Gallows Lane (Inspector Devlin Mystery 2) by Brian McGilloway Read Free Book Online Page A

headache.’ Patterson relaxed the grip on my neck but moved in front of me to face me. I resisted the urge to rub the sweat of his hands from where he had touched my skin.
    I should have walked away, or at the very least agreed with Colhoun. But, I didn’t. ‘I was saying that Paddy Hannon contacted me to say he recognized the E-tabs from your little display last night as being part of the batch you found on his land last month. He seems to think it might not have been found on Webb’s land at all,’ I explained.
    As Colhoun’s nervousness increased, so exponentially did Patterson’s calmness. He smiled at me, though his eyes were devoid of warmth. ‘What’s really eating you, Devlin? Pissed off that you’ve been left out? Pissed off that when you’re up before the promotions panel, you’ll have nothing to say for yourself?’
    ‘Give it a rest, Harry,’ I heard Williams say, standing in the doorway to the kitchenette.
    ‘Shut the fuck up,’ Patterson spat, pointing at her.
    ‘Watch your mouth,’ I said, pushing his arm out of the way.
    A scuffle of sorts broke out and I was aware of Patterson raising his fist at much the same time I raised mine. The incident, however, did not escalate any further. Burgess appeared at the doorway to the kitchenette. He glared at us suspiciously, then pointed at me. ‘You’re wanted by the superintendent, Detective.’
    Costello asked initially for an update on the Karen Doherty case. I explained what had happened the previous night in Club Manhattan and my belief that the person driving the car into which I had watched her climb was also her killer. I also mentioned the tattoo. I would get the technical department in Letterkenny to try to clean up the CCTV footage, but I doubted it could be made any clearer.
    Costello then asked about the Kerr case – not that I had been aware that it was a case as such. Finally, as I was about to leave, he said, ‘What was going on out there, Benedict? With you and Patterson?’
    ‘Nothing, sir,’ I said.
    ‘Something about Paddy Hannon?’ Burgess had clearly been listening to our conversation and reported back to Costello.
    ‘I have a problem with these finds, sir,’ I said, looking up at him. He held my gaze without wavering. ‘Paddy Hannon contacted me last night, sir. He claimed that the bag of E-tabs presented yesterday as having been found on Webb’s land actually came from the cache discovered a month ago on his land. He claims that it was not included in the inventory made at the time. He didn’t say as much, but I think he suspects that someone – some Guard – planted them on Webb’s land. Now, as Webb himself hasn’t even been questioned yet, it doesn’t look too good for us.’
    ‘Paddy Hannon told you this?’ Costello asked, chewing at the inside of his cheek.
    I nodded.
    ‘That’s all we need. Things were looking good too. Jesus, Benedict.’ He rubbed his face with the palms of his hands. ‘Listen, say nothing about this to anyone else. I’ll take care of it.’
    ‘What. . . ?’ I stopped myself from articulating a gnawing suspicion that Costello knew more about the finds than he was letting on. ‘It doesn’t matter, sir.’
    That evening, just after I put the children to bed, Williams called me to say that Peter Webb had been lifted for questioning about the arms and drugs found on his property, at the bottom of Gallows Lane.

 
Chapter Six

Thursday, 1 June
    Peter Webb was in his late fifties, having moved to the area in the early 1970s from the English Midlands. He had taken up a position lecturing in Social Sciences in the Institute of Further Education which had opened in Strabane. Still, he claimed he chose to live in Donegal because it was where his family was from originally. He settled in well, buying a small terrace house in the centre of Lifford.
    After a few years he met and eventually married a Belfast girl named Sinead McLaughlin. Though her family were Republicans, Webb’s wife was