The House by the Liffey (12 page)

‘I hope you're not going to leave us just yet, Freddie. The night's young and it's not everyday you become engaged to someone like my beautiful daughter!'

‘Well I mustn't miss the last bus back into town.'

‘You could stay, you know. We're not exactly short of space.'

‘Thank you but I must get back. I'm hoping Katie will come over to celebrate with us and there may be a message from her. If there is I must call her. She gets worried if she doesn't hear from me.'

Entirely plausible, thought Milo.

‘Well don't worry. If you miss the bus I'll ask Mickeen to give you a lift.'

‘Thank you but I'll make sure I get to the stop in time.'

Milo was now ready to read evasion into everything that Freddie said and the young man didn't seem too happy at the idea of staying late. Strange since it was his engagement party. Then when Freddie was saying his goodbyes, Sean edged Milo back to the library.

‘We've got him! The men found a radio receiver locked into a suitcase in his room. All ready for a quick getaway. Ideal spot for a good signal too, up at the top of that building. There was a loaded gun with it which is not all that surprising. We've got paper evidence too. It was well hidden but my men don't miss a thing. They'll be waiting for him and they'll be armed. He'll be arrested. You don't want us to do that here I'm sure.'

‘Oh, please no, for a whole lot of reasons but especially Mageen. Let the unfortunate girl enjoy the rest of her engagement party. I hate to think what this'll do to her. Noola and I will have to tell her in the morning. Good thing it's Saturday and everybody'll be around to help her through.'

‘I suggest you wait until I come back to you with whatever information we've found. We'll leave him to cool his heels for a while and, when we've been through the papers, we'll question him.'

‘I'm finding it hard to accept the implications of the whole thing. As Noola said, we've been such gullible eejits. I'd give a lot to be there when you question him.'

‘I know, Milo, but it would be totally against all the rules. However, we might arrange it that you could overhear some of it without been seen. As far as I can judge he's totally unsuspecting, but, just in case, I'm having him followed all the way back. I have a couple waiting casually up at the bus stop. They'll hop on the bus with him. He won't get away.'

In the end it was remarkably easy. Freddie was still feeling happy after all the champagne and he and Mageen strolled up the drive and waited for the last bus. They joined two others waiting there and when the bus came they kissed goodbye. It was the last time she ever saw him.

The bus pulled into the terminus at O'Connell Bridge. Freddie hopped off with a satisfied smirk on his face. Things had gone well and he was going to be able to regain some lost ground, to get his hands on a lot of Butler money. The fact that people had died in his earlier effort to achieve this didn't worry him in the slightest. The two plain-clothes detectives, posing as an ordinary looking couple, were close behind him. They pointed him out and he stepped straight into the path of two burly Garda.

‘We'd like you to come with us, Sir.'

‘
What?
'

‘We've got a car across the street and we'd like you to come with us to headquarters.'

‘What the hell are you talking about? I'm not going anywhere with you.'

‘We have a warrant for your arrest, Sir, so please come quietly.'

They showed him the warrant and he tried to make a run for it but they were ready for such a reaction and had him by the arms, hustling him across the street. He was no match for the two strong and determined men, who knew the bones of the story and especially that he might have been the ringleader of the gang that snatched the little girl, but at least was deeply involved. They weren't too gentle. He was thoroughly frisked then pushed into a cell and left for what was sometimes referred to as “the long wait”, but from his past experience he recognized this as a softening up strategy.

‘I want to know why I'm here and what the charge is.'

‘All in good time, Sir.'

‘I want a solicitor.'

‘Yes, Sir. Have you got one we can send for?'

‘No, but I want one.'

‘A good solicitor will be found for you.'

‘I want one now.'

‘No chance of finding one at this hour, Sir.'

Three hours later, in the small hours of the morning, he was taken to a formal interrogation room where Sean was waiting for him. The Garda pushed him in and took up positions either side of the door.

‘Ah! Sean Flynn,' he sneered. ‘Perhaps you'd be good enough to tell me what this is all about. I've been grabbed in the street and forcibly brought here and I would like to register my complaint in the strongest of terms. I want a solicitor and will be taking legal action against you and your force.'

‘Sit down, Mr Freddie Armstrong, but that's not your real name is it?'

‘What are you talking about?' he blustered. ‘You know
damn well
who I am. We've both come from the party celebrating my engagement to Mageen Butler.'

‘I know
damn well
you're not Freddie Armstrong, but we'll leave that for the moment. It's not the main issue here.'

‘Oh, and what
is
the main issue?'

‘Your involvement in the abduction of Izzy Butler and holding her to ransom.'

Freddie made a good show of bursting into derisive laughter.

‘Now we're in what they call the realms of fantasy. You can't find the ringleaders so you're clutching at straws. Poor Sean Flynn! Defeated in his search for those at the head of the organization, so he's conjuring up scapegoats, frightened at having to admit failure. What a joke! What possible grounds do you have for trying to pin anything on me?'

‘You gave yourself away. Isn't it interesting how those who think they've got away with a crime often become careless and make some small slip which betrays them.'

‘What the hell are you talking about?'

Freddie was putting on a good show but Sean, well used to interrogating the guilty, could hear the slight hint of uncertainty creeping into the voice and tiny beads of sweat starting to show in his upper lip.

‘Izzy suffers from dermatitis and other health worries.'

‘That's no secret.'

‘How did you come to know about that?'

‘Mageen has mentioned it a number of times. I remember references to it by others in the family. In fact her mother spoke about it during the evening.'

‘Saying exactly what?'

Now Freddie was genuinely puzzled.

‘She said how Izzy was much better. I had said I noticed the dermatitis had cleared up and the split lip had healed.'

‘And you mentioned her fits maybe disappearing too?'

‘Yes, and Mrs Butler said she hopes they too will go in time. Look, this is getting more and more ridiculous – talking about a child's ailments. Where's it all leading?'

‘How did you know Izzy suffers from fits?'

‘I've just told you. These health problems have been talked about openly in the family.'

‘No, Freddie. You see Izzy doesn't suffer from fits. She made that story up to create sympathy and worry amongst her captors. The only people she told about this were her parents and she swore them to secrecy because the poor kid thought it was a wicked thing to have done. True to their promise they never told another soul.'

The sweat beads grew and he lost some colour.

‘I don't believe a word of this. You're making it all up to pin something on me. You'll have to come up with better than that!'

‘There's only one way
you
could have known, Freddie. The abductors must have told you during one of their radio reports from their hideout.'

‘Radio reports! Hideout? More fantasy. Mageen
told me
.'

‘She couldn't have, Freddie. Even now she doesn't know about Izzy's pretence.'

‘I
remember
her talking about it. You need a scapegoat and you're just trying it on to make me confess to something I didn't do. I know all about this kind of police trickery.'

‘And how would you know that, Freddie?'

‘Everybody knows about it.'

‘Well, how interesting. I suggest you know about it because you've been through this kind of thing before.'

‘Rubbish! Trickery!' The level of the voice was rising, the tone much more aggressive. ‘Your evidence is far too flimsy to be accepted. So I suppose your bully boys, who dragged me here, will try to beat me into a confession of some sort?'

‘We don't use those tactics but anyhow, even if we did stoop to such methods, in your case we don't need them. Let's go into the room next door.'

Laid out on a table and carefully labelled were all the incriminating items which had been found in his room in college. The two detectives who had collected them were standing by and confirmed the source. Further denial was pointless, but he wasn't giving up that easily.

‘I've never seen any of this stuff before. You'll have to prove these items are mine.'

‘They were all found in your room. We do have a great collection of fingerprints and incriminating documents in
your
writing. And why would a student at university need a radio transmitter/receiver? One tuned to the wavelength used by the kidnappers. You see we did get their equipment, left with their van at Powerscourt. Denial is a waste of time. You do realize that the contents of this evidence will convict you of responsibility for the deaths of several people and abduction and incarceration of a young, delicate child. We still have the death penalty in Ireland and on the strength of this evidence, not least the kidnapping of Izzy, you will almost certainly be found guilty and condemned to hang by the neck until you're dead.'

That finally seemed to take all the bravado out of him.

‘I'm not saying any more until I have a solicitor.'

Sean turned to the other men present.

‘Take him back to his cell. There's no chance of finding a solicitor at this time of the night. We'll have to wait until the morning and try to find someone willing to take him on.'

The two men left the room. As Freddie followed, Sean, who had more acute hearing than most, distinctly heard him mutter, in what Freddie intended to be under his breath:

‘Bloody kid. Pity they didn't kill her off.'

Sean smiled to himself, pleased this vile creature realized that, when it came right down to it, he had been beaten by a clever little eleven-year-old girl.

* * * * *

Fortunately everyone had slept late so all were still at home on Saturday morning. Bill and Harry had been for a strenuous row and planned to go into town for the evening. A group of friends were celebrating exam successes together, intending to go dancing. Freddie and Mageen had arranged to meet for a special dinner in a prestigious restaurant. She floated around the house in a dream-like state, not quite sure what to do with herself. Noola and Milo watched in consternation. This evil creature had turned their clever, practical and normally down-to-earth daughter into a totally distracted girl, unable to think or talk about anything else at the moment. Conversations with her were now on one topic only. That morning in the kitchen, where, by tradition, Milo and Noola, and often other members of the family too, had coffee with Kitty and Mickeen, she had taken up this well-worn theme.

‘Oh, Mum, Dad. I love him so much! Isn't he wonderful? He's so clever and kind. I'm
so
glad that you like him. Everyone in the family seems to like him.'

Mageen didn't seem to notice that her parents' responses were less than enthusiastic. She had that special glow about her that often characterizes a girl in love; her cheeks flushed, her eyes sparkling. Beautiful at the best of times, she now looked stunning. How she had passed her exams was a mystery to them. They were seriously concerned for her sanity when she was told the truth.

‘You know she won't believe us, Milo.'

‘I know. That's why I think it's so important that it comes from Sean.'

‘It's a mercy we found out now and not after they were married.'

‘Doesn't bear thinking about.'

Shortly after midday Sean arrived.

‘It's basically positive news. With all the evidence we found we've actually got enough to convict him. We were hoping to get more out of him but he's demanded a solicitor before he says anything else, and he's entitled. In the meantime we're urgently following all the leads we've got so that we'll have further evidence and, with any luck, catch the whole group. Once a solicitor has been persuaded to take him on we'll be carrying on with the questioning. In fact I made sure I did the questioning myself. My men all know the story. Some of them helped in searching the mountains and the chemists and heard the way Izzy was treated. I couldn't have blamed them if they had been quite rough with him. Even now, in their custody, I wonder how he'll get on. But, in the circumstances, Milo, you won't be able to listen in I'm afraid.'

‘Fair enough. Perhaps it's just as well. I'd find it hard to keep my hands off him. But I'm quite surprised he was willing to talk at all. Surely he tried to plead ignorance?'

‘Yes, he did, but the evidence against him was too strong. He said it was all a “set-up” and became really aggressive, but finally backed down when I pointed out to him that we still have capital punishment in the Republic and that, given the evidence of his many crimes, he would probably be condemned to hang by his neck until dead. Doesn't sound so great, does it? Then came the demand for the solicitor to be present before he was willing to say any more. I imagine he's hoping for what the Americans call “plea bargaining” – leniency in exchange for the full facts.'

‘I wonder what the story is? Where does he fit into the whole picture? Is he one of the leaders of whatever gang it is or just one of their pawns? We really do want to know whatever you find out. Aside from his crime against Izzy we're now going to have a really heartbroken Mageen. What an appalling thing to happen to her. Two of our children! I still want to kill him. Maybe some day I'll get the chance and I won't hesitate, Sean, I can promise you that!'

* * * * *

Milo and Noola decided to ask Maggie to be with them when the news was broken to Mageen. Maggie had lost two men she had loved deeply and was bound to have so much sympathy for what her granddaughter would be feeling. She, of all people, would be able to relate to what Mageen was going to have to live and cope with. What was more, she and Mageen were devoted to each other – as thick as thieves. They all knew that shock would be a huge initial factor.

Maggie, for once, was speechless for a few seconds when the news was broken to her.

‘Are you absolutely sure? I mean could there not be some dreadful mistake, Sean?'

‘'Fraid not, Maggie. There's no doubt whatsoever. We've all the evidence we need.'

‘I can't believe it. But then how much did we really know Freddie?'

‘I've been thinking about that and the answer is not a lot. Only what he chose to feed us and we believed him.'

‘But we'd no reason not to, Noola.'

‘Perhaps we really are gullible, Milo.'

‘I disagree with you there, Noola darlin'. We're not automatically suspicious of everyone who comes to the house. We trust people and I don't think we should stop doing that. We need to be a bit more careful in future. That's all.'

Just off the main large sitting room was a small room which was used as a kind of den. At Milo's request, a fire had been lit in the big grate there, creating an intimate atmosphere. He brought along some champagne left in the fridge from the evening before, and they assembled there, himself, Sean and Maggie, while Noola went to find Mageen.

‘Champagne, Milo? We're not exactly celebrating!'

‘No, Maggie, but it's very good for dealing with shock. Ask Paddy!'

* * * * *

Mageen was told the whole story, with Sean describing to her the irrefutable evidence of Freddie's guilt. Knowing she would reject what he said, he had taken the precaution of bringing some items with him, including paper evidence written in Freddie's very distinctive handwriting. He did it as gently as he possibly could in the circumstances but, as they suspected, there was no way he could let her down lightly. Fortunately she was sitting down, otherwise her legs might have given way. At first, much as Sean had predicted, she refused adamantly to accept Freddie's guilt.