Page 74 of Charlie
The episode with the gun on Tuesday morning had freaked Liv out, so I was grateful that she got to see the real side of Conor that we all loved so much.
On Friday afternoon, however, Liv and I came home to a house that was buzzing with half of the residents gathered in the kitchen.
“What’s wrong? Why are you all in here?” I asked Sara, who stood closest.
“Because the garda is here again.”
Liv and I exchanged a glance. “What do you mean again? I wasn’t aware they had been here before. Those two who came by on Sunday night were private detectives.”
“I know, but Tuesday the garda stopped by to ask questions.”
“About what?”
“We don’t know, but we’re assuming it’s those awful rumors about Sandra.” Sara’s long brown hair was braided in a circle around her head, her make-up was perfect, and she was in another of her smart pantsuits with high heels that made her at least five-ten. Like Ciara, Sara was born and raised in Ireland, but after living with Conor for four years, she had adopted his clean accent and spoke without an Irish brogue.
Liv’s eyes were wide open as she leaned in and whispered to me, “Maybe the police got the videotape from the surveillance camera that the detectives talked about.”
“Yes, maybe. But in that case, it’s good news because the video will show that Conor is innocent.” I turned to Sara. “Is he alone with the police?”
Sara nodded. “Yes. I asked if he wanted me there, but he declined.”
“We’re lawyers, Sara. We need to be by his side.”
She rubbed her wrist. “I know, but he said no.”
I wasn’t about to let someone pin a murder on my mentor. After asking Liv to wait with the others, I went upstairs to Conor’s study and knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
Opening the door, I saw one guard standing close to the door and another sitting in front of Conor’s desk with a notepad in his hands. Conor looked calm when he asked, “What is it, Charles?”
“You shouldn’t talk to them without a lawyer present.”
“Yes, Sara already told me that, but since I’m innocent, I’m not concerned. I’d prefer to do this alone.”
Walking into the room, I shook my head. “That would be crazy. I’m staying.”
His jaws clenched but he didn’t insist on my leaving.
The two officers shook my hand and introduced themselves as O’Hara and Williams before they went back to questioning Conor.
“I would like to get back to the time before ye changed your name to O’Brien. Can ye tell us more about the three restraining orders against ye?”
Conor, for once, looked visibly annoyed. “It was in the early days of my mastermind group and I wasn’t as finely tuned to whom I worked with as I am now. You could say my desire to help and fix people brought me in contact with some troubled individuals. There was a woman named Janet that I took in after she had experienced severe violence from her ex-partner. I hid her from her ex for her protection, but he found her and it’s my biggest regret that I wasn’t there to stop him when he dragged her back home with him. Of course, I went after her, and in my eagerness to save her from him, it got to an altercation between us. In the end, she chose to stay and filed a restraining order against me, but I always knew it was done under his influence.”
“And what about Clara Nielson – accordin’ to her file, she accused ye of rapin’ her.”
“That was dismissed.”
“Aye, it says she withdrew the charge but there was still a restrainin’ order.”
Conor shrugged. “I always take a risk when I allow wounded souls into my life. Clara was disturbed and the trouble started after I found out that she was using drugs. I had to kick her out and that’s when her accusations began. It was a simple act of revenge on her part.”
“And Nina Evans?”
Conor sighed. “Oh dear, I’d forgotten about her. It was so long ago. Well, in her case I take the blame. She was my first love and I took it hard when she broke up with me. I was eighteen or nineteen and a romantic at the time. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I would serenade her below her window, send her flowers and love poems. Unfortunately, Nina was overwhelmed and felt that I was stalking her.”
I was starting to see why Conor cared so much about loyalty and trust between him and his members. With a history of wrongful accusations made against him, he would have learned his lesson.
