“Brian!” Margaret shouted. “Hello, Margaret. Is that tooth keeping you awake?” he asked sympathetically.
“Never mind my tooth! Be here at six in the morning. We’ll pick up the rest of the paintings, and you can have them! I have to get to work after that.”
“Six?” Brian said jovially. “You’re an early bird.”
“So are my friends! Most of them have finished milking the cows by then. On second thought, make it five!”
“We’ll be there, Margaret.” He switched off the phone as a panting Sheila opened the car door and practically fell in. “You’re hired!” Brian exulted as he gave Sheila a congratulatory hug, similar to the ones he had given his teammates on the football field after a good play. “She already called. We’re picking Margaret up at five A.M.”
“That’s good,” Sheila said, trying to catch her breath. “At first she didn’t think I sounded Irish enough.”
Brian laughed heartily. “Whatever you did, it worked.” He turned the key in the ignition. Nothing happened. He tried it again.
The car was dead.
40
When Regan and Jack were about to turn into Hennessy Castle, they spotted a couple coming on foot from the other direction.
“Is that Sheila and Brian?” Regan asked, astonishment in her voice.
“I think it is.”
“What are they doing out here now?”
“Who knows?” Jack tooted the horn softly and drove past the hotel entrance toward the O’Sheas. “I’ll see if they want a ride. Hennessy Castle’s driveway is a half-mile long.”
As they pulled up to the modern-day Daniel Boones, Regan rolled down her window. “Fancy meeting you two again. Would you like a ride?”
Brian laughed. “No, thanks. We were just out for a walk—”
“A walk?” Regan laughed. “At this hour?”
“It’s so quiet and peaceful. After the drive from Galway we figured it would be good to stretch our legs,” Brian explained.
“We love long walks. We love to run. That’s why we were in the Fun Run,” Sheila said nervously.
“Walking is great exercise,” Brian agreed with a half-hearted laugh. He tapped the roof of the car. “Thanks again for the offer. We’ll see you back at the castle.”
“Okay,” Jack said. “I’ll just turn the car around.”
“You bet!” Brian said, tapping the car again.
Regan rolled up her window. “Why wouldn’t they just wander around the grounds of Hennessy Castle?” she whispered.
“Maybe they’re scared they’ll run into May Reilly,” Jack answered with a smirk as he did a three-point turn on the narrow road.
“Just as long as I don’t.”
The O’Sheas waved at Regan and Jack as their car pulled away and turned at the entrance to Hennessy Castle. As soon as the car disappeared from view, Brian and Sheila turned and ran back down the country road.
“Thank God!” they both cried at the same moment.
Margaret Raftery’s painting, which they had removed from the trunk of their rental car, was lying on the side of the road wrapped in the black cape. Brian had tossed it aside when he saw a car approaching. If it had been the garda, he didn’t want to have to explain why he was carrying the painting around at one in the morning. He certainly never expected to have to explain it to Jack Reilly.
“That was a close call,” Sheila said. “Those two are everywhere.”
“It’s okay,” Brian answered as he leaned over and picked up the painting. “We’re still in business. And in a few more hours we’ll be in the home stretch. By the time Dermot gets here, we’ll be ready.”
“What about making sure Dermot doesn’t show anyone at the castle the paintings? We have to worry about Margaret and that manager Buckley. This painting was his.”
“Figuring that out is my game plan for tomorrow,” Brian said. “Right now I’m keeping my eye on the ball.”
Regan and Jack were welcomed “home” to Hennessy Castle by a sleepy clerk at the front desk.
Twenty minutes later Sheila was welcomed back. She made sure the coast was clear and then phoned Brian from their room. He was hiding in a grove of trees on the hotel’s front lawn, clutching Margaret’s painting which was still wrapped in the cape.
“You can come inside now,” she told him.
And so it came to pass that in a second-floor wing of Hennessy Castle, just steps away from each other’s rooms, the two young American Irish couples laid their weary heads on the castle’s fluffy pillows. It had been a trying day for both the Reillys and the O’Sheas, but they were all hopeful about what the morning would bring.
The castle was quiet. The other guest rooms had been deserted.
Upstairs in the memorabilia room, May Reilly’s plaque fell off the wall and crashed to the floor.
41
“Keith, I think we found Anna Hager’s mother!” Tony Dufano shouted excitedly.
Keith jumped up from his desk and hurried to the outer room where several detectives’ desks were clustered together. “What do you have?” he asked the intense young cop.
“A Sergeant Grick from a little town called Sweetsville is on hold. A woman named Hager who lives up there has a daughter named Anna.”
“Put him through to my line.” Keith strode back into his office and grabbed the phone. “Hello, Sergeant Grick,” he said and then identified himself. “I understand you might have some helpful information.”
A gruff chuckle came through the line. “I hope so. We have a woman named Hortense Hager who lives by herself in an old house on a big piece of property. She reminds me of the little old lady from Pasadena except on a snowmobile. Go, Granny, go. We’ve had to pull her out of ditches more than once, I can tell you that. We get so much snow up here, you wouldn’t believe it. This winter was terrible. Hortense was in her glory.”
Sounds like the same genes, Keith thought. “I understand she has a daughter named Anna?”
“Yup.”
“What do you know about Anna?”
“Not much except that when we pulled Hortense out of a ditch last Christmas Eve, she said she was riding so fast because she was upset that she was all alone for the holiday. Her daughter, Anna, had called the night before to say she and her husband couldn’t make it for Christmas. Hortense always has some excuse for why she’s driving like a nut.”
That was the night of the theft, Keith realized—when the shoplifter had his teeth knocked out. “Her daughter’s name is definitely Anna?” Keith asked.
“Yes. I remember because that was my dear mother’s name, may she rest in peace.”
“Of course,” Keith said quietly. “Do you by any chance know if Hortense is home or away at this time?”
“No, but we’ll find out for you. I know that once the snow melts, she gets bored and goes to Florida. But as I’m sure you heard, our snowfall broke all records this year. The ground is still covered, so Hortense may very well still be here.”
“If she is, I’d like to talk to her as soon as possible. Where is Sweetsville?”
“We’re just south of Rochester.”
“Okay,” Keith said. “Time is of the essence on this.”
“I’ll call Mrs. Hager right now and make up some inane question about her snowmobile. I’ll call you back.”
Keith gave the sergeant his direct number. When he hung up the phone, he looked at his watch. It was already after eight. When the phone rang again, he grabbed it like a hot potato. “Keith Waters.”
“Keith, this is Sergeant Grick again.”
“Yes, Sergeant.”
“I called Hortense. Her answering machine picked up. She could be home and just not answering, so I’ll have one of the patrol cars drive by her house. If there are any signs of life, I’ll let you know.”
42
Anna was frantic. She didn’t want Bobby to leave for Los Angeles without her, but she didn’t want to miss her chance at the Claddagh rings.
She didn’t k
now what to do. They had listened to Shane Magillicuddy ramble on about how wonderful the rings were, how any Irish man or woman—or anyone in the world, for that matter—would be thrilled to have one.
I know! Anna wanted to cry. I know! But Bobby was being so stubborn, and she was terrified that if they didn’t stick together, something terrible might happen. They had been with each other every day, for better or for worse, in honesty and dishonesty, for eight years.
That idiot dentist! If only he’d done a decent job, she wouldn’t be in this predicament.
Bobby had gone to bed.
Anna picked up their cell phone and called her mother. Perhaps hearing her voice might help. But she got the machine. “Mom, pick up if you’re there. It’s Anna Banana.”
“Fancy hearing from you,” Hortense said caustically. “To what do I owe this honor?”
“I just wanted to see how you were.” Anna knew her mother was still mad about their canceled Christmas visit even though they had gone to her house in February after Bobby’s teeth were fixed and stayed for a full week.
“Where are you now?” Hortense asked. “I can never keep track—”
“You know I can’t tell you,” Anna said. “Bobby’s work is top secret.”
“Of course. How is the dear boy?”
“He’s not too happy. He had a cap fall out, and the local dentist where we are now isn’t very good.”
“When are you coming to Sweetsville?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Someone’s ringing the bell. I’d better go.”
“I’ll hold on,” Anna offered.
“No, but call me tomorrow if you have any time.” Hortense hung up the phone.
Anna stood there with the phone in her hand, not knowing what to do with herself. When in doubt, go online, she thought. She turned on her computer and pulled up every article she could find on the auction of the five Claddagh rings.
Shane Magillicuddy was a widower who lived alone in the house he had planned to sell. But now he wanted to keep the house. It was his lucky charm.
“I plan to enjoy these rings until the night of the auction,” Shane crowed in one of the articles. “I hate to give them up, but I could use the money. And I’ll have a grand time giving half of the auction proceeds to charity.”
He must still have the rings in his possession, Anna thought. She looked up his address in the directory listing and a few minutes later was printing out directions to Magillicuddy’s house. We’ll take a ride up there right now, she decided. It’s worth a shot. House break-ins are not our usual line of work, but Bobby certainly knows how to jimmy a lock.
“Bobby!” she called. “It’s time to get up!”
43
“For he’s a jolly good fellow,” Dermot’s friends sang as they shared a champagne toast on his luxurious private plane.
Dermot beamed. “I won’t deny it!” He laughed and waved his glass in the air. “We’re all jolly good fellows.”
There were eight fellows in all, including Dermot and his assistant, Robert. Several hours earlier Dermot had told Robert to call his guests and tell them to get to the airport as soon as possible. “There are rings and paintings waiting for me in Ireland! I’d like to leave this minute!”
That was easy for Dermot to say. Robert packed Dermot’s bags and took care of all the arrangements. Dermot didn’t have to lift a finger. The other six men, some of whom had to sweet-talk their wives into letting them go on this unexpected trip, were left to fend for themselves in the packing department.
But they all made it to the airport for the earlier departure.
“We’re ready for takeoff,” the pilot announced. “Please make sure your seat belts are fastened.”
“Ireland, here we come!” Dermot cried. “We’ll be at Hennessy Castle before noon tomorrow and then on the golf course immediately after lunch!” He settled back in his soft leather seat the size of a La-Z-Boy and smiled. He couldn’t wait to see the expression on Brian O’Shea’s face when he told him that he’d figured out what convent the nun who was, in his opinion, the next Georgia O’Keefe, lived in.
44
Bobby was not pleased when Anna woke him up.
“Please, Bobby, do this for me,” she begged. “I have the feeling that these Claddagh rings will bring us luck. If we score them tonight, we can fly to Los Angeles tomorrow.”
They both dressed in black and gathered the tools they thought they might need to break into Shane Magillicuddy’s house: a hammer, a garden shovel, and a crowbar, among other useful items. They also had rope and tape that they would use to tie up and silence Shane Magillicuddy if need be.
It was three in the morning when they arrived in Salthill. The seaside resort on the north side of Galway Bay was very close to the ancient village of Claddagh where the famous rings originated.
Shane’s old stone house was set back from the road, and mountains loomed behind it.
“This is lovely,” Anna commented. “Maybe we should have bought a home around here.”
“It’s too close to Galway for us, but at least this street is isolated,” Bobby said, licking his newly glued cap with his tongue. He had used the temporary cement that Sharkey had given him and had been shocked to see a red smiley face painted inside the cap. What a dope that dentist is, he thought.
“Anna, if you weren’t so obsessed with those rings, I’d vote that this job was too dangerous.”
“Shane Magillicuddy is old, frail, and lives by himself. You heard him on Reilly’s show tonight. He’s sweet and innocent. He probably doesn’t even lock the door, never mind have a security system. This will be much easier than trying to steal the rings at the auction.”
“Where are we going to park?”
“It looks as if there’s an old shed down by the water,” Anna said, pointing to her left, “Let’s leave the car over there.”
Bobby turned off the lights and steered the car to the side of the shed, out of view of Magillicuddy’s house.
“Now remember, hon,” Anna said quietly, “if we have to tie him up, let’s be gentle. We just want to get the rings and get out fast.”
“I know, sweetie, I know,” Bobby said, still licking his cap. It felt as though it could be coming loose. “Let’s get going.”
The two black-clothed figures got out of the car and quietly closed the doors. With nimble steps they hurried across a field and around the back of Magillicuddy’s house.
Bobby handed Anna their bag of burglar’s supplies when they reached the back door, then leaned down to examine the lock. He turned to Anna and whispered, “These tinny little locks are a joke. I don’t know why people bother with them.” Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out a pin, picked the lock in two seconds, and slowly pushed the door open.
All was quiet in the kitchen.
He nodded to Anna and whispered, “Let’s find the bedroom.”
Stealthily they crossed the dark room, turned left, and started down a hallway.
With startling speed, a German shepherd bolted out of a back room and raced toward them, barking furiously. Terrified, Bobby and Anna turned to flee. Anna reached the back door, pulled it open, and ran outside, but the ferocious dog leaped up on Bobby’s back, knocking him down. Bobby’s face hit the floor, and his loose cap went skidding under the kitchen table.
“Tiger, what’s the matter?” an elderly man’s voice called out.
The dog turned away from Bobby for just an instant, giving Bobby a chance to scramble to his feet and make his escape. As he scampered toward the car, he could hear the dog racing around the house, barking his head off.
Anna, already in the driver’s seat, was gripping the steering wheel tightly to steady her shaking hands. Bobby jumped inside, and they took off.
“Forget those rings!” he growled, licking the empty spot inside his mouth where Dr. Sharkey’s cap had been.
“I know, I know,” Anna said. “Listen, I was so scared, I almost dropped our bag inside the house. Thank
God I didn’t.”
“Well, don’t rest too easy. My cap is somewhere on the kitchen floor!”
“Oh, no!” Anna cried.
“Oh, yes. We’ve got to get out of here on the first flight possible.”
Wednesday, April 13th
45
Brian’s eyes flew open. He immediately sensed something was very wrong. With great dread he turned his head toward the illuminated clock radio on the night table. It was 5:01! They were due at Margaret’s house a minute ago! “Ohhhhhhhh!” he bellowed, flicking on the light.
Sheila stirred in her sleep. The dark eyebrow pencil that she had been too tired to wash off had smeared the pillowcase.
Brian shook her shoulder. “Sheila! Wake up!”
“Huh?”
“We overslept! This was not part of our game plan!”
Sheila’s eyes fluttered open. “I thought you set the alarm.”
“I did!” Brian leaned over and impatiently pushed the buttons on the black plastic clock radio. “Oh my God. I set it for 3:45 P.M!”
Sheila jumped out of bed. “We’ll get out of here in five minutes, but it’s at least a half-hour walk!”
Brian picked up the phone and called the front desk. He hadn’t wanted to order an early wake-up call because he thought it would arouse suspicion. He and Sheila had planned to wander casually past the desk at 4:15 A.M. with a camera and say they weren’t sleepy and thought they’d take pictures of the wonderful grounds of Hennessy Castle as dawn broke. Now he sounded crazed as he asked the clerk how soon he could get a cab.
“Hold on.”
Brian could hear the clerk talking to a cab company in an annoyingly nonurgent manner.
“Mr. O’Shea, that will be forty-five minutes.”
“Forty-five minutes!”
“Yes, sir. Should I go ahead and place the order? We can bill it to your room.”
“No! That’s too long! Thank you.” Brian hung up. “Wear your sneakers, Sheila!” he ordered. “We’re going to run all the way to Margaret’s.”
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