forever. I sat next to Reynolds, whom Günter had made as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. My heart pounded against my ribs. I dragged air into my lungs and forced myself to stay calm. “Liam?” My voice shook with emotion. “Please wake up.”
He groaned, and his eyes fluttered open, unfocused at first, then looking at me. He managed a weak smile. “Hey, gorgeous. Why are you here?”
I exhaled the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. He’d never referred to me as ‘gorgeous’ before. That must have been some blow to the head. I touched his cheek and whispered, “Thank goodness.”
“What happened?” he murmured. “Why does my head hurt?”
“You were attacked. Someone hit you over the head.”
“I want to go back to sleep,” Liam murmured, not appearing to absorb what I’d just told h
im.
“That’s a bad idea,” Günter said. “You need to stay awake.”
I squeezed Reynolds’s hand. “You’re going to the hospital to get your head checked.”
He laughed. “I can’t go to the hospital. I’m working. Have to…” He trailed off in confusion. “I can’t remember, but I know I have to do something.”
“What do you remember before you were hit on the head?”
“We went to see the lighthouse.” He scrunched up his forehead in an obvious effort to concentrate. “Julie was there. And Günter.”
“What about after we returned to Marley House?” I prompted. “When I left you in the gardens, you said you wanted to take another look at the shed.”
He stared at me blankly. “I don’t know. Did it have something to do with Huff’s murder?”
“Yes. You wanted to make sure you hadn’t missed something in or around the area of the shed, but I don’t think you ever got there. For some reason, you changed your mind and went back in the direction of the Japanese garden. Do you have any idea what prompted you to come back here?”
He shook his head and winced. “Ouch. Moving doesn’t seem to agree with me.”
I took his hand in mine. It was colder than usual, and he was pale as snow. “Stay still. I can hear the helicopter approaching.”
Sure enough, the sound of the chopper roared overhead. Within a couple of minutes, the paramedics arrived on the scene and took over. After a cursory examination, Reynolds was heaved onto a stretcher and carried out of Marley House’s gardens via the side gate Reynolds and I had used the day before.
I lost my battle against the tears. Warm, fat drops coursed down my face. Lenny put a comforting arm around my shoulders and handed me a tissue to wipe my eyes. “He’s tough, Maggie. He’ll be okay.”
I wiped at my tears and forced a smile. “I know he’s tough. I just…I just don’t want anything to happen to him.”
Lenny squeezed me tight. “He’ll be fine. The paramedics know what they’re doing.”
“With Reynolds in the hospital, it’s up to us now,” I said under my breath so the others wouldn’t overhear. “We’ll have to find the killer.”
My friend’s face lit up. “Awesome. I’m totally up for that.”
“It’s not going to be easy,” I cautioned. “I can already predict that Sergeant O’Shea will persuade the district superintendent to put him in charge while Reynolds is out of commission, and O’Shea will not appreciate us interfering in his investigations.”
Lenny grinned down at me. “Since when has that ever stopped you, Maggie?”
“Never,” I conceded, “but there’s no way I can juggle Paddy’s missing sheep and two murder investigations on my own. Are you sure you want to get involved? O’Shea will be furious.”
Lenny roared with laughter. “Bring it on. The man’s an eejit. If we leave it up to him, neither case will be solved. Paddy’s sheep has been missing for twenty-two years. He’ll just have to wait a little longer for answers.”
“Assuming we’ll ever be able to provide them.” I shook my head. “Jimmy Wright was my only lead there, and he’s dead. And now the man who killed him is also dead.”
“You don’t think there could be one killer and not two? What if the same person who killed Jimmy also killed Huff?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. According to Reynolds, Huff’s fingerprint was found on the rake. He’d tried to rub it clean but missed a spot. The case against Huff seems pretty clear. Unfortunately, we’re no closer to figuring out who bumped him off.”
19
THANKS to the drama surrounding the attack on Reynolds, we missed the last ferry back to Whisper Island. Reserve Garda Timms arranged for his brother-in-law to collect us with his fishing boat, and Julie, Günter, Noreen, and I were back home by eight that evening.
After a night spent tossing and turning, I drove through the pouring rain and arrived at the Movie Theatre Café just in time to start my Monday morning shift. Inside the café, I peeled off my raincoat and hung it on the staff coat stand in the kitchen.
“Horrible weather,” I said when I joined my aunt at the counter. “The poor tourists will be experiencing Irish rain at its finest.”
“You look like I feel, love.” Noreen shoved a double espresso across the polished chrome surface. “Get that down you.”
I glanced over my shoulder at the table occupied by a group of teenagers. “Shouldn’t I take their order first?”
“No need. I let them in before our official opening time and took their order myself.” My aunt gestured at a tray of coffees on the counter. “I still need to fix one more cappuccino. I’ll make it while you drink your espresso.”
Inhaling the comforting aroma of freshly ground coffee, I picked up my cup and took a sip. “Divine. I needed this. I had a rough night.”
“Tell me about it.” Noreen ground coffee beans and fetched a fresh carton of milk from the fridge. “What a weekend. I feel awful about what happened to Reynolds.”
“If the attack on Reynolds was the worst part of the weekend, I take it you’re not in mourning for Huff?” I asked, deadpan.
My aunt’s disdainful expression was more eloquent than a thousand words. “Huff was an odious individual. While I wouldn’t wish his fate on anyone, I’m more upset about the sergeant getting clobbered over the head. Have you heard how he’s doing?”
“Yeah. Timms texted me late last night. Reynolds has a concussion, and he needed stitches for the wound on his head. He’ll have to stay at the hospital for a few days, but he’ll be okay.” I sighed. “I’m sorry to love you and leave you, but I have to go to the station this morning to answer a few questions. As expected, Sergeant O’Shea’s at the helm.”
“I don’t know what the district superintendent was thinking,” Noreen said, sprinkling a light dusting of cocoa powder onto the cappuccino. “He has to know O’Shea will make a mess of everything.”
“According to Timms, Reynolds won’t be back at work for at least a week. Someone has to take charge.”
I placed the last cappuccino onto the tray with the rest of the order and carried it over to the group of teenagers huddled around the James Dean table. When I’d unburdened the tray of its load, I rejoined my aunt behind the counter.
She was flicking through a magazine and muttering about police incompetency, the idiocy of civil servants and, incongruously, current wedding dress trends. As we had no other customers yet, I fixed her a pot of tea and made another espresso for myself.
I picked up one of Noreen’s bridal magazines. “Why the sudden interest in bridal attire? Has Paddy Driscoll finally proposed?”
“Even if he did, he’s at least twenty years too late. No, I’m looking for ideas for Julie’s wedding.”
“Gosh, don’t tell her you’re looking at dresses. She’d be on the next ferry to the mainland and never come back.”
Noreen’s smile was smug. “Oh, no she wouldn’t. Not when she has Günter to keep her occupied on Whisper Island.”
Poor Julie. My aunts would have the dress and venue picked out before she and Günter had had a chance to go on their first official date. Time to coax Noreen’s thoughts away from weddings.
“What’s all this about you and Paddy twenty years ago?” I asked. “Were you guys an item?”
My aunt shrugged. “If he hadn’t become obsessed with that blasted sheep, we might have made a go of it.”
“The sheep? Were you dating at the time Nancy went missing?”
Noreen took a sip of her tea and seemed in no hurry to answer my question. “Off and on, but the time was never right. Maybe that was a sign we weren’t a good fit. And once the sheep went missing, Paddy lost interest in everything except his obsession that Jimmy Wright was responsible.”
“Why did he suspect Wright? Was he still mad that Wright had married his ex?”
“Mad about Sally?” Noreen raised an eyebrow. “Paddy was well rid of her. Jimmy, too, once she took off for new
pastures.”
“Was there another reason Paddy suspected Jimmy?”
Noreen considered this for a moment. “He said Jimmy had been annoying him about the border between the fields that divided their property. He claimed Paddy had put the fence half a meter onto his land, and Paddy said Jimmy was talking rubbish.”
“Had Jimmy been known to be cruel to livestock?”
“Ah, no. Jimmy was a dote. If anything, Paddy is the grumpier of the two, but neither of them would hurt an animal.”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Not much does at the moment. Huff was a horrible man, but I don’t understand why he’d want to kill Jimmy.” At my look of surprise, my aunt laughed. “Helen told me that Huff was about to be arrested, but I’d already overheard Julie and Günter talking about it after you all found Huff’s body.”
“I don’t understand Huff’s motivation,” I said, “but apart from Paddy, I haven’t been able to find anyone else with a known grudge against Jimmy.”
My aunt creased her forehead. “There was that argument Jimmy had with Noel Ahearn last summer, but I doubt their tiff escalated to murder.”
“What happened?”
“Noel wanted to turn one of his fields into a fee-paying car park for tourists. As the field in question is right on the border between Noel’s land and Jimmy’s, Jimmy was furious. He wrote a blistering letter to the Whisper Island Gazette about the matter.”
“Did Noel get his parking lot in the end?”
My aunt shook her head. “Jimmy wasn’t the only person to object, and the planning permission wasn’t granted.”
“I’d like to track down Noel and ask him a few questions.”
“You’ll have to wait a couple of days. I know his wife, and she mentioned they were going to Lanzarote on their holidays. They won’t be back until tomorrow evening. Oh, speaking of holidays…” My aunt bustled into the kitchen and returned with a large box, which she deposited onto the counter. “The tourist office gave me these brochures to give our customers. I thought we could make a nice display in front of the entrance. Would you take care of that before you go to the police station?”