by Dan Mahoney
“What was your reaction to that?”
“I was in shock. I almost couldn’t believe it, but I knew it was true. My husband had been lying to me for years. That caused the biggest fight in our marriage until the one we’re going to have when you leave.”
“What was his excuse?” McKenna asked.
“He told me a whole line of silly things about oaths and secrecy in the IRA. Said he was honor bound to tell nobody about Mike, that the man was a real patriot. He also hinted that somebody would get us if I said anything about it to anybody. I figured it was none of my business and the man is his cousin, so I kept my mouth closed like he wanted.”
“Did you like Mike?”
“Until now I did. He had me fooled. He was a very funny man, always had a good joke to tell. He was also very generous, even bought us this dining room set we’re sitting at.”
“Didn’t your opinion of him change after he was arrested here?”
“Not really. If anything, I felt sorry for him and liked him more. You have to know his wife and the kind of pressure he was under. He worshipped that woman and he really loved his kids. Best father I’ve ever seen, but after a while Kathleen wanted nothing to do with him. He spent every penny he could get his hands on buying her things, but she ignored him and never showed any thanks. I don’t think he spent a penny of that money he got from those prostitutes on himself. I think it all went for gifts to Kathleen.”
“Did you hear from him after he disappeared?”
“No, not a word. But then we ran into him in Bermuda, of all places. It was quite a shock for both Jack and me but we wound up having a wonderful time for three days.”
“What was he doing there?”
“Living high on the hog. He was staying at the Sonesta Beachfront and he had a suite under the name of William Winters. He’d been there for a week when we got there and had lots of money.”
“Was he still there when you left?”
“Yes, he said he had to stay on, but we both knew better than to ask why by that time.”
“Were you in Bermuda before or after the commandant of the British Royal Marines was wounded so badly in that bombing there?”
“We left four days before that.”
“You knew that Mulrooney was IRA and that it was him who did the bombing, didn’t you?”
“I knew he was with the IRA and I strongly suspected that he did it.”
“Didn’t that change your opinion of him?”
“Have you ever been to Northern Ireland?” Dorothy asked.
“Yes, I’ve been there.”
“Then you should know how crazy it is over there and how badly they treat the Catholics. It’s a war and Mike is a soldier in it. According to Jack and his sister, a very brave and dedicated soldier.”
“Maybe he’s brave and maybe he’s dedicated, but he’s a lot of other things. Do you know that folder with all those pictures you don’t want to look at?”
“Yes,” Dorothy answered apprehensively.
“In it are pictures of a sixteen-year-old black girl he tortured and murdered in Bermuda, maybe even while he was there with you. Would you like to see those photos now?”
“No, and I won’t look if you try to show them to me.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t try. Now tell me, when did you see him again?”
“About a week ago, but I knew he was in New York.”
“How?”
“Jack started wearing a beeper and I asked him about it. He told me that Mike had come into the Pioneer one night while we was working there. They had some beers and Mike had asked Jack to buy him three beepers and a cell phone for his kids.”
“How long has Jack been working at the Pioneer.”
“Ten years, at least, but I don’t mind. If he wasn’t working there, he’d probably be drinking there anyway. This way we come out ahead and he comes home sober most of the time.”
“Go on about the beepers and the phones.”
“Okay. I was real mad at Jack for not telling me right away about seeing Mike and he tried giving me that old oath and secrecy nonsense again. I didn’t buy it, but I know my Jack and I forgave him. He’s like a little boy when it comes to the IRA and we’re always giving money to NORAID. I’m sure he considers himself as some sort of IRA associate member, so he bought the beepers and the phone and Mike picked them up from him at the bar the next night. Then last Friday Jack went out for a couple of beers at the Pioneer and he came home with Mike.”
“How did Mulrooney’s eye look?”
“The shiner?”
“Yeah, the shiner and his nose.”
“It didn’t look that bad. His nose was a little swollen and his eye was a little black underneath, but it was all healing nicely. I figured that the person had to be quite a bruiser to do that to Mike. He’s very strong and Jack says he’s the toughest man alive.”
“Didn’t you ask him about it?”
“Sure I did. He told us that he had been out drinking in Montreal and that he had been jumped by some British merchant seamen. Said he took care of them good and I didn’t want to know any more.”
“It wasn’t British merchant seamen who gave him that shiner,” Cisco said. “It was Meaghan Maher and she did it while she was fighting for her life. The picture showing what he did to her was the one on top.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, but not to Cisco. Apparently, she didn’t want to talk to him and remained focused on McKenna.
“What happened when Mulrooney got here?” McKenna asked.
“We all sat up late, having some laughs and a few more beers. Then Jack asked me if it would be all right if he went up to Hunter Mountain with Mike the next day. They were having some kind of Irish festival up there, so I said, ‘Sure, go ahead.’ They got up early on Saturday, took the kids to the park for a couple of hours, then dropped them off and drove up to Hunter.”
“In whose car?”
“Jack’s. I don’t think Mike had a car then, which was one of the reasons he wanted Jack to go with him. Jack packed for a two-day trip.”
“Did Mulrooney have any clothes with him?”
“I assume so. He had a knapsack with him.”
“When did they get back?”
“Jack came back alone late Saturday night.”
“Had he been drinking?”
“Nope, sober as a judge, which surprised me quite a bit. Jack likes his Irish festivals and sometimes forgets himself a bit.”
“Did he tell you what they did up there?”
“Yes, but I’d rather you ask him about it.”
“We will ask him, but now we’re asking you,” Cisco chimed in. “What did those two characters do up there?”
“I hope I’m not getting him into trouble,” she said, speaking to McKenna. “Jack said that they went into the woods and fired some guns, target practice. Then Mike set off some explosives, tested a new kind of bomb he’d invented.”
“What kind of bomb?”
“I don’t know exactly, but they were little ones. Jack said Mike set them off after they left and had walked for five minutes. Said he used a cell phone to set them off. They didn’t see the explosions, but they heard them.”
“What else did Jack say?”
“That they stopped into a rest area on the thruway on the way home and Mike stole a car there.”
“How did he steal it?”
“I don’t know. According to Jack, he just opened it up and started it a minute later. Jack was real impressed with that.”
“What kind of car was it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you know where Mulrooney’s been staying?”
“No.”
“Have you seen him again since last Friday?”
“No, haven’t seen him again, but he called the night before last asking for Jack. All I told him was that Jack wasn’t home.”
That call was recorded on the wiretap, McKenna knew. He felt that Dorothy had answered all his questions tru
thfully, but he still had a few tough ones left for her. “What about this morning?” he asked, being as vague as he could.
“What about it?”
“What is Mulrooney planning to do to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?”
“I haven’t the foggiest.”
“Then what are Jack’s plans?”
“I guess he’ll take the kids to the parade, same as usual.”
“How about Mulrooney’s kids?”
“I don’t know. Is Jack supposed to take them to the parade, too?” she asked suspiciously.
“Yes, he’s supposed to pick them up in the Bronx, but we don’t know if he’s taking them to the parade. He’s gonna drop them off with Mulrooney somewhere.”
“Is that where that kidnap charge you were talking about came from?”
“That’s it.”
“Then Jack has less brains than I gave him credit for. He never mentioned a word about that to me.”
“Do you know the Mullen boys?”
“Of course I know them, but that doesn’t mean I like them. They’re tough, tart little bastards, always giving their mother a real hard time. Jack’s taken them to the parade a few times for her, but he knows that I don’t want them near me.”
“How about the suitcases?” McKenna asked suddenly.
Dorothy looked confused. “What suitcases?”
“I think it’s time to talk to Jack,” Cisco said.
“Good idea. I think it’s time we all talk to Jack,” Dorothy countered.
“No, Dorothy. You can have him when we’re through with him,” Cisco promised.
“Am I going back to the bathroom?”
“That’s right,” Cisco said, then stood up. Dorothy did as well and she followed Cisco out. McKenna heard the sound of a slap and then Cisco returned a minute later with a very meek-looking Jack. One side of his face was red, and the imprint of Dorothy’s palm was clearly visible on it. At McKenna’s direction, he took the seat vacated by his wife.
“Dorothy had quite an interesting tale to tell and we’re looking for you to fill in some blanks,” Cisco said.
“I swear, I’ll tell you everything I know,” Jack promised.
“So you will,” McKenna said. “Let’s start at the beginning, back in Belfast. Tell me about your cousin Michael.”
“I grew up in The Lower Falls and we lived next door to the Mulrooneys. Michael and Patrick were older than me, so we didn’t hang out together. But they were tough boys and they always looked after me. Nobody would dare harm a hair on my head when I was growing up.”
“When did they join the IRA?”
“Long before they were born. They’re from a good republican family, much stronger than mine. His father’s a real hard man so he is. Fought with O’Connell in the old days and still hates the Brits good and proper.”
“Did you ever join the IRA?”
“No. I would have and wanted to when I was sixteen, but Michael wouldn’t hear of it. Told me to stay in school and study hard, said our family had already given enough men to the movement. He wouldn’t even let me do the things that all the boys my age were doing, like running messages and throwing rocks at the Brits.”
“Did you know when Mulrooney went to Canada?”
Again Jack looked surprised. “Not for years and nobody told me where he went.”
“Didn’t you ask around?”
“Of course not,” Jack said, smiling at the idea. “Inquiring about wanted hard men isn’t encouraged in Belfast, even if it’s the Pope who’s doing the asking. We just knew that he was all right because we would have heard if he wasn’t.”
“Then when did you find out he went to Canada and who told you?”
“Years after he left there and it was Mike himself who told me. I was here then, not exactly legal, and working as a bartender in Midtown where a lot of cops used to hang out. One day Mike walked in, big as life. He walked right up to me and hugged me hard. Said he’d heard I was working there and had been meaning to look me up and help me out.”
“How did he help you out?”
“Lots of ways. Most important, he got me legal here. After that, he got me a job in the gas company.”
“How?”
“Mike knew the chief of security, a retired police captain or something like that.”
That would be Timmy Restivo’s predecessor in the job at the Brooklyn Union Gas Company, McKenna knew, but he couldn’t remember the man’s name. “So Mulrooney told you about everything he’d been doing since he left Belfast?”
“Over the years, in dribs and drabs.”
“Did he tell you he was still with the IRA while he was working as an NYPD Bomb Squad detective?”
“No, and he didn’t have to. Everyone knows, once in, never out.”
“Do you know where he went after he fled New York?”
“Not for sure, but I heard a few things at the Pioneer. Hard men stop in there from time to time when they’re in town. I heard rumors that Mike was working for the movement all over the world.”
“Did you know he was in Bermuda before you went there?”
“No. It was a perfect shock for us when we saw him.”
“Did he tell you what he was doing there?”
“No, and I didn’t ask. I just assumed that he was there on some business for the movement. When that Brit brigadier was blown up, I knew I was right.”
“Tell me about when you first saw him on this visit to New York.”
“Not much to tell. I was working at the Pioneer and he just walked in. Could have knocked me over with a feather, but I always figured I’d be running into him again sooner or later.”
“Did he have anyone with him at the time?”
“No, but he told me that somebody had dropped him off there.”
McKenna opened his briefcase, took out the two standing prison photos of Ambery and Crowley, and passed them to Jack. “Do you recognize these men?”
“Billy Ambery and Kiernan Crowley. Two hard men from The Lower Falls, but I haven’t seen them since I was a boy. I had heard that they were in the Maze.”
“Tell me about the trip to Hunter Mountain.”
McKenna could see that his command had made Jack nervous and apprehensive, but he answered. “We drove up in my car, took about three hours. We went to a bar up there called the Yacht Club and Mike met a man there. Old-time hard man, but I didn’t know him. Mike gave him an envelope and he gave Mike a suitcase full of blocks of C-4 and detonators. There was also a pistol and a silencer in the suitcase and two boxes of ammo.”
“Was the pistol a 9mm Beretta Model 92?”
“I’m not sure. Is that the pistol the army uses now?”
“Yes, since 1985. The Beretta Model 92F.”
“Then that’s what it was. The hard man said it was the U.S. Army pistol.”
“How many pounds of explosive were there?”
“I don’t know exactly, but the suitcase was heavy. Maybe forty pounds.”
“Did you ask Mulrooney what he planned to do with it?”
“No. I figured that if he wanted me to know, he would have told me. To tell you the truth, I was kind of happy that he didn’t tell me.”
“What happened next?”
“Mike wanted to make sure that everything worked, so we drove down a dirt road into the woods. First we did a bit of target practice with the pistol, then we tried a bit of the C-4 in some clever little bombs he’d invented. We left them there in the woods and walked a ways back toward the car. Then he let me set them off. Couldn’t see the explosion, but we sure heard them. Worked fine.”
“Describe these ‘clever little bombs’ for me.”
“Maybe I can do better than that, but you’ll both have to promise never to tell Dorothy.”
“You’ve got one of these bombs?” McKenna asked.
“I’m not saying I do, but you have to promise. Not a word to Dorothy,” Jack insisted.
“Okay, we promise,” McKenna said impatiently. “What hav
e you got?” but Jack wasn’t satisfied. He looked to Cisco, waiting.
“Okay. You’ve got my promise, but this had better be good,” Cisco said.
“I’ll show you how good it is,” Jack said confidently, getting up. “It’s in the garage.” McKenna and Cisco followed Jack through the kitchen and into the small, attached garage. It was used as a storage area and workshop. The walls were lined with stacked cardboard boxes and old furniture. “Dorothy never comes in here,” Jack confided as he hefted a large box onto the floor from the stack. He took two new suitcases and an old toolbox from the box.
“You got the boys’ clothes in there?” McKenna asked.
“Yeah, all new. Mike hadn’t seen them for years and didn’t know their sizes. I didn’t either, but I was in a better position to estimate. He gave me five hundred dollars and asked me to buy the clothes and the suitcases.”
Cisco opened up one of the suitcases. It was crammed with new boys’ clothes. Jack had been clever enough to remove all the sales tags. “Nice job, Jack,” Cisco said. “Now, where’s the bombs?”
“Right here.” Jack snapped open the toolbox. Two of Mulrooney’s devices were in the tray on top, both with numbers painted on the tops. He gave number 39 to Cisco and number 91 to McKenna. “Dorothy would kill me if she knew I had these in the house,” Jack said.
“How many of these does Mulrooney have?” McKenna asked.
“Lots, I guess. Enough to give me these.”
“Why did he do that?”
“Because I wanted them.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know,” Jack admitted. “Maybe having them here helps me think I’m part of the movement.”
“How do they work?” Cisco asked.
It took Jack a few minutes to explain the simple detonation procedure. Mulrooney had the separate receiving frequencies of each of his bombs programmed into his modified cell phone. He only had to turn his bomb on to activate the detonator, then dial the bomb number into Recall. Press Send and Mulrooney got his noise.