Murder in Ballyhasset (13 page)

On the first Saturday in July the sun shone for the whole day, right into the evening. Libby wore shorts, a tee shirt and runners when she went for a stroll along Seapoint Beach. She breathed in the fresh salty air. The sea was calm, its waves lapped quietly against the rocks.

She held Buddy on the lead, and he pulled at her as they walked along at a brisk pace. Seagulls were squawking and picking at scraps of food on the ground near the rubbish bins. The tourist season was in full swing in Ballyhasset and there were several walkers. She saw some Japanese men with cameras taking pictures of the sea and the faraway purple mountains.

A man walked past her, travelling in the opposite direction. She recognised Dr Sharma’s dark complexion and black wavy hair. She smiled. 'Hi Doctor Sharma, out for a walk?'

'That's right.' He smiled back at her, his white teeth showing. 'Great to see the summer at last.'

'Won't you walk along with me for a bit?' she asked.

'Okay, fine.' He turned around, facing the opposite direction, and walked beside her. 'How's the investigation going?'

A gust of wind blew her fair hair into her eyes. She flicked it back. 'I'm at a bit of a standstill.'

'Can I help?' the doctor asked.

She hesitated. 'Maybe. I still can't find a motive for anyone to kill Kathleen.'

'She was rude to everyone. That's all I know.' Raman added, 'I guess that's not a motive on its own.'

Libby said, 'No, she had to have damaged someone. However, there's no evidence of that, apart from frightening Pamela.'

He turned to face Libby directly. 'Poor Pamela didn't kill her. She wouldn't hurt a fly.'

'That's another thing,' said Libby, getting heated. 'This suicide of Pamela's, I don't buy it. Did you know she left a note?'

'No.' The doctor appeared surprised. 'What did it say?'

'That she had Multiple Sclerosis.'

Raman stared at Libby. 'She couldn't have. She was perfectly healthy.'

'I don't know much about this disease,' said Libby, 'but can't you have remissions?'

'Yes, but an illness like that? Pamela would have had symptoms at some stage, she'd have taken time off her studies or work, and she'd have had her own doctor. She couldn't possibly have worked the long hours she did with such a serious illness.'

Libby was confused. 'I think the note said she was only diagnosed recently.'

'Are you sure this note is genuine?'

'No, that's the thing, I'm not sure. It was typed.'

'Typed?' Raman frowned. 'Pamela couldn't type.'

Libby stared at him. 'I suppose anyone can peck out a short note like this was, but how do you know Pamela couldn’t type?'

'She told me. And once, I heard Pamela asking a secretary to type a CV for her.'

'Really.' Libby smiled as she realised she had made a breakthrough. 'You know, this means that someone else wrote that note. Pamela didn't.'

He nodded gravely. 'It does.'

She said in a rushed voice, 'This is good evidence that Pamela was killed, isn't it?'

Raman replied, 'I agree.'

***

Dr Raman came down to Libby's office on the following Monday. He seemed to be pleased about something. He appeared different without his white coat, Libby thought.

'Hello, Raman, to what do we owe this visit?' Libby asked.

'Our missing man, Shane, has come back, I'm glad to say.' Raman smiled widely, showing his even white teeth. 'He's alive and well.'

'What?' Libby said in amazement.

'He's back. And there's more.' Raman's eyes danced with excitement. 'I saw someone attack Shane last night in the car park near the Green Lemon. I shouted at the fellow and scared him off.'

'Go on, tell me the whole story,' Libby said.

Raman took a deep breath and said, 'It all happened as I was walking back to the public car park in the centre of High Street. After I left the Green Lemon pub at closing time, I noticed a person walking ahead of me. My heart jumped, I was sure I knew this man. It was Shane, he had come back.'

'How were you so certain it was him?' she interrupted. 'It was dark then, surely.'

'Only Shane wears that hideous white leather jacket,' said Raman slowly. 'Also he wears silver cowboy boots. He's a big fan of Elvis. And I recognised his typical swaggering walk.'

Libby nodded, remembering having seen Shane's flashy silver boots. 'Go on.'

Raman continued, 'Shane headed towards the car park. That's where we both normally left our cars. It's only a ten-minute walk from the pub. I walked slowly, a good distance behind him.'

Libby was perplexed. 'Why didn't you try to talk to him?'

'I should have,' he admitted. 'But I felt tired and I wanted to get home. Suddenly a strange man appeared from nowhere a short distance ahead of me, just behind Shane. I reckoned that he must have come out of the gates of one of the houses. He walked along behind Shane.'

'Can you describe this person?' Libby asked.

Raman replied, '
He
was tall and lean; he wearing dark tracksuit bottoms and runners and a dark wool hat. I couldn't see his face.'

'Didn't Shane hear him?'

'Yeah, he heard the sound of footsteps, and then he turned around to check. After that, Shane increased his pace. He quickly crossed the road, almost reaching his red Mazda in the centre of the car park. Then Shane fumbled in his pocket for something, probably his car keys.'

'What did this strange fellow do next?'

'He crept up behind Shane. He pulled out a white cord which he whipped around Shane's neck.' Raman paused for breath. 'He pulled tightly, trying to suffocate Shane. Shane struggled, tearing at the man's hands with his own fingers. Shane made a choking sound. I couldn't believe my own eyes, the attack happened so fast.'

'What did you do?'

Raman continued, 'I ran towards them as Shane fell down on the ground. The man ran off when he heard me approach. He never turned around. I walked up to Shane's car, and saw Shane lying on the ground. I felt his pulse; I knew it was there, even though it was weak.'

'Did you call an ambulance?' Libby asked.

'No, I bundled Shane into my own car and drove him to the hospital. St Gabriel's was only five minutes away.'

'Why didn't you tell us this sooner?' Libby asked in wonder.

'I was afraid to. Yesterday evening, someone threw a brick through my kitchen window, and broke the glass.'

'So you connected this to what you had witnessed in the car park.'

'Of course I did,' Raman said, breathing heavily. 'Why else would they threaten me? What's more, I got three phone calls last night from someone who threatened to kill me.'

Libby's eyes opened wide. 'Kill you, for what?'

'If I spoke to you or the police about what I'd seen.'

'Still, you're here now.'

He smiled. 'I'm going to tell the police about this. I want you, or the police to catch the killer. It's the safest thing for us all.'

'You've made the right decision,' Libby said.

***

At half past one in the morning, Libby's house phone rang. She felt worried, knowing calls late at night never brought good news. She got out of bed in a hurry and ran downstairs to the hall to answer it. I hope nobody's dead, she thought. She said, 'Hello,' but no one answered. She waited and heard heavy breathing for a few seconds.

Then a low voice said, 'Have you checked your son?'

Libby startled. Does he mean Andrew? 'You've got the wrong number.'

'No, I haven't. You're Libby Hargrove, you're a private investigator. I know you've got a son.'

Libby said nothing. The slow mocking voice continued, 'You'd better lock your doors tonight. Or you won't wake up tomorrow.' Libby had listened carefully to the accent throughout the call, but she could not place the voice. She could only say it was a man's voice. Then, there was a click as the person put the phone down.

Libby ran into Andrew's room. She saw his sleeping figure stretched out on the bed, with no sheet covering him. He was dressed in pyjamas bottoms and snored lightly. He was definitely not in danger, she saw, smiling with relief. Libby felt spooked, nevertheless. She made herself a cup of cocoa, before checking that all the doors were locked.

She went back to bed, and then had a horrible dream. A tall figure was chasing her in a dense forest, and she could not find the way out. She took several paths, but each one brought her deeper into the forest. The stranger closed in on her. He caught her firmly by the shoulders, preventing her escape. She resisted and fell to the ground. She was just about to see his face, when she woke up suddenly.

Libby decided to pay the wounded doctor, Shane Collins a visit. He was in St Gabriel's Hospital as a patient, recovering from his ordeal with the assailant. She climbed the stairs to the first floor and found Shane on the surgical ward, in the bed nearest the door. There were six other male patients on the ward.

Shane sat up straight when he saw her. She noticed he was looking clean in his striped pyjamas and he appeared alert and anxious. She approached him and saw the angry red mark on his neck where the stranger had tried to strangle him.

She sat on the chair, which was beside his bed. 'Raman has given us a description of the man as tall and lean, and he wore a track suit. Can you add anything to this?'

'No, I turned around when I first heard him behind me, but he wore a balaclava, so I never saw his face, just these black staring eyes.'

'Anything else that stands out, a smell or his voice?'

'He said nothing to me,' Shane replied. 'It was dark and I was concentrating on escape, so it's all a bit of a blur.'

'Think hard, close your eyes and picture the man who attacked you.'

'He was definitely tall and thin, I remember that. Fit too, he moved like a cat.' .

'You were extremely lucky Raman happened to be behind you.'

'Yes, it's ironic because I have been trying to avoid the hospital crowd.'

'Why did you go into hiding?' Libby asked.

Shane sank lower in his bed. He looked ashamed. 'I owed money to a loan shark.'

Libby said in horror, 'Why?'

'I needed money to pay off a dealer.'

'And did this loan shark threaten you?'

Shane looked at her with a frightened expression. 'Yes, he said he would break my legs. I believed him.

However, luckily for me, my brother paid him off a few days ago.' He breathed a sigh of relief. 'I'm in the clear now.'

 Libby fixed her gaze on him. 'I'm still investigating the death of Doctor Kathleen Lynch. Do you know who killed her?'

'How the hell would I know who killed her?' Shane's face grew red.

'I know she took drugs' Libby said coldly.

He stared at Libby. 'Who told you she took drugs?'

'Her husband, Mick. He told me she bought them off you.'

Shane groaned. 'I gave her some coke only three or four times, just for her own use. It was nothing.'

Libby frowned. 'What about your affair with her?'

'I told you, I only slept with her the one time.' A likely story, Libby thought.

'Where was that?'

'At her house,' he replied, looking at the floor.

Shane leant forward towards Libby. His expression became pleading. 'Look, I didn't kill Kathleen, I hardly knew her, except at work.'

'Gina and your friends thought you were dead.'

He clenched his jaw. 'Well, I would be, if that vicious bastard had his way.'

'Why did that man try to kill you?'

'I've been racking my brains to come up with a reason, but I can't.'

'Are you involved in something criminal, other than this cocaine business?' Libby asked, staring at him with disapproval.

'I swear I'm not.' He remained silent for a few seconds. 'I get some coke sometimes, I will admit, but I only buy for my own use.'

'Do you owe money to any other dealers? Maybe one of them is angry?'

'Not at all.'

'And Conor, you gave him drugs, too.' Don't try to deny it, she thought.

'Yes, that fool still owes me money.' Shane's face reddened. 'Okay.' He hesitated, and then spoke. 'So I give Conor a bit of cocaine now and again. So what? He's a mate.'

Libby gazed at him in disgust. 'We found the photos you took of men having sex with your girlfriend.'

Shane grew indignant. 'How dare you break into my house?'

'Gina gave me a key. She thought you were in danger.'

'The pictures were Gina's idea to get money. It was a stupid idea, anyway. They never paid up.'

'What made you become a doctor, Shane? You don't seem the type.'

He looked at her with a weary expression. 'I'm a good doctor, or at least I was, until recently.' He stopped. 'I'll be okay again when I get myself clean. I'll be a new man.'

I have my doubts, Libby thought. 'I'll see you later,' she said as she left.