A Case Of Murder (Kendall Book 6) (23 page)

Kendall was about to respond when the waitress returned with their meal. She placed the dishes on to the table, wished them a pleasant evening, and left.

Kendall watched until she reached the door leading into the kitchen. He then looked at Mollie, and shook his head. “I don’t get it, why should he lie?”

“Well I’m not altogether surprised about O’Rourke,” said Mollie. “If it suited him he’d lie about his own mother. But Mallory, well that’s something else.”

“I agree,” said Kendall. “But what is he hiding? What isn’t he telling me?”

Mollie shook her head. “I don’t know,” she replied. “But I still think he’s the one who was helping Brian Charters.”

Kendall sighed loudly. “Well if he was, and I said if, he has a funny way of showing it. I mean why would he lie to us? Surely he would want to help.”

“Let’s ask him,” Mollie suggested.

Kendall nodded. “We’ll call on him on Wednesday,” he said. “That’s when he’s due back from his latest business trip.”

“Should we give Catherine a call to make an appointment?” asked Mollie.

Kendall thought for a few moments, and then shook his head. “No, we’ll surprise him,” he replied. He smiled and reached for the coffee pot. “More coffee?”

* * *

Chapter Thirty

The Boys Make a Discovery

The following morning Kendall and Mollie had just finished breakfast, when the dining room door opened, and in came Moira, the young waitress. “I’m sorry to bother you, sir, but there are two young boys outside,” she said. “They want to see you. I told them to go away, but they won’t go.”

Kendall shook his head. “They want to see me,” he said. “Are you sure?”

Moira smiled and nodded. “That’s what they said.”

Kendall heaved a sigh and looked at Mollie. “Best send them in then,” she said.

A few minutes later the dining room door opened once again, and Moira returned with Michael and Alan. They were looking very pleased with themselves.

“Hi guys,” Kendall called over. “Good to see you, again. Come on over.”

The two boys walked over to Kendall and Mollie.

“Take a seat,” Kendall said. The two boys sat down. “Would you like anything?” he asked. “Coffee, or something stronger perhaps.”

“Moira, two cokes for our guests,” Mollie interrupted. “And some cream cakes would be good.”

Kendall watched as Moira moved towards the kitchen. “So guys what can we do for you?” he asked once she was out of sight.

“We’ve found something,” announced Michael excitedly.

“A box,” explained Alan. “A wooden box.”

“Pirate treasure no doubt,” said Kendall. There was a sudden sharp pain in his left knee. He looked at Mollie. She glared back.

“Did you open it?” Mollie asked.

Alan nodded.

“And .....” coaxed Kendall.

“It was full of small white bags,” said Michael.

“Hundreds of them,” added Alan.

Michael looked at him and shook his head. He looked back at Kendall. “Take no notice of him,” he said, glaring at Alan. “There were about twelve I reckon. No more than fifteen.” He paused and reached inside a plastic carrier bag. “That’s one of them.” He handed it to Kendall.

The package was small, and held closed by a short length of pull cord. Kendall untied the cord, and opened the bag. Inside was a white powder. Kendall knew exactly what it was. Nonetheless he collected a small sample on to his finger. He then held his finger tip to his mouth. “Heroin,” he announced. “And good quality as well.”

He then re-secured the bag. “Does anyone else know about them?” he asked. Michael shook his head. “Good,” said Kendall. “Not a word about it to anyone, you hear?” He placed the package into his jacket pocket.

At that moment Moira returned with the drinks and the cakes. She placed them on to the table, smiled and returned to the kitchen.

“I’ll hang on to that one,” Kendall continued as soon as Moira was out of sight.

Michael looked puzzled. “But aren’t you going to tell the police?”

Kendall nodded. “Oh yes, we are certainly going to tell them, don’t worry about that. But I want you to keep an eye on that wooden box. I want to see if anyone comes looking for it. Just put the rest back where you found them.”

Michael nodded. As he did so O’Rourke came out of the kitchen and walked over to where Kendall and Mollie were seated.

Kendall held a finger across his lips. “Don’t say anything,” he mouthed to the boys. They made no response apart from a slight nod of their heads.

“Hello lads, and what are you doing here?” O’Rourke asked the two boys. “Shouldn’t you be at school? Does your mother know where you are?”

“She knows,” Alan replied. “And there’s no school today.”

O’Rourke nodded. “Right you are, but I hope you’re not disturbing Mr. Kendall and Miss Adams here now.”

“It’s alright,” interjected Kendall. “They’re no bother.”

“See that you’re not,” O’Rourke said looking at the boys, and wagging his finger at them.

“We met them down at the Cove,” Molly explained. “They showed us some of the things that they had found.”

“Shells,” Kendall quickly added. “Sea shells. They have built up quite a collection.”

Michael immediately opened up his carrier bag once again, and took out three small shells. He placed them on to the table. “We found them today,” he announced proudly. “What do you think?”

Clearly O’Rourke wasn’t that interested in crustaceous remains. He heaved a sigh, and looked at Kendall. “So is there anything else I can get you?” he asked.

Kendall shook his head. “Nothing for me,” he said. He looked at Mollie. “Anything for you?”

Mollie shook her head. “No, I’ll just finish this coffee, then maybe we’ll take a stroll. It’s not a bad morning.”

O’Rourke smiled, and walked away. Kendall watched until O’Rourke had returned to the kitchen. “Okay guys I think we’ve finished our little bit of business. You get back home now. Keep an eye to that cave won’t you?”

Michael nodded. “Will do,” he replied.

“You can rely on us,” added Alan.

“Good lad,” said Kendall. “But don’t let anyone see you.”

“We won’t,” said Alan.

Kendall put his finger up to his mouth. “It’ll be our little secret,” he said. “And I’ll certainly be paying a visit to the police tomorrow. I’ll let you know what they say.”

The two boys stood up. “Be seeing you then, Mr. Kendall,” said Michael. He turned to face Mollie. “Goodbye Miss.”

Mollie smiled and nodded.

“Keep in touch,” said Kendall. “And don’t forget. Our little secret.”

Michael smiled. “Will do.” Then he and Alan walked towards the exit. As they got to the doorway they turned and waved, then opened the door and were gone.

* * *

Mollie shook her head as she watched the boys leave the room. “You know I’m puzzled,” she said. “I just can’t understand why a dealer would leave those packets in a damp cave like that. I mean they must be worth a lot of money.”

“They probably are,” replied Kendall. “Neither can I, but you know I don’t think the dealer did leave them there. Not the main dealer that is. I doubt if he knew anything about them, except maybe that they were missing.”

“What do you mean?” Mollie asked.

Kendall heaved a sigh. “Well it seems to me that perhaps there was a bit of private enterprise going on,” he started to explain.

Mollie was none the wiser. “I don’t understand,” she replied.

“I mean, someone was clearly going into business for themselves,” Kendall continued to explain. “Helping themselves to a few packages, to pass on later.”

“You mean the man who was found dead on the beach,” said Mollie. Kendall nodded. “Are you saying that he was bringing the drugs into the Country?”

Kendall shook his head. “No, I’m not saying that at all,” he replied. “But what I am saying is that he may have worked for someone who was, and perhaps just helped himself to a small share.”

“Do we know who that someone is?” asked Mollie.

“The main dealer you mean?” Kendall replied, shaking his head once again. “No we don’t, more’s the pity,” he replied. “But there is that address on that envelope that was found in his pocket. Anglo-Irish Commodities. That might be worth investigating.”

“But we still don’t know why he was killed,” said Mollie sounding disappointed.

“No we don’t,” Kendall agreed, shaking his head once more. “But clearly drugs are involved somewhere.

“Perhaps it was a dissatisfied customer,” suggested Mollie. “The merchandise not up to expectation, something like that.”

“Could be,” replied Kendall, far from convinced. “But if he was branching out, going it alone so to speak, then what?”

“Well the people that he worked for wouldn’t be too pleased would they?” suggested Mollie.

“That’s right, they wouldn’t, and that would be a pretty good reason for killing him I would say,” Kendall replied.

“So who was the murderer?” Mollie asked.

Kendall smiled. “I wish I knew.”

Mollie wasn’t to be put off. “But you have an idea,” she replied. “A hunch maybe, a gut feeling.”

Kendall shook his head, and heaved a sigh. He was about to reply when he heard a noise coming from the kitchen area. He put his finger to his lips. “O’Rourke,” he whispered pointing to the door. He stood up. “How about that stroll you mentioned?”

Good idea, said Mollie. “I’ll get my coat.

* * *

Ten minutes later Kendall and Mollie were walking along the High Street, in the direction of the park. It had suddenly turned cold, and Kendall pulled his coat over. “I thought you said that it wasn’t a bad morning,” he said looking up at the sky. It was dull and overcast.

“Well it’s not raining is it?” Mollie said. Kendall said nothing but merely grunted. “Anyway, let’s get back to our discussion shall we. Who do you think is the murderer?”

Kendall said nothing, but heaved a sigh. “Well If I was being pushed to give an answer, my guess would be the drug dealer himself, the main man,” Kendall replied. “Or at least he – or she – gave orders for someone else to carry out the killing.”

“So who is the main man?” Mollie asked.

Kendall shook his head. “Good question.”

“Come on now, speak up,” Mollie coaxed. You think its O’Rourke don’t you?”

Kendall started to frown, and heaved another sigh. “Did I say that?”

Mollie smiled and shook her head. “No you didn’t, but you must admit that it’s quite possible.”

“Okay, I admit it’s possible,” Kendall replied, shrugging his shoulders. “It could be O’Rourke, but it could also be those two fishermen, you know who I mean, or it could have been Lynch, or even Mallory.”

“Alright so we know why he was killed,” said Mollie. “But why bring him ashore. Why not kill him and then just dump him out at sea?”

“That’s another excellent question,” said Kendall. “I’m guessing now, but perhaps it was meant as a warning to someone, someone here in Killmacud.”

“A warning,” repeated Mollie. “A warning about what?”

“To keep your hands off of the merchandise,” said Kendall. “Don’t even think about going into business for yourself.”

“Okay I can see that, but why here?” asked Mollie. “I mean nothing happens here.”

“That’s right,” said Kendall “Nothing ever happens here, not since that German sailor was washed up on to the shore, seventy odd years ago.”

“Yes it’s not the most exciting place on earth is it,” agreed Mollie.

“Do you remember what Lynch said the other night?” asked Kendall

“About the cinema you mean?”

“Yes that’s right,” replied Kendall. “There’s not much else around here, the nearest cinema is thirty miles away, and that’s about it.”

“I remember,” said Mollie “So it’s either O’Rourke’s, or the old box I’m afraid.”

“Precisely, that’s why here, because it is so quiet, nothing happens here.” Kendall fell silent for a moment. “So it had to be something big, not just a simple murder. It had to be much more than that. And that warning was meant for someone right here in the town.”

Mollie made no reply. A sudden thought had occurred to her. “So perhaps no one knows about those packages lying there in that box, in the cave,” she said. “Perhaps only the victim knew until now.”

Kendall hadn’t considered that possibility, but it was certainly a valid point.
If he had stolen the packages then it was quite likely that he had hidden them, and it was possible that no one else knew about them.

Then Kendall remembered something. He nodded his head, slowly. “But someone else did know about the drugs,” he said. “Possibly not those in the cave, our Turkish friend was probably the only one who knew about them, but someone else knew about the drugs, that’s for sure, they had to know.”

“Why do you say that?” Mollie asked.

“Remember what the police said,” Kendall started to explain. “They said that they had found two packages at Charters’ home.”

Mollie remembered. “That’s right,” she agreed. “So who put them there?”

“That’s another very good question,” said Kendall. “I wish I knew the answer. But it certainly wasn’t Mr. Nadir was it? Either way I better tell Donovan about the drugs, and the police can take them away.

* * *