Read Online Murder in Ballyhasset by Noreen Mayer - Free Book Online

I don't know about as yet. She sighed.

Chapter 10
    Libby called out to Mick Doody's house on the following Friday, in the morning. He answered the door and showed her into the warm, bright kitchen. 'I'm doing a bit of my own cooking,' he said. 'Just while my housekeeper is on holiday.'
    Libby noticed his hands covered in flour and the table full of dirty pots. A spicy smell wafted from the oven as she took a seat.
    She said, with embarrassment, 'I have to ask you this. Was your wife ever unfaithful?'
    'No, never,' Mick said, with a frown.
    'What about Dr Shane Collins?'
    'Never heard of him.' Mick stared at her defiantly, with his arms folded.
    Libby remained silent for a few moments. Either he doesn't know or he's lying, she thought. Either way he's keeping his mouth closed, he won't tell me anymore.
    'Pamela Kelly said Kathleen bullied her at work,' she said.
    'I don't believe that.' He clenched his jaw.
    'Pamela has no reason to lie,' Libby added.
    'Sometimes Kathleen could get overheated, but only if she felt someone was idling.'
    'Pamela worked hard,' Libby said, 'so Doctor Raman says, anyway. Kathleen still gave her a hard time.'
    'Kathleen worked really hard, and she expected everyone else to do the same. She got up very early, she came home late. She studied even during the weekends. Kathleen was totally dedicated to her work. She was completely honest.'
    'That's not exactly what I heard,' she said, knowing she sounded a bit harsh.
    The planning officer glared at her. 'I've lost my best friend.' His jaw tightened. 'I can't listen to you insulting Kathleen.'
    'You hired us to find out who killed her.' Libby's face reddened. 'So that's what we're doing. Pamela didn't like Kathleen, I'm just telling you why.'
    'I hardly think Pamela was responsible for killing her, do you?' He sneered at Libby. 'She wouldn't be capable. She's just a silly fool.'
    She frowned. 'I thought you didn't know Pamela well?'
    'I don't,' he replied, 'I've only met her a few times.'
    Then how do you know she's a fool? Libby wondered silently. Pamela managed to qualify as a doctor, so she must be bright. She said, ‘Have you remembered anything else since we last spoke, anything that might give someone a reason for murder?'
    'Like what?' He gazed at her blankly while placing one of the dirty pots in the sink.
    'How about her past? Any family feuds or fights over money, shameful secrets.' She paused, thinking. 'Weird relatives, anything like that?'
    He shrugged. 'No, sorry, I can't think of any.'
    'Someone must have hated Kathleen to kill her so brutally,' Libby said sharply.
    'Kathleen had a fairly normal family.' He remained silent for a while. 'Except of course, her parents died when she was twelve. They died in a plane crash.'
    'How awful.' Libby grimaced. 'What happened to her after that?'
    'She and her sister went to live with their aunt.'
    'That must have been tough for her, for them both.'
    'I guess so. Kathleen never spoke much about it.' Mick cleared the rest of the pots from the table. He placed them in the sink and filled it with water.
    'Did you both date for long before you got married?' Libby asked.
    He sighed. 'Ten years, and I knew her long before that. I lived down the road from her.'
    Libby looked at him with curiosity. 'Where were you born?'
    'Glenealy, it's a town in Wicklow full of rocky hills, very pretty.'
    'I know it, a beautiful little place.' Libby smiled.
    'I spent all my childhood there. So did Kathleen. We were both Protestants. Well, I still am, of course. There's very few of us genuine Protestants left in the village.'
    Libby replied, 'Everyone knows everyone else, in a small village. Just like here in Ballyhasset.'
    He nodded. 'We all used to stand outside the church on a Sunday to gossip.'
    'Was there a good community spirit, then?' she asked.
    He smiled. 'Plenty of busybodies, anyway. They arrange garden fetes and Friday night bingo.' He looked up at a clock that stood on the wall, put on oven gloves, and took out