Read Online A Turn for the Bad by Sheila Connolly - Free Book Online Page B

it.”
    Gillian parked on the street. Maura was out of the car as soon as it stopped moving, and strode quickly toward Sullivan’s. She felt everyone’s eyes on her, but she didn’t say anything until she’d opened the door and led the men into thedark interior. She turned on as many lights as she could find, to ward off the gloom of the day. Then she slid behind the bar and turned to face the still-silent crowd. Their expressions ranged from fear to hope. Did they seriously think she knew anything more than they did? But they seemed to be expecting something from her. She cleared her throat.
    â€œI’ve been told that the body of a man was found in the water. I don’t know where or by who, and if he’s been identified, the gardaí haven’t given out his name. Whether they know it and they’re trying to get it confirmed or whether they really don’t know who it is, I can’t tell you. I was told the body was in poor condition and had been in the water for a bit. In either case they took it—him—to Cork University Hospital for a postmortem, so we should know more later today. And that’s all I know,” Maura finished, and waited for the reaction.
    The people in the crowd shrank into themselves, just a little. Maura wondered if they were going to leave, since she had no hard news to offer them. “I can’t serve you yet, but do you want coffee? Tea?”
    â€œCoffee’d be grand, if it’s no trouble,” said someone she couldn’t see at the back of the crowd.
    â€œComing up.” Maura turned to start up the coffee machine.
    Gillian came up behind her. “Need some help? When’s your crew coming in?”
    Maura looked at her watch and was surprised to find that it was barely nine thirty. Keeping her eyes on setting up the coffee, she said in a low voice, “Not until ten, and not all of them. Unless, of course, they’ve heard what we heard. If you could set out some mugs, it would be a big help.”
    â€œI’ll take care of it,” Gillian said, and set to work efficiently.Maura wondered how much waitressing she’d done in Dublin when the art wasn’t paying well.
    As the morning wore on, the tension became even thicker than it had been the day before. Mick arrived shortly before ten and seemed to know about the body already, although he had nothing to add. Jimmy and Rose appeared just past eleven, but they’d heard nothing, so Maura explained what they’d learned that morning. Gillian had retrieved the fresh fish from the car and stowed it in a refrigerator behind the bar, and stayed on. Most of the customers didn’t appear to be going anywhere, although they weren’t buying much. The dark and dreary weather didn’t help, and Maura lit a fire again to brighten the space and fight off some of the damp. When Billy came in, closer to noon, he made a beeline for it.
    Maura carried a pint over to him and sat down. “You’ve heard?”
    â€œI have.” He nodded.
    â€œI know nobody
has
to tell us anything, but I wish they would,” Maura said glumly.
    â€œThey’ll want to be careful now, with the body,” Billy said gently.
    â€œWell, I’m sure they don’t want to give the wife any false hope,” Maura acknowledged. “Does this kind of thing happen often around here? I mean, finding bodies in the water? With fishing accidents and that kind of thing?”
    â€œOften enough. It’s not an easy living, the fishin’. The weather’s uncertain and it can change in a minute. The boats get old and things break. As I told yeh before, not all the men can swim. In some ways it’s better now than it was—more fancy equipment to find the fish. Or so I’m told—I haven’t seen itmeself, though I know it’s costly. But that’s not the whole picture. This global warmin’ stuff they keep tellin’ us about on the