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‘But why did Jimmy want to see
me
the other night?’ frowned Kate in confusion.

‘Because he was
going to double-cross this guy!’ retorted Madelyn, ‘He was going to take his money and then keep your stuff anyway!  I think he was going to sell you your stuff back, to increase his profit from the whole scheme.  At least, he’d have
offered
to sell it back to you, but if he found another buyer for any of it he’d have double-crossed you too.’

‘Charming guy you picked,’ muttered Kate, unable to help herself.

Madelyn just shrugged, not seeming inclined to argue, and continued, ‘Only, as usual, his scheme didn’t work, and this time Jimmy ended up in the water.  With a knife in him.’

She started silently crying and
Kate slid up along the sofa to sit beside her, taking her cold, thin hand in both of hers and making small, meaningless sounds of comfort.  But inside she was in turmoil; who would pay to have her tatty old case stolen?  After some moments of silence she said, ‘I think it was all some sort of mistake.  There was nothing in that case worth killing for.’

Madelyn shook her head, tears running down her face, ‘Someone thinks there was.’

This was inarguable so Kate instead asked, ‘What did Jimmy do with my stuff?’

‘I don’t know.  He rarely brought anything he stole back here.  The police were always sniffing around
and picking him up so it was too risky.  Like I said, he had his own flat too but he wasn’t stupid enough to leave anything valuable there either.’  She gave Kate a watery smile, ‘Too many thieves about.  He always stored his takings somewhere but I don’t know where.  All I have is your case.  That he
did
bring here, to try and figure out why it was so valuable.’

Kate’s heart leapt in sudden joy, ‘You have my briefcase?’

The girl’s too-thin face lit up in reflection of Kate’s joy and she nodded, ‘It’s in the bedroom.  I’ll go get it.’  She vanished into the hallway and returned a moment later with Kate’s old black accordion-style case, tears still streaking her cheeks.  ‘I wish I had your other stuff too but this will have to do.  I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be silly. 
You
didn’t steal my things and you are
giving me my case back.  Thank you,’ said Kate gratefully, taking it from her and examining it.  It was even more battered than it had been because the strap-lock had been forced open but she didn’t care.  And the contents seemed intact, though that was even less important to her.

She smiled at Madelyn
and reached out to touch her arm, ‘This is all I really cared about.  The other things were only worth money, but this was my mother’s and means a lot to me.  It’s about all I have left of her.’

The girl’s face cleared a little
and her bowed shoulders straightened slightly, as if responsibility for her boyfriend’s crime had been weighing her down.  As perhaps it was; junkie or not, she didn’t seem the criminal type.  Kate felt so relieved to have the precious, worthless old thing back that she felt she should pay the girl a reward.  It was ridiculous, since it was hers to begin with, but that was how she felt.

She sat and thought for a moment or two before saying, ‘Is there anythin
g else you can tell me about this man who supposedly hired Jimmy?  Anything at all?’

Madelyn shook her
head, ‘He didn’t tell me much.  I figured out most of what I told you myself.’  She twisted her lips into a bitter, angry
moue
, ‘Jimmy didn’t trust anyone, including me.’

He probably judged others by his own standards,
Kate thought but did not say.  Personally she was far from sharing the girl’s despair.  Her mind was racing, and a sudden brainwave was filling her with excitement.  She had it;
she knew the answer. 
Her book!  That stupid damned book on sex offenders that she couldn’t finish, and probably never would!  There was a killer in there, she believed, and a man who had already murdered at least three girls would not hesitate to kill the likes of Jimmy Shiels.  Not to protect his identity.  She shivered slightly; he wouldn’t hesitate to murder
her
either.  In fact, he would probably enjoy it.  But then she cheered up as she reflected that she was in no danger as George Meagher didn’t know she had her briefcase back.  And if she had her way he never would either.  She frowned to herself; on the other hand the mysterious stranger hadn’t come after her himself; he had paid someone else to do it, and had only killed Jimmy when backed into a corner.  And that did not sound like the actions of a homicidal psychopath who
enjoyed
killing.  She shook her head; there was an anomaly there somewhere but she would have to puzzle it out later.

Kate was ready to go
but still hesitated.  And at length she asked, ‘What are you going to do now?’

‘Ge
t out of here before whoever killed Jimmy comes looking for me,’ said Madelyn fretfully, her eyes darting about as if expecting an assassin to burst into the room at any moment, ‘He might think I have that case, and kill me to get it.’

‘W
here will you go?’

‘London,’ said Madelyn with finality, ‘I can’t go home and I can’t stay here so there’s nowhere else
for
me to go.’

‘Listen,’ said Kate gently, ‘You might not think it but your fa
mily would probably be delighted to have you back home.  I’ve seen it again and again; girls who’ve done foolish things and who are afraid to go home, certain they’ll be turned away.  And they’re nearly always wrong. No matter
wha
t
they’ve done their parents are usually overjoyed to have them safely home.’

The girl grimaced and wrapped her thin arms protectively around herself, ‘Not
my
parents.  A junkie daughter,
maybe
.  Just maybe.  But not a junkie daughter carrying Jimmy Shiels’ baby.  Have you ever seen a baby born already addicted to heroin?’

‘Oh,’ said Kate, taken aback
.  She paused for a minute, ‘Well, you know them better than me, but most people are surprised by just how understanding their parents can be, when it comes down to it.’ 
Some parents, anyway.
  ‘Anyway, have a think about it.  What have you got to lose?  Even if they tell you to get lost you’ll be no worse off than you are now.  Or if you prefer I have a friend who works in a detox clinic; he can give you professional help with your addiction.  Not in London, though; in Oxford.  After all, what will you do in London if you’re still on drugs?’

Madelyn gave Kate a
look that made her suddenly far older than her years, ‘What do you
think
I’ll do?  What else
can
I do?  It’s not like I have a range of skills in demand on the jobs market.  Girls like me always end up the same way.  It’s the only way we can earn enough to...’  She shrugged her narrow shoulders hopelessly, unable to go on.

Kate’s lips set in a hard line and she reached into her handbag.  It might be foolish
, and a waste of money, but if there was the slightest chance of saving this girl she didn’t mind making a fool of herself.  She wrote a cheque for two thousand euros and handed it to her, saying, ‘Here.  It isn’t a fortune but it’s enough to make a fresh start with.  You can get a decent flat somewhere else, where no one knows you, and it’ll keep you going until you get help from the Social Welfare.  Somewhere safely away from Dublin, or even in London if you’re dead set on going there.  And this is the phone number of my friend who lives in Oxford; he can help you get into a detox program.  He can help your baby, too.’

She paused for a moment before continuing in the sa
me even tone, ‘Or you can spend the money on drugs and kill yourself and your baby.  Or end up on the game anyway.  It’s up to you.  In the end, it always is.’

The girl didn’t thank her for the money, didn’t say anything at all.  She just started crying again, harder than before, a little sympathy and help affecting her more deep
ly than privation and fear had.

Kate
patted her shoulder sympathetically before standing up. ‘Think about it.  You can get help if you want it.  For your baby’s sake if not your own.’

A chastened
Kate left the flat, saddened by the girl’s plight, and by her prospects for the future.  To say nothing of those of her unfortunate, unborn baby.  She was not hopeful of the girl seeking help; she had seen pregnant junkies before, and even the most powerful emotion on earth, a mother’s love, hadn’t been enough to make them change their lives.  But there was always a chance.  As she had told Madelyn; in the end it was up to her.  Kate could do no more, and in any case had her own problems to worry about.  Like having a maniac on her trail who would pay to have an unpublished,
unfinished,
book stolen in case there was something in it that incriminated him.  And who would kill the person who withheld it from him.

    It took Kate forty minutes or so to get home, time she spent endlessly replaying her meeting with Madelyn over and over in her head.  But rack her brains though she might all roads led back to George Meagher; who else would pay for the contents of her briefcase?  When she reached her flat she deliberately put the whole matter to one side, clearing her mind by getting to work preparing her lectures for the following week.  Hunger alone eventually stopped her, and she was rummaging fruitlessly in her almost bare kitchen for something to eat when her problem was solved by Michael Riordan ringing yet again to invite her to dinner.  Kate thought very hard, albeit quickly, before accepting.  But accept she did.  The reaction –even revulsion- she had felt against him after sleeping with him that first night had faded, and she had come to the conclusion that it was foolish to avoid a man she was attracted to, even if said attraction was intermittent.  And if she wasn’t certain how much she liked him, she was certain that she wanted to find out, one way or another.  So it was that by eight o’clock that evening they were sitting together in an Indian restaurant midway between their respective apartments, eating poppadoms in a silence that was not quite companionable but which was not totally awkward either.

After they ordered
Michael tried to lighten her mood by regaling her with a scandalous, not to mention slanderous, tale about one of his fellow T.D.’s, a public toilet in Government House, and an adventurous young lady from Carlow.  But after he delivered the punch line to a blank silence he sighed and said, ‘All right, Kate, what’s the matter?’

She forced a quick smile, ‘Sorry.  I guess I’m just not in the mood for small talk.’

His pale blue eyes held hers, a thoughtful expression knitting his brows, ‘How about some big talk, then?  You’re clearly distracted, and my ego demands it be something important that’s making you ignore my witty banter.  So come on, tell me what’s wrong.’

It was her turn to sigh, ‘It’s a very long story.’

‘Well, the service here is very slow!’ he retorted humorously, ‘A long story might be just the thing to turn our minds away from thoughts of possible starvation.’  Then, more seriously, ‘I want to know, really.  I might even be able to help.’

Kate massaged her forehead with her hand,
her elbow on the table and her gaze on the snowy tablecloth.  ‘I think I know why I was burgled.’

Michael sat back, his eyes searching
her face intently.  And at length he said, ‘Interesting choice of words.  Most people would say,
I think I know
who
burgled me.
’

Kate looked at him a little blankly, ‘Oh, I know
who
burgled me all right.  It was your old pal Jimmy Shiels.  How’s that for a coincidence?  But it wasn’t an ordinary burglary.  Someone
paid
him to break into my flat and steal my stuff.  Or at least, they offered him two thousand quid for his haul.  Except I think the only thing they actually wanted was my briefcase.’

After an
open-mouthed silence he smiled incredulously and said, ‘That’s a very valuable briefcase.  I do hope it’s insured?’

Kate sighed again, ‘I mean the
contents
of my briefcase, obviously.  I know it sounds ridiculous but please don’t laugh.  Anyway, Shiels didn’t hand over the case to his mysterious employer; instead he kept it and tried a little blackmail.  And that’s why he was killed.’

‘Killed?’ Michael spluttered, almost choking on a mouthful of wine, ‘
Kate, what are you talking about?  This guy was
killed
?’

‘Sorry, didn’t I say?  Yeah, h
e was found floating in the Grand Canal, stabbed to death.  I spoke to his girlfriend and she said he had been paid to burgle me, but had later refused to hand his haul over to the guy who hired him.  Instead he tried to up his fee, whereupon this guy murdered him.’

Michael laughed outright, ‘Oh, come on, Kate!  Do you know how silly this all sounds?  It’s like something straight out of Hollywood!  And maybe if we were in America I could believe it, but this is Dublin!  And sorry, but things like that just don’t happen in Ireland.’