by Noreen Mayer
'That's terrible,' said Libby. Most men would feel like killing the person responsible if they were in his shoes, she thought. However, thinking something and actually doing it are poles apart.
'A day later I buried Fiona, alongside them in Ballyhasset cemetery.' He started to cry silently, big tears dropping down.
Libby's voice grew cold. 'When did you make up your mind to kill Dr Lynch?'
Brendan took a deep breath. 'By chance, I recognised her shopping locally, in Supervalu in Ballyhasset. Then I found out she'd moved to St Gabriel's to work. The fact that Pamela worked with her was very handy. It was like fate telling me I had to get justice for my wife.'
Libby noticed his eyes were shining. He's demented, she thought. 'So through Pamela you found out about Kathleen's movements.'
He nodded. 'I found out which ward Kathleen Lynch worked on. I looked up the duty rosters. From this I found out the nights the bitch was on duty.'
'How did you get her room key?' she asked sharply.
'I stole a bunch of keys from the maid's trolley one morning while she was cleaning out the rooms.'
Libby asked Brendan to say how he had killed Dr Lynch. Brendan explained in graphic detail how he used the pillow to smother her.
Libby had taped Brendan's confession and played back the tape for Sergeant Sean Maguire. Later on, that same day, Detective Inspector Flood and Sergeant Maguire questioned Brendan at length about Dr Lynch's murder. Brendan had his solicitor with him at the time, an experienced man of around forty.
At first, Brendan denied the charge. Then the police spent a few hours questioning him. Sergeant Maguire did not admit to anyone about having Libby's tape. However, he had played it twice to himself, and he remembered all that Brendan had said.
When Brendan started telling lies, the sergeant was able to trip him up a few times. Sergeant Maguire kept asking him about his wife's death. At first, Brendan denied that Kathleen had been his wife's obstetrician. The sergeant goaded him about the fact that Dr Lynch had caused his wife's death.
Eventually, Brendan lost his temper and said that he knew Dr Lynch. She deserved to die, he told them, and he finally admitted to killing her. Brendan made a written statement, and the inspector charged him with Kathleen's murder.
***
The following day Libby and Dawn visited the police station again. Brendan agreed to see them. They spoke to him in the same small interview room Libby had used the previous day.
'Tell us why you killed Pamela,' Libby began. Dawn sat in silence beside her, watching Brendan with wary eyes.
Brendan answered, 'Pamela knew Dr Lynch was Fiona's obstetrician. Pamela knew how Fiona had died. She knew I had a motive. She guessed correctly I had killed Kathleen.'
Libby nodded, knowing that Pamela had been to see Kathleen's previous boss to confirm her suspicions. 'So Pamela tackled you,' said Libby in a sad voice, her shoulders slumping. Poor foolish girl, she thought.
'Pamela told me to confess. She said she had to tell the police about my wife and her own suspicions about me.' He sighed deeply. 'I didn't want to kill her, but she gave me no choice.' He refused to meet Libby's eyes.
'How did you manage to drug poor Pamela?' Libby asked, in a quiet voice.
'I brought over a bottle of wine to her house. We drank a glass each. I managed to slip Rohypnol into her glass when she went out of the room.'
Libby gazed at him, her eyebrows furrowed. 'That would have knocked Pamela out straight away, surely.'
'No, I put in just enough to ensure she was only groggy. I suggested a walk on the beach, and she agreed.' Brendan clenched his jaw.
'Did you knock her out, when you got her onto the beach?' Libby asked.
He shook his head. 'I hit her just enough to stun her. On the beach, near the water's edge. I told Pamela I saw something in the water and she bent down to look. Then, I hit her on the back of the head.'
'With what?'
'With a sock full of two big batteries,' Brendan said flatly.
Dawn jerked her head in surprise. 'What?' she said.
This horrible tale gets worse and worse, thought Libby. She waited for Brendan to continue.
'I dragged her body into the sea. She was nearly unconscious.' Brendan stopped. His face was sweating, Libby noticed. His eyes were dilated. 'I had a hell of a job doing that. For a small woman, Pamela was a ton weight. I held her face down in the water until she drowned. She coughed a bit, but it was all over in a matter of seconds. She didn't feel a thing.' He avoided Libby's angry gaze. 'She didn't suffer.'
Libby said, 'You wrote that horrible suicide note.'
He nodded. 'I had to make it look like Pamela took her own life.'
'You knew she was pregnant.'
Brendan gave a little smile. 'That was a stroke of luck. Pamela told me about her pregnancy the night of the party. It gave her another reason to be depressed, to make it more likely she'd want to die.'
Libby said coldly, 'And you knew Conor didn't want the baby.'
Brendan nodded. 'Pamela told me that on the night I killed her.'
Dawn had been listening to all this as she sat beside Libby in silence.
Libby could feel her colleague's anger rising.
Dawn roared at Brendan, 'Why did you want Shane to die, what did he do wrong?'
Brendan's face grew red, and he clenched his fists. Libby thought he would burst with all the rage contained in his angry, twisted head. 'Shane is a slimeball. He gave innocent people like Conor cocaine.' Brendan stopped for a breath. 'And he took pictures of people having sex with his own girlfriend and tried to blackmail them. Shane's a low-life cockroach. Nobody would have missed him if he died.'
Dawn said coldly, 'His girlfriend, Gina, would miss him. Not to mention his brother and parents, and the hospital staff he works with.'
'One more thing,' said Libby.
'Yes?' Brendan looked up at her again. His face held a blank expression.
'What would you have done to me in the forest, if you had caught me?' Libby asked.
'I just wanted to talk. To explain why I killed those women. I would never have harmed you.'
'I don't believe you,' Libby said. 'You thought if you killed me, you would be safe.'
Dawn said to him, after a few moments, 'You killed Eileen Murphy, didn't you?'
'Who?' Brendan seemed confused.
'The woman in charge of the nursing home where your mother died.'
'Oh her. Yeah, I had some dealings with her. That was a long time ago.'
'Last year, in fact. Your mother died and one week later Mrs Murphy was poisoned.'
'That wicked old woman never looked after the patients. She ran around in a red sports car. She overcharged all the patients. She never even gave them decent food.'
'Did you blame her for your mother's death?' Dawn asked.
Brendan scowled. 'Yes, of course I did. My mother fell out of the bed. Someone was negligent and that Murphy woman was in charge, so the blame falls on her.'
'Your mother had dementia,' said Dawn. 'Your sister said she was always restless at night.'
'Mrs Murphy should have had more nurses on duty,' the killer said in a low voice.
Dawn's face grew red. 'So you poisoned her?'
Brendan's voice was devoid of emotion as he nodded. 'She had to be punished. I put a tiny amount of cyanide in her tea and it did the trick.'
Libby jerked when she heard this. Brendan had killed yet another woman, and that was even before his wife had died. Up till then she felt a small amount of sympathy for him, but now, she realised he was just plain evil. She wondered if witnessing the brutal behaviour of his father to his mother was the root cause of his evil behaviour towards women.
Dawn asked him some more questions, but Libby had heard enough. She left the room. She felt exhausted as she walked out of the station. She stood in the fresh air and breathed deeply. She felt extremely relieved to be away from Brendan's evil presence. Thank heavens he has been locked up, at last. At least
now he can't kill anyone else, she thought.
Chapter 3
2
The next day, Libby contacted Mick Doody. After driving to his office to give him the news, she marched past his secretary. He was sitting at his desk pouring over a pile of files when she walked into his room. He looked up in surprise.
Noticing his shirt was creased and his bloodshot eyes, she announced that the police had arrested his wife's killer.
Mick jerked his head in surprise. 'What's this madman's name?'
'Brendan Sullivan. His wife was a patient of Kathleen's. She died during labour.'
Mick stared at her in confusion. 'Why on earth did he kill Kathleen?' He stopped and scratched his chin. 'Wait a minute, did this fella blame Kathleen?'
Libby sighed. 'That's right, he blamed her for not operating soon enough.'
Mick sank back in the chair. 'Oh, I see. Kathleen never told me anything about this man's wife, or that she died.' He paused. 'I knew there was some reason why she changed jobs, why she stopped delivering babies. She liked that work better than the gynaecology work, I know.'
Libby nodded. 'Kathleen's boss said they refused to renew her contract in the Bons Secours, after Brendan's wife died.'
He leaned forward in the chair. 'I see. And did Kathleen make a mistake?'
'Well, she could have operated sooner,' said Libby quietly, 'so Doctor Henry says. He was Kathleen's boss; he's one of the senior obstetricians at the Bon Secours. However, Brendan's wife probably would have died anyway, the poor woman had a clotting disorder.'
Mick's eyes narrowed. 'Kathleen worked so hard. It's ironic she lost her life over her job. Why didn't she confide in me? I would have watched that madman Brendan.'
Libby felt sorry for him. 'Don't blame yourself. No one could ever have predicted Brendan would do that.'
'I hope that evil bastard gets what's coming to him.'
Libby added, 'He will; he's locked up in jail now. He killed Pamela, the young doctor who worked with Kathleen as well, you know.'
Mick startled. 'I thought she drowned herself.'
Libby hesitated as she remembered Brendan's gruesome confession. 'No, he drugged Pamela, and held her under the water till she died.'
He twisted his face. 'What on earth for?'
'She knew about Kathleen treating his wife, she guessed Brendan had killed Kathleen.'
He sighed and stood up, he went over to the window and looked out, with his back to Libby, for a moment. Then he turned to face her again. 'Thanks for telling me all this, the police haven't told me anything yet.'
She felt it was time to leave. 'Will you be alright?'
Mick Doody gave her a faint smile. 'Yes, I'm fine Libby, just a bit dazed. At least I know everything now.'
***
Libby met Conor in the Green Lemon later that day. Conor ordered two pints of beer for himself and Libby. She decided not to beat around the bush, and told him straight out that Brendan Sullivan had killed Pamela.
Conor looked at her in confusion. 'What do you mean? I thought...' He stopped and frowned. 'I thought Pamela drowned herself.'
Libby said, 'No, she was murdered.'
Conor's face grew pale. 'You're saying my friend Brendan killed Pamela. Why?'
'Pamela knew he killed Kathleen,' she replied.
Conor nearly fell off the chair. 'Kathleen, her boss? So Brendan killed her as well?'
'Yes, it was him all along. He smothered poor Kathleen after his wife died in labour.'
Conor said slowly, 'I know Brendan's wife died. He never told me Dr Lynch was his wife's doctor. So that's why he killed her.' Conor stopped, and stared at Libby. 'He blamed Kathleen for his wife's death. But what did that have to do with Pamela?' He frowned. 'I'm not following this.'
Libby replied, 'Pamela tackled Brendan about it and he killed her to stop her telling on him. He confessed this to me.'
Conor said slowly, 'Pamela could have told me all this. I knew she was worrying about something. She probably thought no one would believe her. Poor Pamela.' He sighed, and tears welled in his eyes. 'And the baby, was Pamela ever even pregnant?'
'She was,' said Libby, 'she told you that before she died. It was just early on, but the pathologist spotted it. Don't you remember her telling you all this?'
'Oh yes, I'm not thinking straight. The shock of it all. Brendan was my best friend.' He paused. 'Brendan killed Pamela, and he killed Dr Lynch.' Conor's hands were trembling. He took out his cigarettes and lit one. 'I can't get my head around this.' He stopped, and Libby waited for him to continue. 'Where is Brendan now?'
'In jail,' she answered. 'The police arrested him two days ago. He confessed when he was at the station, so he was charged with the two murders.'
'I don't know why he did this to me, his best friend,' Conor said. 'Why kill Pamela? He even liked her.' Conor was silent again. Libby knew he was trying to digest the facts, trying to make sense of what Brendan did. He said suddenly, 'Brendan must have written the suicide note.'
She nodded.
Conor's eyes flashed, and he banged the table with his fist. Libby could see he had finally understood the extent of Brendan's evil. 'The sneaky rat. He must have planned to kill Pamela, all along. It wasn't just the heat of the moment, a split-second decision. He's a cold-blooded murderer. Wait till I get him...'
She replied, 'Did you not hear me? He's in jail.'
Conor said quietly, 'Oh yes.' He added, 'At the end of the day that's not much comfort to me. It won't bring Pamela back.'
Chapter 3
3
Finbar Meenan called Libby into his office the next morning and then softly closed the door. She stood in front of him, wondering what he was going to say.
'I've got some bad news, I'm afraid,' he said and sat at his desk. 'Or good news, depending on how you want to look at it. You'd better sit down.' She took a seat. Libby noticed he seemed low in spirits.
'Brendan Sullivan managed to poison himself last night in his police cell,' Finbar said. 'He used a cyanide pill.' Libby's eyes opened wide. She sank into the chair. She felt shocked, then relieved, but she felt no pity for him. Brendan was a tormented soul, he's better off dead, she thought.
'Sergeant Sean Maguire rang me this morning. The Garda on duty last night found Brendan dead when he did a routine check around nine pm.'
'Brendan never got over the tragedy of his wife's death,' Libby said quietly. 'And he made innocent people like Pamela suffer. He deserved to die.' She paused. 'I felt sorry for him at first about his wife dying, but when I heard he killed three people, I lost all sympathy for him.'
Finbar nodded. 'He was a dangerous killer, he killed that nursing home owner before his wife ever died.'
'And he was a terrible sneak,' added Libby. 'He helped in the church. He read out the prayers at Pamela's funeral. He pretended to be a good friend to Conor. He had everyone fooled.'
'There will be an internal police investigation into that of course,' Finbar added.
'Into what?' asked Libby.
He answered her impatiently, 'Into how Brendan managed to get his hands on cyanide while he was locked up.'
Libby sighed. 'He must have hidden the poison on himself the time he was arrested. It's lucky for us all he managed to kill himself, anyway.'
'Yeah,' Finbar said, 'the officers searched him thoroughly before he went into the cell. They found nothing, Sean told me.'
The two of them remained silent for a while. 'Well, we'll be getting Mr Doody's cheque soon,' said Libby. 'That should keep you happy.'
'Good to hear.' Finbar smiled.
.
***
Later that day, the two female investigators went for a stroll along the east pier of Ballyhasset Harbour.
They stood still for a while, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine.
In the distance, a trawler stood. Seagulls flew overhead, clamouring for pieces of dead fish.
Conor caught up with them. 'Hi ladies, I want to thank you for all your help.'
/>
That's very kind of you.' Libby was silent for a moment and then added quietly, 'Brendan's dead now, anyway. He killed himself in his cell last night.'
Conor stared at her, his mouth wide open. 'Oh, wow.' He stood immobile for a while. His face turned pale.
Libby waited for him to speak, feeling sorry for him.
He said finally, 'I'm not sorry for Brendan, even though he was a good friend. I can't be, not after what he did to Pamela.'
'I completely understand,' replied Libby.
'I must go,' he said. His eyes had a haunted look. 'I'm in a rush. Things to do...'
The two women gazed at Conor's narrow frame slipping away, his shoulders hunched. His fine blond hair was flying in the wind.
They walked along in silence. 'How's your son getting on?' Dawn asked. 'Still thinking of becoming a doctor?'
'Yes, but he's torn between it and becoming a vet. Raman brought him around the hospital a few times. On the last visit, he showed Andrew the mortuary.' Libby grinned. 'I think the dead bodies put him off the career for good.'
'I'm going back to work as a nurse,' said Dawn. 'There's a vacancy for a theatre nurse in St Gabriel's Hospital, I'm going to apply for that.'
Libby said, 'Did all that travelling around the hospital bring back fond memories for you?'
Dawn nodded. 'I miss working in the theatre. And the crowd at St Gabriel's are really nice. I like Raman, Shane and Gina. I'd love to work with them.'
'So you're not going to become a private detective, after all. I'll be sorry to lose you.'
'Finbar won't be sorry.' Dawn laughed. 'No, I think nursing suits me better. Gina is staying on at St Gabriel's. She's promised to help me get back into the swing of things.'
'The council has decided not to alter Seapoint Promenade,' Libby said, as they passed by a couple of bright-green fishing boats moored in the water below them. 'Mick Doody rang me earlier today.'
'The whole harbour is fine the way it is,' Dawn replied.