Brushes With Death by Stuart Doughty

Author:Stuart Doughty [Doughty, Stuart]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

Next morning, at Heathrow, Izzy was again in some distinctive clothing. Not vintage this time. She was in a short tartan skirt, with a chunky white sweater on top. On her legs were green tights.

“You’re wearing Irish?” I said.

She nodded. “Aran jumper, an Irish kilt, green for Ireland on my legs, and a Donegal tweed coat and scarf.”

“Do you have clothes for every occasion?”

She took the question seriously. “Yes. Pretty much. I like to do that. Though I’ve packed some plainer work clothes, too. And wet weather gear. The west coast of Ireland can be wet.”

“You’ve been checking the weather?”

“I was,” she said. “I also checked the correct way of talking about the Irish police. In case we have to.”

“Garda,” I said. One of the few Gaelic words in everyday use in Ireland.

“Yes. That’s the singular form,” she said, “and the plural is Gardai.” She paused. “It’s odd that ‘police’ doesn’t have a singular. I mean you can’t say ‘a police’.”

I gave her a look. “It’s never bothered me before.”

She rapidly changed the subject. “So, Vayne is living in a house between Limerick and the coast, not far from the Cliffs of Moher, you said. Tell me about these cliffs.”

“Dramatic sea cliffs,” I said. “A big tourist attraction.”

“Is that a good place to hide? Near a tourist attraction?”

“He’ll be somewhere remote. Not by the visitor car park and ice cream concession.” I paused. “Although, I could be wrong. I did more research last night and, it’s odd, but Vayne’s become a local hero, something of a media star.”

Izzy wrinkled her nose in surprise.

“I’ll show you. There’s much more than that newspaper cutting we found in the flat.” I opened my laptop and showed her files I had downloaded.

There were clips of Vayne being interviewed on TV, letters he had written to newspapers, appearances at public meetings, him visiting the highly secure site of the processing plant when it was still under construction, and even shaking hands with the Taoiseach, as the Irish Prime Minister is called.

“He’s a real convert to the cause,” I said.

“Do they know he’s a criminal?”

“They must do, but he’s served his time. I guess they’ll take his support while he’s giving it, then if his history goes public, they’ll drop him like a ton of bricks.”

“Why is he doing it? Do you believe his ‘paying something back to society’ angle?”

I wrinkled my nose. “There must be something more devious. An ulterior motive. He’s a wily character. He evaded arrest for a long time, and made even more money while he was hiding out in Spain.”

“What about these funds he’s got stashed away?” Izzy pointed to the screen. “This report hints he’s going to invest money in the plant.”

“That may be a bit of a spin, or cover for something else. If Sebastian is trying to get hold of Vayne’s hidden cash, Vayne is trying to establish himself as a local celebrity, a do-gooder, to win public sympathy and support.”

“Making it more difficult for Sebastian to corner him, than if he hides or runs away?”

“Exactly.

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