One Coffin Too Many

by Brendan O'Grady

  Devoy and Roche entered the shop and made their way past stacks of bicycles and motor scooters to the counter.

  “ Anybody home? “ shouted Devoy.

  After a few minutes a man appeared at the door. He looked surprised.

  “ Ah, I remember now. You’re a cop. Detective Inspector Devoy, I think. “

  “ The very one, Mr. Cassidy. “

  “ I hope you’re bringing me good news. I’m still waiting to be paid for the exhaust pipe. “

  “ Sorry, Mr. Cassidy. Can’t help you there. They’re still sorting out Miss Gleeson’s estate. You’ll be paid, eventually. “

  “ So what brings you here? “

  “ We’d like to have a look at Miss Gleeson’s scooter if you don’t mind. “

  “ Why? “

  “ We think she may have forgotten something in one of the panniers. “

  “ Like what? “

  “ Why don’t you let us have a look? After all it’s not your property. “

  Cassidy made a face and motioned them to follow him into the workshop.

  “ It’s over there, “ he said pointing to a white motor scooter.

  Devoy went over and started to examine it. He looked in the side panniers but they were empty. Then he remembered the seat. Some of the scooter seats could be lifted. He tried it and it was empty, too.

  “ What are you looking for, Inspector? “ asked Cassidy.

  “ Well if you really want to know it’s the remote control that guides a drone. We have the drone. All we’re missing is the control panel. “

  “ Have you seen it, Mr. Cassidy? “ asked Roche.

  “ Oh, this is Detective Sergeant Roche by the way. “

  Cassidy nodded at her.

  “ Can’t say I have, “ replied Cassidy.

  Devoy started examining the workshop.

  “ I’d say you’ve a nice business here, Mr. Cassidy. Make a good living from it? “

  Cassidy nodded his head.

  “ I can’t complain. “

  “ You’d complain if I came back here with a search warrant and found it. And then I’d have to arrest you for obstruction of justice and a few other things. You’d have to lock up. People would be wondering where their bicycles and scooters are. The local newspaper would get interested and people would be put out to find that their favourite bicycle and scooter shop owner is under arrest for pilfering. They wouldn’t like that at all, Mr. Cassidy. Who knows you may even go out of business, God forbid! “

  “ Oh very well then. You can have the bloody thing. I just felt put out because I wasn’t been paid. Give me a minute then. “

  Cassidy went upstairs and a few minutes later came down with the remote control.

  “ I hope you haven’t been interfering with it, Mr. Cassidy? “

  “ I had a look at the video. That’s all. “

  “ Anything interesting? “

  “ No, just fields and buildings. “

  “ Good. Well, thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Cassidy. See you around. “

  “ There’s no charge. “

  “ No. None at all. “

  “ That was smooth, Frank, “ said Roche as they made their way back to town. “ You seem to be a good judge of human nature. “

  “ It doesn’t apply to women unfortunately but that’s what male chauvinists might term a design fault. “

  “ Hmm, “ replied Roche ignoring Devoy’s remark.

  “ I must say Detective Sergeant Roche I was most impressed with your footwork and daring back there. I daresay you didn’t pick that up writing out reports in some out of the way station. The last time I drew my gun was to clean it. “

  Roche gave a little laugh.

  “ You’re right, sir. I’ve been around quite a bit. Murder, drugs, robbery, etc. I’ve been in the trenches, so to speak. “

  “ Hence the gunplay and the Karate? “

  “ In a nutshell. I have also a pilot’s license. “

  “ No kidding. “

  “ So where are we going, Frank? “

  “ To my place. I want to have a look at the memory card. All will be revealed. “

  “ As long as it pertains to the investigation. “

  CHAPTER 35

  Detective Sergeant Helen Roche took another sip of her vodka and ice and lay back in the armchair.

  Devoy had just given her an edited version of events. He had omitted the lesbian business. He was following Sullivan’s advice.

  “ Bloody amazing, “ she said. “ How many people in this town, anyway? “

  “ Just under forty thousand. It sometimes jumps to sixty during the summer. The sunny south-east as they like to term it. “

  “ So in the space of a few weeks you’ve had a missing coffin, two murders, two accidental deaths following criminal acts, two arson attacks, a suicide, a missing drone. Have I forgotten something? “

  Devoy nodded with a grin.

  “ No, that about covers everything, Helen – at least for the moment. “

  Roche scrunched up her eyes.

  “ You’re holding back something, Frank. I can tell. I’ve interviewed even interrogated people before in the course of my work. Something important is missing. “

  Devoy took a good draught of his whiskey.

  “ That’s all for the moment, Helen. It’s enough to take on board for now. Things will unravel in their own good time. “

  “ Fine, “ replied Roche. “ You’ve been up front with me so I suppose I should tell you my story. In short I’ve been promoted because of my accomplishments. That’s why I was made up to sergeant. I couldn’t go sideways so I had to go up. Do you see where I’m coming from? “

  Devoy took another sip of his drink.

  “ You’re carrying baggage? “

  Roche stared off into the distance as if she were watching another scene.

  “ Yes, you could say that. I’m carrying baggage and it’s very difficult. I sometimes lose sleep on account of it. “

  Devoy brought his hand up as if to stem the flow of information.

  “ You’ve bared your soul to some degree, Helen. If you don’t want to talk about it, then that’s okay with me. I’ll accept you as you are. “

  “ I wasn’t sent to spy on you or anybody else if that’s what you’re thinking. Dublin knows there’s a lot going on for a small town but I don’t think they ever imagined the depth of the matter. I’m here because I was kicking my heels between appointments and because it’s summer and lots of people are on leave. And then Superintendent Sullivan informs personnel he’s short staffed and I was available. So here I am. “

  Devoy raised his glass.

  “ Then here’s to coincidences then. Lots of them. “

  “ You don’t believe me one bit, do you, Frank? Like most cops you’re suspicious of coincidences. “

  Devoy held his tongue.

  Roche raised her glass and started crying.

  “ Oh, what’s the use, “ she said, putting down the glass on the table. “ You’ll hear about it on the grapevine sooner or later. Matters like this always leak out. I fucked up. That’s the only way to describe it. I wasn’t prepared emotionally to kill somebody. I lost my best friend and colleague. It was my fault. I faltered. I should have fired. I didn’t. She was downed like a dog. It was just awful. It replays and replays all the time in my mind. If only, if only. The great if. It’s difficult to kill a human being. It’s even more difficult when it’s a woman – a young woman. It’s hard to extinguish a life especially a young life. “

  Devoy’s jaw dropped.

  “ Jesus, I’d no idea, Helen. I’m really sorry. Is there anything I can do? “

  Roche shook her head.

  “ Would you mind if I stayed here for the afternoon? I don’t think I could support a lonely apartment right now. All I want to do is sleep and sleep and try to forget. I don’t want to be disturbed. If you could allow me that I’d be grateful. “

  “ That’s no problem, Helen.
Help yourself to the guest room. There’s nobody here except me. My wife and daughter are in France. Let me show you the way. “

  As soon as Roche lay down Devoy sent an SMS to Sullivan stating that they had found the drone and later had located the remote control with memory card complete. They had also stumbled onto some more of Horgan’s properties which were adjacent to the property where

  Satisfied with keeping Superintendent Sullivan in the picture as requested Devoy made himself a toasted cheese sandwich and a pot of tea and settled down to view the contents of the memory card. An hour passed.

  After a while he felt a presence behind him. He turned. She was standing there wearing his dressing gown and in her bare feet. Her gaze was fixed on the screen. The light from the screen highlighted her reddish-brown hair and her green eyes. For a moment Devoy thought she was sleep-walking.

  “ I was asleep, “ she said, breaking her silence. “ The smell of toast woke me up. “

  Devoy stole a look at her figure but she immediately tightened the belt of his dressing gown around her as if to ward off any future curiosity.

  “ What are you looking at? “ she asked coming nearer.

  Devoy wanted to tell her he was looking at her, admiring her body but he knew she was referring to the video.

  “ That is where I think it all started, Helen. This is where I believe Horgan stumbled on the love-in with the lesbian circle. This film was taken by the late Caroline Gleeson, ace journalist, photographer, and lesbian. “

  “ You say ‘ late ‘. What happened to her? “

  “ She burned a certain Mr. Horgan’s house to the ground and later died from her burns. We believe she was the initiator of the lesbian circle. “

  “ You sound like you hate her? “

  “ No, I never hated her. She and I were good friends but I never expected this. She managed to keep her lesbianism from me for a long time. “

  Roche shook her head.

  “ Always the same. Men are always disappointed to discover that one of their female acquaintances is a lesbian. What’s the problem – a female has escaped from the pack? One less to inseminate. “

  “ Look Helen, let’s get one thing straight: Lesbians don’t bother me. That’s their choice. Tough. It’s a waste of womanhood but that the way it is. Besides, not all of them are worth a second look or bedding. We’re all programmed one way or the other. Men go after women and women go after men. It’s a law of nature. That’s how the human race continues. If it wasn’t like that we wouldn’t exist anymore. Evidently there are other laws. The exceptions. The grey areas. Sometimes our bodies haven’t caught up with our brains. The program needs to be altered. Men usually perceive lesbians as butch types. They forget about the bitch ones. The female ones. And then of course there are the bi-sexuals. The waste-nots as I term them. Nothing or nobody goes to waste with them. Game for everything. “

  “ Oh really. “

  “ Yes, really. “

  “ You’d be surprised, Frank. “

  “ Would I now? “

  “ Anyway, I’d like to drop this. What I’m trying to do here is get an idea of the scope of Horgan’s business. I’ve already applied for a search warrant for the property adjoining Cullen’s market garden. It should be ready this afternoon. “

  Devoy looked at her.

  “ Look I know you’re an attractive woman but I’m not a groper, so relax. How does a toasted cheese and ham sandwich appeal to you and a nice cup of tea or coffee? “

  Roche gave him one of her nicest smiles.

  “ Okay, I’ll take that as a ‘ yes ‘. Do me a favour. Keep watching this and let me know if something interesting comes up. “

  A few minutes later Devoy came back with a toasted sandwich for her along with a strong mug of coffee.

  “ Anything? “

  Helen shrugged.

  “ Nothing in particular. Just acres and acres of fields and small roads leading nowhere. I presume you’re looking for a landmark of some description? “

  “ Yeah, Cullen’s greenhouses would do fine. “

  “ There, “ she said, pointing to the screen. “ that’s where we were this morning. If we hone in on the image you can see the black shape of the drone on the top of the greenhouse. “

  “ Great. So Horgan’s chalets are across the road. There you can see poor Caroline managed to video some of them. Horgan did a great job concealing this lot from us and with good reason. It’s not even registered to Sunnyside Properties. We’ll have to get into his computer files. “

  “ What led you to this woman and her activities? “

  “ Somebody whose name shall remain a secret tipped us off about strange goings-on. We raided Caroline’s cottage out by the sea and here is what we found. This opened the door for us. Want to have a look or would you prefer to finish your coffee and sandwich? “

  Helen sighed and puffed out her cheeks.

  “ I’m not going to throw up, am I? “

  “ No, you won’t vomit, Helen but you may be disgusted. “

  Helen raised her eyebrows questioningly.

  “ Here goes, “ said Devoy inserting one of Caroline’s DVD.

  The screen went blank for a few seconds and then they saw the late Caroline Gleeson engaged in sexual jousts with two other women. The other women wore masks but Caroline revelled in her lack of anonymity, leading the two women on as if she were the master of ceremonies. This was the raunchiest of all the DVDs that he’d come across as it showed Caroline in full flight as a lesbian.

  Out of the corner of his eye he stole a glance at Helen. He expected to see shock registered on her face but instead was surprised to see a smile caressing her lips and her eyes lit up.

  “ I’m sorry, “ he said interrupting the session. “ There’s no sound. “

  “ What’s with the masks? “

  “ They’re wearing masks to conceal their identity. My guess is that they are married women. You can see their wedding rings if you look closer. “

  She crinkled her eyes.

  “ Yes, “ she replied. “ I see what you mean. “

  “ So you think Horgan got hold of this stuff and started blackmailing these women? “

  Devoy nodded.

  “ That’s the conclusion we came to. That’s why his house was torched. “

  “ And? “

  “ And that’s not all. “

  “ You’re holding back again, Frank. “

  “ When we started investigating them they started hitting back. You see it just wasn’t a question of lesbianism – arson and murder came into it. The more we probed the more hassle we got: a complaint to Sullivan from one of the women, a certain nursing sister, put paid to further investigation. “

  “ A nursing sister. Christ, what next. What else did you uncover? “

  “ We decided to attack on another front – another woman. No mention of lesbianism except in relation to Caroline Gleeson who was out of the picture being dead. “

  “ And what happened next? “

  “ It ended up with us being waylaid and kidnapped. When I say us I’m referring to Detective Angela Moore and myself, of course. “

  Detective Roche’s eyes widened.

  “ Are you telling me you and another officer were waylaid and kidnapped? “

  “ Look, I’m going out on a limb with this, Helen. To be frank I don’t know how much to tell you. You’re only temporary here so I don’t want you going off with the story when your time is up. Harry, that Superintendent Sullivan to you, is also only temporary until his pension kicks in. He wants to keep this under wraps for the time being. If we go in too heavy we may damage the reputations of a lot of women whose only fault is that they are lesbians. I don’t want that. I just want to nail the ringleaders. One woman in particular. There may be collateral damage but that can’t be helped. People should know what they’re getting into. There’s no excuse. “

  “ You know this woman, then? “

  “ Of course I do. Sh
e had been questioned by both Detective Moore and myself some time earlier. We had split up to keep tabs. She drugged me and later seduced me. The same was done to my colleague Angela. It was done to keep us quiet. They made videos of us. “

  “ Oh God, no. “

  “ Yes, the message was clear. Lay off or else. And you can imagine what the ‘ or else ‘ would entail. A public scandal. It would be all over the internet. Careers would be wrecked. Resignations asked for. Transfers demanded. There’s no telling where it would end. “

  “ And how do you know you were videoed? “

  “ They left a copy taped to my chest when we were deposited on the beach. “

  “ On the beach? “

  “ Well in an unmarked police car on the beach. They even got a local junior reporter in on the act. He tried to blackmail us but ended up being killed by a bus. “

  “ Jesus, this is hard to believe. And I thought I was been dumped in a backwater to recover. Give me the Drug Squad any time. “

  “ It may be a small town but the weather’s quite mild here. The beaches are great. They are secluded. Nice restaurants and pubs too. It’s not too far from the capital. There’s a railway line. Every Dubliner worth his salt heads down here when he has the chance. And that’s only Joe Soap renting a chalet. There are huge properties up and down the coast. They have their own private entrances along with gatekeepers. Even some of the beaches are inaccessible from the sea. These people have money, lots of it and lots of them are bored. And like most bored people they can get up to mischief. And while hubby’s away in Dublin or abroad their minds turn to other pleasures. What began as lingerie parties turned into something else. These parties were just the door into other pleasures. As one woman put it to us: women came and women went. Some didn’t like what they saw – what was being offered; others were fascinated and drawn in. Once the door was opened or in their case left ajar so they could have a peek, they opened the door wider and didn’t look back. “

  “ And you think they killed this Horgan character because he caught on to their secret? “

  “ Yes, that’s about it. They had no other reason to kill him. He was a bit of a low life but he wasn’t the only one in town. “

  “ And you reckon some of the action was filmed in one of his properties? “