‘So did plenty of others.’
‘True, but how many of them had access to bomb-making equipment? Not Melissa, not Sophie, not …’ His voice trailed away as a thought occurred to him.
Jim narrowed his eyes. ‘I can see the great detective has had an idea. Come on, spit it out.’
‘Perhaps I’ve been on the wrong track all along.’
‘It wouldn’t be the first time.’
‘Thanks very much. But look, what if the Irish connection is totally irrelevant?’
‘A green herring?’
‘With your sense of humour, you ought to be appearing in one of Nick Folley’s talent contests. No, there is someone else who had cause to hate Finbar, who could have planted the bomb in his car: someone who might be off-balance and behaving more dangerously with each day that passes. Someone who failed to kill Finbar by fire or explosion and finally settled for running him down.’
Jim had given up all pretence of disdain for amateur sleuthing. He leaned forward in his chair, his damaged face alive with interest. ‘Who do you have in mind?’
‘The woman Finbar cheated on more than any other, of course. His wife.’
‘Sinead?’
‘Don’t sound so surprised. She’s an obvious suspect, if you think about it. Remember she’s a member of an extremist group of animal rights campaigners — presumably they wouldn’t be averse to bombing labs where experiments are carried out. The republican movement don’t have a monopoly on terror, you know.’
‘But why go to such lengths at precisely the time when Finbar is severing the knot? She’d put up with him for long enough. Soon she would have been rid of him as a husband through the legal process. Why would she murder him?’
‘You didn’t see her at the Divorce Registry. I’ve seldom seen such pure hatred.’
‘You’re not saying she killed him rather than get divorced?’
Harry brushed the objection aside; he was excited by his latest theory and Jim’s doubts served only to strengthen his belief in the likelihood of Sinead’s guilt.
‘Of course not. Although she’d opposed the divorce all along, I agree that, in itself, is hardly a motive for murder. After all, in my experience, most Catholics who are divorced against their will are able to console themselves with the fact that it’s no more than a civil proceeding. No, my guess is that the turning point came when Sinead heard the story about Eileen. As far as she was concerned, Finbar was responsible for a young girl’s abortion and death — so she wanted him to suffer too.’
Jim stared at him. ‘So what do you propose to do?’
‘Talk to Sladdin, I suppose. He may not…’
The phone shrilled and he snatched up the receiver.
‘Suzanne, I’m talking with Jim. We don’t want to be disturbed until…
‘All right,’ said the girl mutinously, ‘but I have Kim Lawrence on the line and she did insist it was important.’
‘Kim?’ Harry was puzzled, but the chance to speak to Sinead’s lawyer was too good to miss. ‘Okay, put her through.’
Suzanne muttered something which may have been, ‘Make up your mind,’ before Kim Lawrence came on the line.
‘Harry? Are you there? I wanted to speak to you as soon as I could. Of course, I’ve heard Finbar Rogan is dead.’
‘Murdered,’ said Harry, ‘although the police haven’t said so officially.’
‘My God. I can’t begin to work out what’s going on. I wasn’t sure whether you had heard the news about Sinead.’
He tensed, wondering what she was going to say.
‘No, tell me.’
Kim gave a weary sigh. ‘The police have arrested her.’
Chapter Eighteen
Harry could hardly restrain himself from punching the air in triumph as he absorbed the impact of Kim’s news. So — he had guessed right. Finbar’s killer was already under lock and key. Justice would be served. Sladdin must have moved with impressive speed.
Giving Jim a thumbs-up sign, he strove to keep his voice calm. ‘Already? When did they pick her up?’
‘You talk as though you were expecting it,’ said Kim Lawrence, sounding nonplussed. ‘The police took her in for questioning at two o’clock yesterday.’
He thought either he had misheard or she was mistaken.
‘Two? Are you sure?’
‘Of course! I accompanied her to the police station.’
‘So they released her on bail?’ The whole scenario was incredible. God, if she’d walked straight out of there and at once murdered her husband, someone would be in deep, deep trouble.
‘No,’ said Kim Lawrence, ‘she was kept in overnight and released on bail this morning. I’ve just come back from court.’
Harry stared blindly at the telephone, unable to believe what he was being told.
‘Are you still there?’ asked Kim.
‘I don’t follow. What’s — what’s the charge?’
‘Criminal damage. The fire and the bomb. Originally there was talk of attempted murder, but they quietly dropped that after they learned someone else had actually done Rogan in that very evening.’
‘So — you mean there’s no question of her having committed that crime?’
‘Of course not.’ Kim sounded angry that the possibility had even crossed his mind. ‘The present charges are serious enough, but not even a hard case like Sladdin can claim Sinead ran Rogan down when at the estimated time of death he was personally subjecting her to the third degree.’
Harry swore silently. A few minutes earlier he had thought he had solved the mystery — now he was more confused than ever.
‘Can we talk? I mean, now?’
‘Yes, if you want to,’ Kim said after a pause.
‘I’ll meet you outside your office in five minutes.’
‘Outside? In this weather?’
‘This mist isn’t anything compared to the fog in my brain.’
She grunted. ‘Suit yourself. And perhaps you can tell me a little more about how your client came to die. The police are playing their cards very close to their chest.’
Of course — she was after any information which might help her build her client’s defence. Or, more realistically, a plea in mitigation.
‘I won’t pretend I know much more than you, Kim, but I’d welcome a chat all the same. See you shortly.’ He put the phone down and turned to Jim, who had been following the conversation with mounting bewilderment. Quickly, he explained what had happened.
‘Look, I have to see Kim. Why don’t you go home? You’re in no fit state to be out of the house.’
‘Are you telling me you’re in a fit state to run our business?’
‘No need to moan, I know there’s a ton of work to do.’ A pang of guilt prompted him to add, ‘Listen, I’ll make you a promise. Let me poke around just for the rest of today and after that you can chain me to the desk. There are a few questions I have to ask one or two people about Finbar’s death. I owe him that much.’
‘You owe him nothing. He gave you the run-around when he was alive — don’t let him do the same now he’s dead. Anyway, what do you propose to do about the Graham-Browns?’
‘Don’t worry, I’ll sort out their file. Promise. Things need to come to a head if we’re to have any hope of keeping them as clients. By tomorrow I’ll be more than ready to leave detecting to the real detectives. Okay?’
Jim gave a resigned shrug. ‘That will be the day.’
Harry accompanied his partner to the front door, then raced over to the neat bare garden outside the stone-faced building which housed Kim Lawrence’s office. She was waiting for him as promised, a pale and slender figure standing in the shadow of Liverpool Parish Church.
She moved towards him. Long hours spent with Sinead and the police had left her looking tired and defeated.
‘So, Harry. Your client’s dead.’
He nodded. ‘And yours is facing jail. Perhaps we should have put more effort into marriage guidance.’
She smiled and turned up the collar of her raincoat. The air was damp as well as cold.