The Railway Viaduct

Towards the end of the evening, Liam Kilfoyle came over to him.

'Stay behind for a while, Brendan,' he said.

Mulryne chuckled. 'Oh, I intend to, Liam, I promise you.'

'Pierce would like a word.'

'As long as it's a short one.'

'He was pleased with the way you tipped over those wagons.'

'Ah, I could have done that on my own without you two pulling on that rope as if you were in a tug-o'-war contest. I like a challenge.'

'You've got one of those coming up, Brendan.'

'When?'

'Pierce will tell you – but not in here.'

Shannon was talking to some friends in a corner, but he had kept an eye on Mulryne throughout the evening as if weighing him in the balance. He wished that he had known the newcomer much longer so that he could be absolutely certain about him but there was no time to spare. The surprise visit of his paymaster had acted as a stimulus. The final attack was at hand. He had other men to help him but none with Mulryne's extraordinary strength. Shannon knew a way to put that strength to good use.

When the bar started to clear, the giant Irishman made sure that he had a brief exchange with the barmaid. He spoke no French and she knew very little English but they understood each other well. Mulryne gave her a wink to seal their bargain. Her dimples were deeper and more expressive than ever. He was by no means the only man to take an interest in her but none of the others could compete. She had made her choice. At length, only the stragglers remained and the landlord began to close up the bar. Mulryne was among the last to leave and he walked away very slowly.

When Shannon and Kilfoyle fell in beside him, he put a friendly arm around each of them and gave a playful squeeze.

'Steady on, Brendan,' said Kilfoyle. 'You'll break my shoulder.'

'I was as gentle as a lamb,' claimed Mulryne.

'You don't know how to be gentle.'

'Oh, yes, I do.'

'Keep yourself more sober tomorrow,' ordered Shannon.

'I am sober.'

'I saw how much you drank tonight, Brendan.'

'Then you should have noticed something else,' said Mulryne. 'The more I had, the less drunk I became. It's weak men who fall into a stupor. I've learned to hold my drink.'

'You'll need a clear head.'

'My head is clear, Pierce.'

'I'm giving you an order,' said the other. 'If you don't want to obey it, we'll find someone else.'

'No, no,' said Mulryne, quickly. 'I'm your man. If there's money to be made – real money this time – I won't touch more than a drop tomorrow. I swear it. Is that when it's going to be?'

'Yes.'

'At what time?'

'As soon as it gets dark,' said Shannon.

'I'll be ready.'

'So will I,' said Kilfoyle. 'I've been waiting to escape from this shit hole for weeks. Now, I'll finally get my chance.'

'We all will, Liam,' said Shannon.

'This time tomorrow, I'll be rich.'

'Only if you do as you're told.'

'Thank the Lord that it is tomorrow,' said Mulryne, coming to a sharp halt. The others stopped beside. 'Had it been tonight, I'm afraid, I'd not have been able to oblige you.'

'Why not?' asked Shannon.

'You're with us now,' added Kilfoyle.

'Not tonight.'

'Why have we stopped?'

'Because I have other plans. I thought I might take a stroll in the moonlight. It looks like a perfect night for it.' He beamed at them. 'Good night, lads.'

Brendan Mulryne turned around and began to walk back towards the inn. As he did so, the barmaid came out of the front door and ran on the tip of her toes until his huge arms enveloped her. After a first kiss, the two of them then faded quietly into the shadows. Mulryne was determined to make the most of his visit to France.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Robert Colbeck never enjoyed having to spend a night under the same roof as Edward Tallis; he did not find it an uplifting experience. He slept fitfully, tormented by the thought that the whole investigation could be endangered by the precipitate action of his superior. The arrival of the superintendent could not have come at a worse time. It had taken Colbeck by surprise and undermined his position completely. It had also exposed the ambiguous involvement of Brendan Mulryne in the exercise, thereby alarming Thomas Brassey and driving Tallis into a rage that three consecutive cigars had failed to soften. It was doubtful if a night's sleep would improve the superintendent's temper.

When he came down for breakfast in the cottage where they were both staying, Colbeck did not even know if he was still employed in the Detective Department at Scotland Yard. Tallis had made all sorts of veiled threats without actually dismissing him. Colbeck's career was definitely in the balance. As they sat opposite each other at the table, there was a distinct tension in the air. It was Tallis who eventually broke it.

'I think that we should cut our losses and withdraw,' he said.

'That would be a ruinous course of action, sir,' protested Colbeck. 'Having come so far, why pull out now?'

'Because the investigation has not been run properly.'

'We are on the point of capturing the villains.'

'One of whom is Brendan Mulryne.'

'No, Superintendent. He is working for us.'

'He's not working for me,' said Tallis, angrily, 'and he never will. Setting a thief to catch a thief has never seemed to me to be wise advice. A criminal will always have more affinity with criminals than with those trying to catch them. We have a perfect example of that here. Instead of working as an informer, Mulryne has sided with his natural allies because the rewards are greater.'

'You malign him, sir.'

'I know him of old.'

'And so do I,' said Colbeck. 'That's why I picked him.'

'A singularly unfortunate choice.'

'You would not think that if you'd spoken to him yesterday.'

Tallis scowled. 'Nothing on God's earth would persuade me to dress up as an engine driver in order to converse with a man who was drummed out of the police force for using excessive violence. And that was only one of his glaring defects. You've had successes in the past, Colbeck,' he went on, chewing his food noisily, 'but this time, you have bungled everything.'

'I resent that, sir.'

'And I resent your attempt to deceive me with regard to the use of that incorrigible Irishman, Mulryne.'

'This railway line is being built by incorrigible Irishmen. Only someone like Mulryne could mix easily with them. He's done everything I asked of him.'

'You mean that you incited him to commit a crime?'

'No, sir.'

'Then how much licence did you grant him?'

'I told him to do whatever was necessary.'

'Even if that entailed wrecking a number of wagons?'

'It worked, sir,' insisted Colbeck. 'Don't you realise that? He's now part of their gang. Brendan Mulryne is in a unique position.'

'Yes, he can inflict even more damage on the railway.'

'He can bring the vandalism to an end.'

'He's much more likely to increase it. The kindest thing we can do for Mr Brassey is to haul Mulryne out of France altogether and take him back to whatever squalid hovel he lives in.'

'We must allow him to finish his work.'

'It is finished – as from today.'

'Even Mr Brassey thought that we should wait.'

'He's a contractor,' said Tallis, finishing his cup of coffee, 'not a policeman. He doesn't understand the way that a criminal mind works. I do. Brassey still finds it difficult to believe that he could be employing callous villains on this project.'