One Coffin Too Many Read online

  “ Any luck, “ she asked, when Devoy came up to her.

  Devoy beckoned her to him.

  “ You’re not going to believe this but somebody has already popped into view – literally. “

  “ You mean somebody in the nursing home? “

  “ Rather somebody who was in the nursing home today and this afternoon particularly. “

  “ God, that was quick, Inspector. I take everything back. “

  Devoy scanned the crowd.

  “ Where’s Costello? He’s supposed to be here. “

  “ Doctor Costello is performing the autopsy, don’t you remember. It’s scheduled for this afternoon. That’s his assistant over there. You don’t know her. Doctor Helen Mason. “

  Devoy spotted a young woman with a pony tail holding a clipboard. She was bending over the corpse while a technician took photographs.

  “ So who’ve we got? “

  “ That fat slug of a councillor, Horgan. You know the one I was showing you the photo of earlier. We have him on tape. He was recorded during visiting hours. I can’t believe it. “

  “ And he threatened you earlier today. “

  “ Yeah, on behalf of the late Mr. Cremin and now it’s the late Mr. Fallon both former owners of Fallons. I think Horgan has a lot of answering to do. We have to bring him in. “

  “ Who’s the scene of crime man? “

  “ It’s Lambert. “

  “ Look, has your phone got video? “

  “ Yeah, why? “

  “ Get as much of the crime scene on video especially Fallon’s corpse. We just might need it later. “

  “ And for now? “

  “ Okay, the three of us will examine Fallon’s room and the fire escape and then you and I will pay Horgan a visit. Thing is I don’t know where he lives. “

  “ I’ll get onto the station. “

  “ No, I’ve a better idea and this is between you and me. Okay? “

  “ You’re the boss. “

  Devoy called Caroline’s number. She answered right away.

  “ Ah, so it’s you. I’ve been trying to contact you on your mobile. Don’t you ever answer? I’ve been hearing things about a murder this morning and not a hoot from you and you promised. “

  “ Look, Caroline, I don’t answer my private phone when I’m investigating and listen thanks for the photo. I appreciate it. It’s on page three. Nice one. I‘ll get one as soon as I can. Look I need another favour. Yes, I’ll give you a scoop- in fact, two. We’re investigating not one but two murders and guess who might be featuring …. Yes you got it. Can you tell me where he lives? Good, the story all yours. Just be available and keep it to yourself. Right. See you later. “

  Devoy’s other phone rang.

  It was the nursing sister. Devoy rang off. The video was waiting for him in reception.

  Twenty minutes later Devoy and Moore pulled up outside what they believed to be Councillor Horgan’s home. Caroline had said he wouldn’t miss it. And he didn’t! Caroline had added that the house was nicknamed the Alamo by the other residents on the street who didn’t share Horgan’s taste in architecture. Looking at it Devoy knew how it had come into being because its owner besides being a town councilor was also an estate agent to boot and thus an expert on planning laws and also how to get around them like a sapper in a minefield.

  “ God, “ moaned Detective Moore as she took in the three glaring white cubes with dark windows from floor to ceiling. “ Where does he get his taste from? “

  “ Probably from his last holiday in Spain or Italy. Get a load of those palms.” added Devoy as he admired the two palms that flanked the three cubes. “ I didn’t think they’d have a chance in our climate. “

  “ He’s there, “ said Moore as she spotted his red Mercedes in front of a smaller cube at the side that was obviously a garage. “ That’s his car at the side. I’d recognize it anywhere. He uses it at election time to drum up votes. “

  Devoy knew it was Horgan’s car but decided to keep his mouth shut.

  “ Right, “ replied Devoy. “ Let’s block his driveway in case he wants to do a bunk. “

  Out of the corner of his eye Devoy spotted Caroline on her scooter down the street. She was parked behind a tree trunk and pretending to read a street map.

  “ Now, let’s decide on a strategy. We’ll ask Horgan to account for his movements early this morning. If he gets cagey we’ll tell him that Cremin is dead. If he messes us about we tell him the truth – that Cremin was tortured and murdered. Okay? “

  “ And what about Fallon? Don’t you want to mention his murder? “

  “ No, that’s our ace. We’ll keep that for later. Don’t forget he’s on tape. We’ll sweat him with that. “

  “ Fine with me. “

  “ Okay, “ let’s do it then. “

  Devoy lead the way. He wanted to see the look on Horgan’s face when he answered the door and saw it was him again.

  Detective Moore rang the doorbell. There were muffled sounds from within the house as if somebody was listening to a TV or radio. Moore rang the bell again. The sounds died away. They heard footsteps approaching.

  Suddenly the door was wrenched open.

  “ Litsen, I’m… “ said Horgan but when he saw Devoy the words died in his mouth.

  “ You know me from this morning, “ said Devoy. “ This is Detective Moore. We’d like to have a word with you, Councillor. “

  Horgan held up his finger in warning.

  “ Listen, we had an agreement from this morning. I took my medicine and that’s that. I shouldn’t have come on heavy with you. “

  “ We’re not here about that, Mr. Horgan. We just want you to answer a few questions concerning your whereabouts this morning – that is before you decided to confront me. “

  “ Why do you want to know? “

  “ Mr. Cremin is dead, Councillor Horgan. You know Mr. Cremin, don’t you? You were working on his behalf this morning or so you told me. So, like I said he’s dead. In fact he was murdered early this morning. “

  “ Hey, what that got to do with me? I was only doing Cremin a favour. “

  “ Perhaps, Mr. Horgan. Look, would you be good enough to come down to the station and make a statement. We’re asking everybody who knew Mr. Cremin or had business connections with him to do that. That way we’ll eliminate people from our enquiries. I’d say given your behavior this morning you had business with him recently. “

  “ You’re not arresting me, are you? “

  Detective Moore broke in.

  “ No, Mr. Horgan, we’re not. We just want you to account for your movements today and especially early this morning. That’s all. “

  Horgan’s shoulders slumped.

  “ Let me get my coat. “ replied Horgan and pushed the door over.

  Devoy nodded to Moore who went immediately around the back.

  Meanwhile Devoy went to the side of the house where the Mercedes was parked. He heard a scream and Moore started shouting. Devoy hid behind at the corner of the house and waited. He heard Horgan coming. It wasn’t hard to. He was the type of individual who liked to strut around the place wearing leather- soled shoes with the steel heel tips just to let everyone know he was coming. He came barreling around the side of the house with Detective Moore in hot pursuit. Her nose was bleeding . As he came abreast of him Devoy put his foot out and Horgan ended up in the dirt. Devoy kicked him hard in the gut before he could recover.

  “ Now you’re under arrest fat boy for assaulting a police officer. Cuff him Detective Moore. “

  “ The pleasure’s all mine, Inspector, “ replied Moore as she pinned Horgan’s arms behind him and closed the cuffs as tight as she could get them.

  Horgan grunted like a pig.

  “ That’s for hitting me, you swine, “ she added as she dragged him to his feet.

  Moore’s nose continued to bleed. It was cascading down her chin and onto her clothes.

  “ I don’t like the look of th
at, Angela. I think he’s broken something. “

  Moore’s eyes were glistening with tears?

  “ I’m calling an ambulance now. Christ he really must have hit you. “

  “A shoulder in the nose, “ she managed to say before she gagged on the blood.

  Devoy took his phone out and called emergency services.

  “ They’ll be here soon, Angela. Try to stem the bleeding. “

  She shook her head.

  “ I’ve run out of tissues. I think I’m going to faint. Oh God! “

  She fell forward onto him looking for support.

  Devoy grabbed her and lead her over to the side of the house where he sat her down.

  “ Keep your head back. Spit if you have to. This is no time to be a lady. “

  Devoy gave her his handkerchief. She pressed it to her nose but she continued to bleed.

  “ Hang on, girl, “ he advised her. “ I’ve got an idea. “

  Devoy dragged Horgan out of view and grabbed a hold of his shirt.

  “ Hey what are you doing? “ protested Horgan as Devoy started pulling on his shirt.

  The front of Horgan’s shirt gave way as Devoy ripped it from his chest.

  “ You’ll have to excuse me Councillor. I have to perform some first aid because of you. Consider yourself lucky it’s not your face. “

  Devoy applied the shirt tissue to Detective’s Moore’s nose. He was about to phone the emergency services again when he heard the ambulance coming up the street. The ambulance pulled up right in front of the house drawing the neighbours outdoors. The two ambulance personnel raced over. Devoy was glad to see one of them was a woman.

  “ What’s up, “ the woman asked.

  Devoy held up his police ID.

  “ Can you take care of my assistant, please. Detective Moore. I think her nose is broken. She may have other injuries. “

  “ How did that happen, sir? “

  “ She ran into that swine’s shoulder while trying to arrest him. “

  The medic looked over at Horgan and then back at Moore.

  She helped Moore to her feet and led her over to the ambulance.

  “ And what about him, “ asked the ambulance man nodding at Horgan? “ He doesn’t look too good either. “

  “ Oh, he always looks like that. DNA, you know. It’s his parents’ fault. “ replied Devoy. “ We’re still looking for them. Besides, I’ve reserved a cage for him down at the station. “

  ✽✽✽

  CHAPTER 7

  Tuesday

  The following morning Devoy, Moore, Horgan and his solicitor, Richard Dillon sat in an interview room at the police station. When they had arrived at the station the previous day in the late afternoon Horgan had been read his rights but he refused to answer any questions until his solicitor turned up. They let him cool his heels overnight but he still refused to answer any questions. His solicitor arrived early the following morning and, after a brief consultation, Horgan agreed to be questioned.

  Detective Moore sporting two black eyes and a band aid across her nose glared at Horgan before she switched on the cassette recorder.

  “ We’re ready when you are, gentlemen? “

  Dillon nodded his assent.

  Devoy gave the day, date and the time and stated for the record the names of the people in the interview room

  Moore nodded to him. He was to start the questioning.

  “ Now, Mr. Horgan this morning you confronted me in the street and advised me to leave Mr. Cremin alone or you would deal with me. What is your response to that? “

  Horgan looked at his solicitor who gave him a nod.

  “ Yes, I admit that. It was a stupid thing to do and I regret it. “

  “ Who asked you to do it? “ asked Detective Moore.

  “ Nobody in particular. “

  “ Oh, so you just woke up this morning , “ continued Detective Moore, “ and said to yourself I’m going to attack Inspector Devoy on behalf of Mr. Cremin this morning just for the hell of it. Would that be right? “

  “ Well, not quite. In fact Cremin and I had a foursome arranged yesterday for golf and he phoned me to say he couldn’t make it because you had him digging out files in the basement – something like that. He said you were punishing him for no reason at all. So he asked me could I do something and I said I would being a town councilor and you know the rest. “

  “ So you an elected representative of the people decided to take the law into your own hands and act like a thug? “

  “ And like I said: I regret it. “

  “ And what about your antics this afternoon when we came to ask you to come to the station. That’s hardly the actions of an innocent man. Why all the rough stuff? Hitting my colleague here. Why? “

  “ Because of the photo in the paper. You said this morning there’d be nothing more and what do I see at lunch time – a photo of me with my pants down handcuffed to my car in the local rag. I saw red. I’ll never get elected again with that hanging over me. “

  “ I didn’t take any photo of you – in fact I left you there. “

  Horgan’s solicitor broke in.

  “ Look, I’m not aware of this. Can I see this picture? “

  “ I haven’t seen it either. How about you Detective Moore? “

  Moore shook her head.

  “ Hang on, I’ll ask down in the canteen. Maybe somebody bought it. “

  Devoy made his way down to his office where he had already stashed a copy of the newspaper. When he came back he threw it down on the table in front of Horgan.

  “ You’re in luck. Here it is. “

  The solicitor took the paper and rang through it quickly.

  “ It’s on page three, “ said Horgan. “ At the top on the left. “

  Dillon didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Finally he settled on indignation.

  “ This is disgraceful – disgraceful. An alderman and treated in this fashion, too. “

  “ Well there’s no sense complaining to me. I didn’t take this photo. You’ll have to get onto the paper. It’s nothing to do with us. The only photos we take are those of criminals but there’s usually a number underneath as you well know. “

  “ Very funny. “

  “ Hilarious. “

  “ So are you pressing charges against my client, Inspector? “

  “ It’s early days yet, sir. We’d like to ask your client, Councillor Horgan to account for his movements this morning, say from four up until this afternoon. “

  “ What are you accusing him of? “

  “ Councillor Horgan confronted me early this morning. He said he was acting on behalf of Mr. Cremin. Mr. Cremin was found murdered this morning at his home out in the country. He had been

  tortured. Your client refuses to account for his time this morning. All we want to do is ask him a few questions. He seems to have a problem with that – a big problem. In fact he tried to do a runner from us this morning. Why? It’s hardly the actions of an innocent man. What’s he covering up? “

  Both the solicitor and Horgan put their heads together.

  Finally Dillon spoke.

  “ Apart from the unfortunate incident with this lady, my client apologizes for his conduct then and also this morning. He’s willing to make amends, pay a fine, whatever. I’m asking you to release him now until you have something more concrete than circumstantial evidence.”

  “ Is that your final answer, Councillor. You don’t want to tell us where you were this morning? “

  “ You know where I was, Inspector. The photo testifies to that. “

  “ And you don’t want to expand on that? “

  Horgan hunched his shoulders.

  “ Nothing further to add. “

  “ Okay, fine. Request denied. Detective Moore show these gentlemen the notebook. “

  Detective Moore pushed a large notebook across the table to them and switched it on. Both men peered at it confused.

  “ What’s this? “ asked th
e solicitor.

  “ Touch the symbol there at the bottom of the screen – in the right hand corner. “

  Horgan reached out and using his index finger did as she asked.

  The screen came alive as the crime scene from the nursing home came to life.

  “ What’s this in aid of? “ asked Horgan.

  “ Yes, why are you showing us this? “ echoed the solicitor.

  “ That gentlemen, “ replied Moore is a crime scene recorded earlier this afternoon at the Convent nursing home. That bundle you see lying there is the late Mr. Fallon – the former owner of Fallon’s Funeral Home. Mr. Fallon was thrown down the fire escape sometime after lunch. “

  “ So, “ asked Dillon, “ what has this to do with my client? “

  “ This, “ replied Moore, picking up a remote control and aiming it at a TV that stood at the end of the table on a stand. “ Have a good look at this, gentlemen. “

  Both men’s eyes turned towards the TV.

  Five minutes later the video crept up to 1400 hours. At it arrived there Moore froze the image. Councillor Horgan saw his face looking at him from the tape.

  “ Good God, “ whispered the solicitor.

  “ That’s you, Councillor Horgan about to take the stairs leading to the third floor of the old convent nursing home. That’s you in black and white. And there’s no doubt about it. Mr. Fallon’s room is on the third floor. What have you got to say to that? “

  Horgan and his solicitor put their heads together again.

  Finally Dillon spoke.

  “ My client has a statement to make. “

  “ It’s true I was in the old convent nursing home after dinner. I admit that. It’s true I was on the third floor. I was visiting…”

  Horgan let his words hang there.

  Devoy jumped in anxious to egg him on.

  “ Doing the Corporal Works of Mercy, then, Mr. Horgan or were you just drumming up votes? “

  Horgan gave Devoy a smile.

  “ You could say that, Inspector. The corporal works of mercy. Why not? “

  “ And that involved throwing an old man down the fire escape because he didn’t want to vote for you? Give me a break, Horgan? I wouldn’t vote for you either. “