“I bet she was.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
It was now or never. “You know she’s in love with you.”
“What are you trying to say?”
She noted he was no longer denying it. “You don’t ask a woman who’s in love with you for favors—especially if that favor is cooking dinner for another woman.” Tara set the piece of glass on the table. “Did she know she was making this for me?” Danny dropped his head. Did this give Tara a reason to search Alanna’s room? Probably not.
Danny stood, and began to pace. “It was an accident.”
“Or she tried to kill me.”
“She couldn’t have known you were going to eat that piece. It could have been me. And according to you, she’s in love with me—”
“You know she is—”
“Which means it was an accident.”
Tara sighed. “I hope you’re right.”
“I am. I’ll talk to her. If I think there’s anything fishy about this—I’ll tell you.”
Tara laughed despite the uneasy feeling gnawing at her. “Very funny.”
He reached for a bottle of whiskey on the counter. “How about a nip?”
Tara accepted. They took their nips of whiskey over to the sofa near the fire. Once again Tara brought up her meeting with Carrig Murray.
This time he listened intently. “You’re saying two other items are missing?”
“Yes—we’ve located the pig now, but there’s also a cast-iron harp he promised Grace Quinn, and a stone slab with the face of a woman, that whoever this D or G is—maybe George—” She sighed. “Do you think he threw those out to sea as well?”
Danny frowned. “Why is Carrig being so secretive?”
“Nobody here likes me.”
“He said this friend—presumably George—owned something that once belonged to him?”
Tara nodded. “An old theatre light. Does that ring any bells?”
“It neither rings any bells nor lights any bulbs,” Danny said. “But people were always asking Johnny for things. I’d say he’s bought something for nearly every local in Galway at one point or the other. I’m not sure how any of it will help us find Johnny.”
“Could Johnny have rowed all the way out to Inis Mór?”
Danny contemplated this. “It’s not just the bay you’re crossing, but the ocean. It can be rough enough in the commuter ferries. Johnny liked to fish like the lot of us around here. But he wasn’t one of the professionals. If Johnny tried to row his boat to the Aran Islands—” He let the sentence hang.
“But we know Johnny was thinking of going there before he disappeared. That’s something at least.” She thought of Alanna’s room above the mill. “Does Johnny have a key for the upstairs flat?”
“Alanna’s flat?”
Technically it wasn’t hers. It was Johnny’s. “Yes.”
“Why?”
She sighed. Danny seemed protective of Alanna. “Grace Quinn said that Johnny thought Alanna might have been stealing from him.”
“And you want to break into her room and find out?”
“It’s not breaking in if you have a key.”
“It’s trespassing.”
“It wasn’t a sliver of glass. It was a shard.”
“An accident,” Danny repeated. “I’d bet me life on it.”
“It’s not just that. She seems pretty hostile.” Like her father.
“She can be a bit moody alright. She’s a woman, isn’t she?” He flashed a grin.
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
“Are you saying I scorned her?”
Tara simply stared at him.
“Listen. You’ve got the wrong end of the stick.” He ran his fingers through his hair.
“Then give me the right end.”
He groaned. “I hate to talk out of school.”
Whatever he had to say, he didn’t relish spilling secrets. Tara liked that about him. “It won’t leave this room,” Tara said. Unless I feel someone is in danger.
“Alanna wasn’t cooking alone. I believe she was on a date.”
This was news. “With who?”
“Hamlet.”
“Hamlet?”
“Correct. As in the actress who plays Hamlet.”
“Oh.”
“Yes,” Danny said with a wink. “I’m back to being unloved.” His grin was back.
Tara could have sworn that Alanna was in love with Danny. “Why are you assuming it was a date?”
“Just a feeling. Besides. Why on earth would she want to steal architectural items from the place where she lives?”
“What if she was trying to drive Johnny out?”
“By stealing?”
“Driving him mad . . .”
“You think she’d be cheeky enough to hide the stolen items in her room?”
“It couldn’t hurt to look.” Some people stole just for the thrill.
“It could hurt. It could hurt her.” They were at an impasse. Tara fell silent. Danny looked around the cottage. “It’s strange to be in here.”
“Do you think he’d mind that I’m staying here?”
“He must have known you were coming.” At first Tara didn’t know why he said that. She caught him staring at the space on the wall where her name had been scrawled. He caught her staring at him. “The cleaning crew sent me a photo.” He stood and went over to the spot. “Here?”
“Yes,” Tara said. “In blood.”
“Emmet’s blood?”
Tara nodded again. “I assume so.” It was horrific.
“Why?” Danny wondered out loud. “What was he trying to tell you?”
“Warn me? To get away?”
“Emmet was already dead. Who was he worried about?”
“The killer,” Tara said. “Assuming it wasn’t Johnny.”
“But how does writing your name do anything to warn you?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t even come into the cabin. But had I come into the cabin and seen my name—I think it would have made me run.”
Danny continued to stare at the wall. “He knew you were coming.”
Tara went to the window. She didn’t want to look at that wall. “I didn’t tell him I was coming. And as far as I know, my mother hadn’t spoken to him in years.” And yet somehow, he—or someone—knew. “I wish I knew what really happened here. What he’d been trying to tell me.”
Danny sighed and glanced at the floor. “This would only take a few days. We could wait for a spell of nice weather and move all the furniture onto the lawn.”
“Go ahead and order the flooring,” Tara said. “I’ll use my credit card. I don’t have access to Johnny’s accounts.”
“I’ll get you a good deal.” He moved in closer. They stared at each other. She wondered if he was thinking about kissing her. She wanted him to, but something told her it was a bad idea. They were working together. He was the only person here who seemed to like her. She didn’t want to mess that up. She made a point of yawning. Danny took the cue right away.
“I’d better go.” He started to put the dishes in the sink.
“I can get those,” Tara said.
“It will only take a minute and I’ll be out of your hair.” He began to do the dishes. Now she really wanted to kiss him. “I could never come in here when Johnny was around.”
“Why is that?”
“The mess. The pile of dishes always in the sink. I told him to hire someone to do his washing, but he was too prideful.”
Tara tried to remember her first entrance into the cottage. She didn’t remember a pile of dirty dishes. Then again, her eyes were glued to her name splashed across the back wall. Even so. She had an eye for spaces. She would have noticed an inordinate amount of dirty dishes. Had Johnny recently gone from being a slob to being neat? If so—why the change? “I think the kitchen was tidy when I went in.”
Danny cocked his head. “That’s a first.”
“Do you thi
nk the crime scene cleanup crew would have washed dirty dishes?” The minute it came out of her mouth she heard how ridiculous it sounded.
Danny stopped and looked at her. “No. I don’t.”
“Me neither.”
Danny shrugged. “Maybe he hired someone after all. Or finally got around to washing them.”
It was a bit puzzling, but there was no use wasting time on it. If he had hired a person to clean, they hadn’t come forward. She’d keep her eyes and ears open. Danny finished the dishes, and soon Tara was holding open the door for him. “Thank you.” She reached for him and gave him a hug. He held on to her for a beat too long. She pulled back.
He smiled down at her. “For what?”
“The fishing. The meal.”
“You almost choked to death on a piece of glass.”
“I can still be polite.”
Danny threw his head back and laughed. “Are you free on Friday? All day?”
Was he asking her on a date? “Why?”
“I’m getting a group together to go to Leisureland.”
“Leisureland?”
“It’s in Salthill. Rides, and games, and burgers, and the sea.”
“What’s the occasion?”
“It’s summer, Miss America. Remember summer?”
She laughed. “Barely.”
“See? This murder has our customers on edge. It would be a nice way to keep them loyal. And it wouldn’t hurt to have a bit of craic.”
Not a date, but Tara liked the sound of it. Maybe she could also learn more about what was going on around here. “Could I invite some people?”
“Like who?”
She shrugged like she hadn’t given it any thought at all. “Rose, Alanna, Ben Kelly, Carrig Murray, and Grace Quinn?”
Danny’s eyes narrowed. “In other words, you want to round up the suspects.” He really was sharp. She blinked and tried to look innocent. “Do you really think Grace Quinn could be a killer?”
“She knew my mother,” Tara said. “She might have other answers I’m looking for.”
Danny registered that but stayed silent. “And you think you’ll get them by inviting her to the fair?”
“I’m just trying to be a good neighbor.”
“Good luck getting Grace to leave the inn. I’ve only seen her do that for bingo night.”
Danny was already gone when Tara realized she forgot to tell him about the stem without a rose that someone left by the door. It was a good thing she hadn’t. When she went back out to have a second look at it, it was gone.
Chapter 12
Leisureland, in the seaside town of Salthill, was abuzz with sugar and grease, and laughter and screams, and colorful blinking lights and rides that twirled and jerked, all encapsulated by a single word: summer. All the folks on Tara’s list had agreed to the day out, including Rose, who had sat at the back of the small bus they had chartered and hadn’t engaged in any conversation. Tara was determined to change that by the day’s end.
Alanna was dressed in a short skirt and tank top, and Tara had a pretty good idea why. Her eyes were a heat-seeking device and the target was Danny. If she was dating another woman, she was doing a good job of pretending to be infatuated with Danny O’Donnell.
And if Alanna had accidentally cooked a piece of salmon with a shard of glass in it, she was certainly waiting a long time to apologize. Maybe Danny hadn’t mentioned it to her. Otherwise, shouldn’t she be receiving something along the sorry-I-almost-killed-you lines? Tara made a mental note to never turn her back to the girl.
Ben Kelly went straight for a carnival dart game, followed by muscular young men from his boxing ring. They were all such compact athletes, so much bounce. Tara wanted to take a nap just looking at them. She noted how they excluded Alanna, who could probably outpunch all of them.
Tara slipped in behind Ben Kelly when Danny was preoccupied. She wanted to observe the suspects without anyone’s watchful gaze.
Ben Kelly threw dart after dart, hitting the bulls-eye. His crowd of aspiring boxers whooped, and the kid manning the booth grew more petrified with each cheap stuffed animal he was forced to turn over.
“You’re really good at that,” Tara said, stepping up.
His eyes flicked over her. “T’anks. You wouldn’t be wantin’ one, would you?”
She stared at the hideous blue gorilla. “I’m good.”
A group of young women strolled by and Ben Kelly tossed the stuffed animals to them. They screeched and giggled, and Ben grinned and nodded, his eyes trailing them as they swished away, all hips and hair. Tara wondered what Alanna would think of her father, not only not saving one for her, but shamelessly flirting with women young enough to be his daughters. And he was accusing Johnny Meehan of being a letch? Hello, pot, kettle here . . .
“I stopped by your boxing ring the other day,” Tara said. “I left you a note.”
Ben Kelly didn’t make eye contact with her. “I’m going to get a burger. If you want to follow me and have a chat, I won’t stop you.”
Her stomach growled at the mention of a burger, and she followed, silently reprimanding herself for reacting like one of Pavlov’s dogs. Then again she hadn’t eaten all day, unless coffee could be counted as a food group. She had decided to pace herself with the blueberry scones that were as big as a baby’s head. She only had one set of clothes with her, and she wasn’t keen to size up.
The line was sufficiently long to allow Tara to chat up Ben Kelly. Tara was trying to figure out how to get his alibi without the cliché Where were you on the morning of . . .
Maybe she’d start with the question he didn’t seem to want to answer. “Did you get my note the other day?”
This time Ben Kelly did make eye contact, and his look was so searing Tara took a step back. “You’re actually going to cop to it?”
“Excuse me?”
“You think sticking gum to a man’s door is a polite thing to do?”
“I’m so sorry.” Darn. She’d forgotten about that. Ben Kelly certainly held a grudge. “I didn’t want the note to get lost.”
He shook his head. “What do you want?”
“I’ve heard from a lot of people that you weren’t happy with my uncle. And that you’ve been trying to get him to sell the mill.”
He stared straight ahead at the men flipping burgers inside the truck, his fists clenched at his sides. “It’s the perfect spot for a boxing school. I offered him good money.”
“Were you angry that he wouldn’t sell?”
“Angry enough to kill him, is that what you’re getting at?”
“Why would you say that? My uncle is a missing person, not a murder victim.” Unless you know something we don’t? A shiver ran through Tara despite the midday heat.
Ben Kelly wiped his brow with his hand, then wiped his hand on his shorts. “Yes, I was angry. He was a stubborn old man.”
Tara started. “Was?”
Ben sighed. “Don’t go reading into that. Is. He is a stubborn old man.”
Had it been an innocent error, or did he know something sinister had happened to Johnny? “How are you any different?”
He registered the dig with a calm blink. “He could move that warehouse of junk anywhere. With the money I was offering he could have retired.”
“It doesn’t sound like he wanted to retire.”
“He was just doing it to spite me.”
“Was he now?” Ben Kelly was one of those people who thought everything was about him. “Have you been to the warehouse? You might be surprised that it’s well organized and vibrant.”
“Are you joking me? It’s a junk heap.”
“It’s hardly a junk heap.”
“That’s the American point of view, is it?”
He was getting under her skin. “Who do you think you are to demand someone else move their established business?”
“Now just a minute—”
” One my family has owned for a very long time.” Tara didn’t know where it
came from, this passion, this family connection, but it bubbled up in her as real as anything she’d ever known. Perhaps that was the power of family, a connection forged by blood and DNA, a bond that held even if you’d never met face-to-face.
“Who do you think you are? You show up out of nowhere, Miss America, and think you have a right to speak to me like that?” He shook his head. “Bugger off.”
Lovely. Tara was starting to feel sorry for Alanna.
“Where were you the morning Emmet was killed?” Sometimes a cliché developed for a reason. He didn’t seem in the mood to give much up.
He laughed, then stopped when he saw she was serious. “I was at the ring. If you want, I can give you the names of ten lads I was training.” He stepped forward into her personal space. “I have a sweaty, unshakable alibi.”
“Were all your students in attendance that morning?”
“What is it you do for a living, Ms. Meehan?”
Tara took a deep breath. “I’m an interior designer.”
“I’m afraid I have no need for your services. But if you keep questioning me like you’re a detective sergeant, we’re going to have a problem.”
“I’m trying to find my uncle. He could be hurt, or not in his right mind.”
“Oh, rest assured he is not in his right mind.”
“What if it were a member of your family who was missing?”
His cold eyes flicked over her. “When this business is all over, I’ll extend the same offer to you. It’s a solid price.”
“I hope you’re not actually suggesting I sell the mill right out from under my missing uncle?”
“Your uncle is a murderer. He’s not going to come back. If he does, it will be in handcuffs.”
“Why are you so sure he did it?”
“Because, unlike you, I know the man. He was losing his mind. And Emmet Walsh was furious. He stormed up the hill that morning and Johnny must have panicked.”
They were next in line. Tara paid for Ben Kelly’s three cheeseburgers and curried chips, plus one of her own. Instead of thanking her, he glowered. “Why are you doing that?”
“To make up for the gum.”
He barely grunted, then shoved a cheeseburger into his mouth. Tara watched in horror as he finished it in two bites before starting on the next one. He laughed. “Start boxing and you too can have this metabolism.” He started to walk away.
Murder in Galway Page 12