In Dublin's Fair City (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #6)

“Mrs. Boone put me in here. If you don’t believe me, I suggest you go down and wake her.”


“But she put me—wait a second,” he said. He carried the lamp to the door, held it up on the landing, then looked back at me. “She put me in the room next door,” he said sheepishly. “I’ve never had to find myway to my door in the darkness before. I must have lost my way. I apologize profusely.”

“Apology accepted,” I said.

He started to laugh. “I had no idea there was anyone else staying here. She told me I’d be quite private and quite safe up here. I’ve just got back from a meeting.”

“You scared the living daylights out of me,” I managed to say.

“I scared the daylights out of you? My dear girl, the feeling was mutual, I can assure you.”

“You’re lucky I couldn’t locate something to bash you over the head with,” I said. “Or you’d be lying there unconscious right now.”

“Would I now? I think I might have underestimated you, Miss Murphy.” He was still smiling. Then he became grim again. “I tell you what I thought—that the English had located me and sent someone to bump me off,” he said. “When did you get here?”

“A couple of hours ago,” I said. “Grania's brother arrived so Mrs. Boone spirited me home with her.”

“She thinks on her feet, our Mrs. Boone.” Cullen nodded with approval.

“And she didn’t tell me anyone else was staying up here. In fact, she said I’d be quite safe and private.”

“She was told not to reveal my whereabouts to anyone and was leaving it up to me as to whether I made my presence known or not. Normally I’d have been asleep by this time, but something came up at the last minute and I had to go out to meet some fellows.” He looked at me and grinned. “So it seems that for the second time we’re sharing a domicile, Miss Murphy.”

I must have been hugging my arms to myself, suddenly shivery. He noticed. “I’ve a bottle of Jamesons in my room. I think we could both do with a drink after that little scare. Hold up the lamp,- I’ll go and find it.”

He came back with the bottle, and a glass into which he poured a generous tot for me.

“I don’t really drink spirits,” I protested.

“Go on. Drink it up. It will do you good.” He pressed the glass into my hands. I drank, coughed, and drank again. “This little encounter wasgood for us both,” he said. “From now on we’ll be on our toes, and we’ll need to be. The enemy is not as stupid as they look. We must expect for plans to go wrong and not to panic.”

“You’re talking about the prison break,” I said.

“That's exactly what I’m talking about,” he said. “We’ve set a date. October Twenty-second. Just over a week away.”

“Will you be wanting me to help out in any way?”

“We’re counting on it,” he said. “In fact, the whole plan depends upon it.”

“Doing what, exactly?”

“I can’t tell you yet.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “You’d better get back to sleep, before Mrs. Boone hears us talking up here and jumps to the wrong kind of conclusions.”

He started for the door, then turned back and gave me a wicked smile. For the second time in one night I found it hard to get to sleep.





Twenty-eight


The next morning Mrs. Boone brought me up a bowl of porridge and some rashers of bacon.

“I’ve sent a boy to fetch your things,” she said. “They

should be here any minute. Did you sleep well?”

“Apart from bumping into Cullen Quinlan in the middle of the night, and nearly dying of fright,” I said dryly. “Why didn’t you warn me he was staying in the next room?”

“I wasn’t sure whether Mr. Quinlan wanted that fact known. And it must never be mentioned to anyone but me,” she said. “Even Lady Ash-burton doesn’t know where Mr. Quinlan has gone. The authorities must have no whiff of the fact that he is in Dublin until the event. Many lives depend on it.”

I glanced up at her. She was calmly laying out a knife, fork, and spoon onto the marble-topped table.

“Are you the one they call Queen Mab?” I asked.

“Queen Mab?” She looked amused. “The only Queen Mab I’ve heard of is the queen of the fairies, and I don’t think I have the build, my dear. Think of the size wings you’d need to lift this body off the ground.” She chuckled. “Now don’t let your breakfast get cold.”