Five Dead Canaries

‘I told you to keep out of it, Di,’ he snarled.

‘It’s better for everyone if I just go,’ said Niall.

‘Yes, it is,’ added Maureen.

‘I don’t want to cause any problems for you all. I’m on the run. If I’m caught on your property, you could face a spell in prison yourself.’

Qui

‘It’s why you came to us, isn’t it?’ he asked, clapping his nephew on the shoulder. ‘You knew that you could rely on us.’

‘Niall only came to get something,’ said Maureen. ‘He hid a gun here.’

Diane gasped. ‘A gun!’

‘They’re after me,’ said Niall. ‘I need to defend myself. It was hidden under the floor in the garden shed. I nailed the wood back down again.’

‘This changes everything, Eamo

‘Calm down,’ ordered Qui

‘Get him out of here, that’s all I ask.’

‘P’raps it would be all for the best,’ said Niall.

He stiffened as he heard a car draw to a halt outside the house. His hand went instinctively to the gun. Maureen drew back the curtain to peep out.

‘It’s Inspector Marmion and the sergeant,’ she said.

Qui

Shutting them into the living room, he went to the front door. As soon as he heard a knock, he flung it open and blocked the doorway with arms folded.

‘Can’t you give us a moment of peace?’ he demanded.

‘We’d like to speak to Maureen, please,’ said Marmion. ‘And before you tell me that she’s gone to bed, I should warn you that we saw her clearly when she pulled back the curtain just now.’

‘You can’t talk to her.’

‘You can’t stop us, Mr Qui

‘What are you going to do?’ challenged the Irishman.

‘Well, if you continue to refuse us entry, I’ll ask Sergeant Keedy to arrest you on a charge of obstructing police officers in the execution of their duty. That will mean a night in custody for you and an appearance in court.’ Marmion gave him a meaningful stare. ‘Do you really want that to happen?’

Qui

‘You can talk to her for five minutes but one of us must be present.’

‘I won’t have a time limit set on it,’ said Marmion, ‘but I’m happy for a parent to be present. Given the subject, I suggest that it’s Mrs Qui

After further protest, Qui

‘You travelled to and from work with Agnes Collier,’ began Marmion.

‘That’s right, Inspector.’

‘Did she talk a lot?’

‘Agnes never stopped talking.’

‘Did she ever say anything about Florrie Duncan?’

‘Of course,’ replied Maureen. ‘She was our friend.’

‘I’m wondering if she mentioned her suspicion to you,’ said Marmion. ‘You see, the sergeant had a conversation with Mrs Radcliffe.’

‘I did,’ said Keedy, taking his cue, ‘and she told me what her daughter had told her. Agnes had the feeling that Florrie might be pregnant.’

‘Never!’ protested Diane, horrified at the idea.

‘Did Agnes say anything about it to you, Maureen?’

‘It can’t be true. Florrie was such a sensible woman.’

‘Let your daughter answer, Mrs Qui

All three of them turned their gaze on Maureen. She wilted slightly.

‘It’s not a difficult question,’ said Keedy.

‘If she’d told her mother,’ reasoned Marmion, ‘we felt certain that Agnes would have told you as well. Did she?’

‘Yes,’ admitted Maureen, shyly.

‘What did she say?’

‘Agnes saw her being sick one morning and … there were other things.’

‘This is quite unseemly, Inspector,’ said Diane, hotly. ‘My daughter shouldn’t have to talk about it.’

‘There are only two things we wished to know, Mrs Qui

‘No, she didn’t,’ said Maureen.

‘Did he work at the factory?’

‘I can’t say. Agnes only saw them together once.’

‘How did she describe him?’

Before Maureen could answer, her sister interrupted her. Ru

‘Come quickly, Daddy. Niall is climbing out of the window!’

Niall Qui

He barely heard Lily’s shout inside the house. He was too busy dropping from the window ledge. Landing awkwardly, he twisted his ankle and had to rub it before hobbling off towards the fence at the bottom of the garden.

Marmion and Keedy had reacted like lightning. Flinging open the door, they’d pushed Qui

The inspector, meanwhile, descended the stairs to face Eamo

‘You’ve got a lot to answer for, sir.’ he warned.

‘He wasn’t here to stay,’ insisted Qui

‘You obviously didn’t learn your lesson.’

‘We didn’t ask him to come back, Inspector. I swear it.’

‘But you went to visit him in Frongoch.’

‘That was my sister’s idea. She wrote from Dublin and begged me to see how he was getting on. Niall has always been a bit wild.’

Diane and Maureen joined the two men from the living room. Conscious that she may have done the wrong thing, Lily threw herself into her mother’s arms.

‘My husband is telling the truth,’ said Diane. ‘Eamo

‘I heard a noise in the garden,’ explained Maureen. ‘When I went to see what had caused it, Niall jumped out on me. He said that he hadn’t meant us to know that he’d come and gone. He was only here to collect something.’

‘What was it?’ asked Marmion.

‘He hid it in the shed the last time he was here.’

‘Was it more equipment to make bombs?’