Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #1: Books 1-4 (A Dead Cold Box Set), Blake Banner [classic children's novels txt] 📗

“It seems,” I said, before Dehan could get in, “that you are suggesting that Conor Hagan might have killed Sean O’Conor, or at least had him killed.”

His face went crimson and he began to laugh. “Well now, steady on! That is not in fact what I said.”

“What are you saying, Father?”

“What I’m saying is that, the way Sean went charging in, where Angels fear to tread, was liable to upset somebody, sooner or later.”

Dehan snapped, “So he had it coming?”

“That is not what I meant!”

“I’ll tell you what I think, Father O’Neil,” I said. “I think that you are being vague and evasive because you don’t want to go charging in where angels fear to tread. But I am going to be very clear with you, Father. If you are withholding evidence in a murder investigation in order to protect a killer, I will come gunning for you. And you may not believe it, but I am a much more dangerous man than Conor Hagan. Because if Conor Hagan is guilty of this murder, I will take him down, and if you conceal evidence, I will take you down, too.” I leered. “And believe me, if Hagan goes to prison, you really don’t want to be in there with him.”

He had both hands up, like I was pointing a gun at him. “Steady, lad! Slow down! This is getting a little out of hand. I never said I would not cooperate with you. I was simply trying to make you appreciate the complexity of the situation!”

“I appreciate the complexity of the situation. What I need to know now is whether Sean had received any concrete threats, if anybody from Hagan’s organization had contacted him and told him to leave the case alone… was there anything specific that made Sean fear for his life?”

He thought about it for a long time, chewing his lip. Finally, he said, “A couple of days before he disappeared, he came to me and told me that he had received a number of threatening phone calls telling him to leave the case alone or face the consequences.”

“Did he recognize the voice?”

“He didn’t say so, but he was in no doubt that it was Hagan.”

Dehan said, “And when he went missing, it never occurred to you to inform the police?”

He shook his head. “To be honest, I thought he had run off. I thought it had finally dawned on him that he had gone too far…”

Dehan said, “Gone too far? What does that mean?”

He flopped back in his chair. He was obviously embarrassed at his own cowardice. “Too far means, Hagan is much more than a man. If you put Conor or any of his henchmen in prison, there will be ten more behind him to take his place. And if he warns you off and you don’t heed the warning at the time, you will be punished, and it’s no good heeding the warning later. That’s too late. If you do not toe the line, you will be punished.”

Dehan’s voice was scathing. “Does that apply to priests as well?”

He snapped, “Yes! And police officers!”

I said, “Good to know. So you thought that Sean had finally seen the light, but too late, and done a runner. What made you think that?”

He shrugged. “Well, there was no reason to believe any harm had come to him. If he had been hurt, there would have been some news, or a report or something, or a message from his parents. Also, didn’t his fiancée go missing at the same time! I assumed they’d run off together.”

Dehan sat forward. “Just so I can get this clear in my mind, Father, do I understand…” She shook her head and started again. “Are you telling us that when your parishioners come to you and ask you for guidance because they are being bullied, abused and threatened by gangsters, you advise them to toe the line, look the other way and keep quiet?”

His face flushed and suddenly he looked mad. “Well, what do you suggest I tell them, Detective? To go to the police? Because for your information, a good number of you are on Hagan’s payroll and I, personally, have never accepted money or gifts from him, but if I ever oppose him or confront him, it will not be I who suffers! It will be them, the parishioners. He has made that abundantly clear to me, and that was what I tried to make Sean understand!”

I sat forward. “Well, it wasn’t the parishioners who paid, Father O’Neil, it was Sean. And you did get news, only you didn’t realize it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you remember a tramp, a vagrant, whose body was found in a dumpster at the end of the road at the very same time that Sean went missing?”

His mouth dropped and he stared from me to Dehan and back again. “Don’t… Surely you’re not telling me…”

I nodded. “We won’t take up any more of your time, Father. But before we go, did you say his fiancée went missing at the same time?”

“I assumed they had eloped together.”

“What was her name? I’d like to try and trace her.”

He heaved a big sigh and sank back in his chair. “Poor child, I suppose now this means… Sweet Jesus, it doesn’t bear thinking about…”

“Her name, Father?”

“I’m trying to remember.” He looked me in the eye. “Alice. Alicia Flores.”

Dehan said, “Alicia Flores Delgado?”

He stared at her. “Yes, that’s her. Did you know her? Are you from this neighborhood? You do look familiar.”

“Yeah, I’m from the hood.” She didn’t sound friendly when she said it.

I asked him, “Do you have a phone number or an address for her parents or next