Page 87 of Boomerville at Ballymegille

The doorto the lounge opened and Jo came in. She was overtaken by the dogs, who, fresh from a walk in the garden, bounded across the floor and settled themselves on a rug.

‘Any news?’ Alf asked as he followed Jo into the room.

‘Yes,’ Jo said. ‘I do have something to tell you.’

She sat down beside Melissa and took her hand.

Finbar turned, his attention captured. He waited to hear what Jo had to say.

‘Malcolm hasn’t been found yet but Harry is confident that it won’t be long, so try not to worry, you’re quite safe here.’

Jo gave Melissa’s hand a gentle squeeze.

‘Any news of Bill?’ Melissa asked. ‘Is he awake? Has Hattie spoken to him?’

‘Yes, I believe that Bill did wake up, for a brief moment, this afternoon.’ Jo’s voice was quiet.

Alf and Finbar were still. Neither moved a muscle as they waited to hear Jo’s words. Melissa sat forward; she brushed hair away from her eyes and stared at Jo.

‘I’m afraid that I have some very sad and upsetting news,’ Jo began. ‘Unfortunately, Bill died a little while ago.’ She paused to let the words sink in. ‘He suffered what the doctors described as a major cardiac arrest.’ Jo hung her head. ‘It was very quick, he wouldn’t have been in any pain.’

‘Oh, no,’ Melissa whispered.

‘Bejesus,’ Finbar said.

‘Aye, now, that’s bad news.’ Alf’s mouth fell open and, blindly, he felt for the arm of a chair and sat down. ‘The poor old lad,’ he said and shook his head.

Ness crept towards Alf and laid her head on his knee.

‘It’s certainly not the news we wanted.’ Jo stared at her fingers and felt hot tears behind her eyelids.

‘I can’t believe it,’ Melissa said, shaking her head. Her face had paled and when she spoke, her voice cracked. ‘Is…is M…Malcolm behind this?’

‘I don’t know, we’re waiting to hear from Harry.’

Jo was reluctant to discuss the manner of Bill’s death. It would only upset Melissa further. She gently removed her hand from Melissa’s and stood up. ‘I think we could all do with a strong drink,’ she said. ‘I’ll be back in a moment.’

* * *

Harry stoodin the departure lounge, opposite gate number eight. He watched the two Garda as they circled the area, while the inspector spoke to an attendant, who held paperwork attached to a clipboard. Together they checked the passenger manifest for the outgoing flight to Malaga.

The inspector looked up and catching Harry’s attention, shook his head.

‘Where are you, you bastard?’ Harry whispered to himself as he searched the faces of passengers, mostly parents with families, waiting for information regarding the delay. Malcolm wasn’t among the faces that stared back.

Harry went over to the inspector and the attendant. ‘How many men booked on this flight are travelling on their own?’

‘I’ll just check,’ the attendant said, ‘the flight is only half full.’ She ran her fingers over the manifest. ‘Two,’ she replied. ‘Would you like me to ask them to come forward to check their boarding pass?’

‘Yes, please.’ Harry looked around again, his eyes searching for Malcom. ‘We need to move away, he won’t come forward if he sees us.’

A staff member, wearing a uniform with a smart apron, came towards him and Harry asked, ‘Is there anywhere else I could sit while I wait to board this flight?’

‘Yes, of course, sir, you could go to the Aspire Lounge, there’s a bar there that serves drinks and complimentary snacks,’ the man said, ‘but you’ll have to upgrade to use the lounge.’ He pointed ahead. ‘If you go to the desk, you can pay there, it costs twenty-five euros.’

Harry thanked the man. Of course! Why on earth hadn’t he thought of it? If Malcolmwastravelling on a false passport and waiting to catch this flight he wouldn’t want to draw any attention to himself. There was every possibility that he was keeping cover in a corner of the airconditioned bar.

‘This way,’ Harry called out to the inspector and garda and indicated that they follow.

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