The Midnight Bell. Jack Higgins
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got a funeral to go to.”
He took Hannah down to the Mini, and they scrambled in. She said, “What was that all about?”
“It’s between me and my God, cousin,” Dillon said, and drove away.
THE RAIN HAD STARTED at the house just as Tad, Larry, and Molly were about to be picked up by their limousine. A quick check indicated that there were sufficient umbrellas and waterproofs on board, so they moved on.
“You’d think the Almighty could do better than this,” Tad grumbled. “The grave could flood.”
“Your mother would have said don’t be blasphemous,” Molly told him.
“I can’t help it, Tad. Let’s get inside and do right by her,” Larry said, and they got out quickly, pushing into the shelter of handheld umbrellas, making for the church door held open for them and moving in to find Dillon waiting. There was a good turnout, older people from another time who had known Eileen Magee well and remembered her kindly.
It was incredibly peaceful. Mary and the Christ Child in the chapel just inside the door, and as Hannah moved into that great hymn, “Abide with Me,” the undertakers started up the aisle to present the coffin to Starkey, Molly and the brothers keeping to the left, the bearded man who was Finbar Magee pacing them on the right.
Everyone sat as Starkey started the service. There was a hush as he extolled Eileen’s virtues and gave the blessing and the prayers for the dead, and then a wonderful thing happened. The organ started up, playing “Danny Boy,” and Hannah’s voice rose with it, and not one person moved until her music died away.
Molly was crying and so were others as people made their way out. It was still raining, and the undertaker whispered to Tad, “A bit of water in the grave, sir. We’ll take care of your mother tonight back at the Chapel of Rest and see what tomorrow brings.”
Hannah had closed up the organ and came across. “Best I could do.”
“And bloody marvelous,” Larry said. “Wasn’t she, Tad?”
“You really are quite a girl, Hannah.” Tad put an arm around her and kissed her cheek. “We’re very grateful, and please tell Molly to stop crying.”
A voice echoed from the right, and they turned to see Finbar standing by the confessional boxes. “And what about me, your father? I came to face the shame of it, didn’t I, or doesn’t that count?”
“You devious bastard, I don’t believe you,” Tad replied. “You’re lucky I allow you to leave this place still walking. Never show your face here again.”
Larry added, “Get back to Ulster while you still can. That’s sound advice. You’re not wanted here and never will be.”
“Then damn the lot of you and go to hell,” his father replied, pushing his way through the thickening crowd and disappearing.
Larry turned to Dillon and Hannah. “Is there any chance we could have supper together?”
“Another time,” Dillon said. “But my masters call, and like a good boy, I obey. Sorry I can’t explain.”
“Seriously? We’re not supposed to know you’ve been working for British Intelligence for years now?”
“Okay, but we’ve got a real crisis facing us, believe me. We’ll see you when we can, but for the moment, it’s all hands to the pumps.”
“Which includes me,” Hannah called, as she followed Dillon to the Mini, jumped in, and they drove away.
“I like that girl,” Larry said.
“So do I.” Tad nodded. “A very special lady.” He sighed. “Let’s get out of here.” And he led the way to where Molly waited in the limousine.
DILLON TURNED INTO PARK LANE, driving toward Marble Arch, and Hannah said, “When you were speaking at Holland Park about the Magees at Drumore, you said that the Maria Blanco was a big old launch tied up to the jetty and used by Cousin Eli to fish from. I get the feeling there’s more to it than that. Why don’t you tell me what all the fuss is about?”
“God help me, girl, why are women so persistent? You won’t leave me alone until I do, will you?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then shut up and listen. I was called to Belfast and told by the Army Council that I was needed in Algeria by the Gaddafi training camp to help with new recruits for the IRA. I’d trained there myself, and so had my good friend after me, Daniel Holley, who you’ve not had a chance to meet.”
“Is he a Provo?”
“Oh, yes, but of a special kind. A Protestant.”
“Sweet Jesus.” She was shocked. “And what kind of a Provo would a damn Prod be?”
“The kind whose sweet young Catholic cousin was raped and murdered by UVF scum, so he executed the four who had done it. There was nowhere for him to go except to join the IRA after that.”
“Mother of God,” she said.
“But enough of his background. He works for Ferguson like the rest of us do, so you’ll be meeting him one of these days. He’s partner in a shipping line out of Algiers. He’s half Irish, and his mother is a decent Catholic woman from Crossmaglen, but never mind that. Do you want the rest of the Maria Blanco story?”
“Of course I do.”
“Hugh Tulley got word from an informer that one of the Belfast banks was sending twenty-five million pounds in gold bullion to Dublin concealed in a meat wagon that would be passing his way. A common enough trick in those days to avoid holdups.”
“So he decided to have a go?” Hannah said.
“You could say that. A brisk gunfight on a country road with night falling that left three policemen in plainclothes dead, Tulley wounded, and two of their own dead. The alarm was raised all over County Down, and the RUC swung into action.”
“So what happened next?”
“Tulley thought of Eli, on his own at Drumore, Finbar being in the Maze, and the answer to his problem seemed obvious. Get to Drumore as fast as possible, transfer the bullion to the Maria Blanco, and take to the seas.”
“And did that work?” she asked.
“With difficulty, because of people’s wounds, but they made Eli, a man of enormous strength, help them. They intended to sail away, but it became obvious that Tulley and one of the other men were close to death and they were all bleeding.”
“What did you do?” Hannah asked.
“Well, you have to remember that the RUC did not know where they were, so if they took Eli’s Land Rover, there was hope for them at the cottage hospital nearby, where the nuns were kind.”
“And come back for the bullion later?” Hannah asked. “That seems a thin chance to me. What about Eli? What was he up to?”
“Not much. They found some old-fashioned shackles in the boathouse hanging on a peg with two keys, which they were careful to take with them when they left him chained.”
“And Tulley’s boys?”
“The first roadblock was enough, and they held their hands up.”
“And Eli?”
“The police found him, still shackled. He said he heard the boat’s engines and managed to peer through a crack in the wall planking and glimpsed a shadow in the wheelhouse as the Maria Blanco moved out to sea.”
“And Tulley and company?”
“He was crippled. They were in the Maze together with Finbar when the legend of the Maria Blanco and its cargo was born.” Dillon shrugged. “The RUC looked at every possibility, turned