was something to do with the argument. Is that why he told the detectives about Conor leaving the house? Has he been waiting in the woods for his revenge? Does he not know the coroner reported Seamus’s death to be an accident? That no one else ever thought it was anything but an accident? Maggie told me.
‘Pat. Seamus’s death was an accident. A horrible accident.’ He’s about to close the door. ‘Conor barely even knew Vicky, he had no reason to kill her Pat.’ I can hear the desperation in my voice. I need Pat to believe me.
‘Conor had a very big motive for killing Vicky Murphy,’ he says. Then he closes the door.
Chapter Fifty-Two
I stand for a minute, trying to keep my balance. I feel like the ground has been torn from underneath me. What did he mean? Conor had a motive. What motive? I’m barely able to catch my breath. I contemplate whether to knock again but decide against it. Slowly I move away from the door.
Walking back to the house, I see Maggie looking out the window. I have to act cool, like nothing happened. I wave and she waves back. When I get inside, she asks how Pat is and where he has been. I tell her we didn’t get into that; we just talked about the weather and he took the cake.
‘Oh well, I’ll leave you to it,’ she says, putting her coat on. ‘I’ve to meet Helen in the coffee shop at three.’
Maggie looks at her watch. Always in a hurry. I want to tell her to take it easy, not to always be running and racing. But I don’t. Instead I thank her again for the great party and tell her I’ll see her soon.
I collapse onto the sofa. My head drooped in my hands. What the hell is going on? Does Pat really think Conor had a motive or is he just exacting his revenge? I never noticed how much he hated Conor before. But then I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t know about Seamus’s accident. Conor killed Pat’s best friend. But Vicky Murphy? Does he really think Conor killed her or is he just putting two and two together? He saw Conor leaving the house. He thinks Conor killed his dad which makes him capable of murder. It’s quite a stretch. But Pat has no life, sitting on his own in that dull, dark cottage, day in day out. Nothing to do but dream up my nightmare.
A dull dead pain throbs in my head. I’m massaging my temples when suddenly I realise that Pat must have sent the card. Pat must really believe Conor killed Vicky. I have to get to Conor. I need to warn him before Pat does any more damage.
Grabbing a little grey jumpsuit from the pile of clothes on the countertop, I walk over to where Shay is stirring in his crib. His beautiful blue eyes are open wide. Excited to see me, he kicks his legs in anticipation.
‘Okay Shay, we’re going to visit Daddy at work.’
* * *
The car rumbles through the stone yard and out the gate. The sun is low and strong. Pulling the visor down, I attempt to block the rays from shining in Shay’s eyes. My hand grips the wheel as I make my way through the village and down the back road to the Caldwell Brewery.
I should have said no to Conor when he asked if I was okay with Pat living on the land at the back of the house. But I was so thrilled to be moving into that house I would have allowed Fossett’s Circus to set up out back.
Conor told me Pat had lived there all his life and had never been a bother. So who was I to come along and evict him? Of course, Conor didn’t tell me his mother hated Pat living there. Did he even know? Maybe Maggie was once like me, tight-lipped with her opinions. Maybe she felt privileged to be part of the Caldwell empire. After all, Maggie herself was shoved up the class ladder when she married Seamus. Taking control of her own reins may only have happened when Seamus died.
I swerve down the bockety road and arrive at the entrance of the brewery. Arthur, the security man, comes out to greet me.
I roll down the window to talk to him. The smell of stale beer oozes from his breath.