Page 22 of When Kings Rise

Rian nods and smiles. “Yes, forty years of the man’s life gone. Poof.” He raises both of his hands up, presses his fingers together, then opens them wide. “Just like that. So, I like to keep an eye on unsolved murders. I have a police scanner and fire scanner in my home. It helps me keep up with the emergency calls in the area.”

“That’s neat,” I say, not sure what else to add.

“I arrived at the scene of Andrew’s body before the investigators got here. So yeah, it’s really neat,” he grins again.

“What do you know about Andrew’s death?” I probe.

His grin widens. “So, you have an interest in unsolved crimes.”

I nod. “Yes,” I lie. My interest is only in this crime, in finding out more about Diarmuid, and now Victor is of interest to me.

“You didn’t say where you were from.” He's suspicious of me now.

“Neither did you,” I fire back.

“Touche. Okay, so the scene was discovered by a pair of mushroom pickers. This case is high profile, as the family that Andrew O’Sullivan belongs to has a long-running history of being involved in organized crime.”

He glances at me, and I raise my brows as if surprised.

“They say they have left that life, but they all say that. Whatever the O’Sullivans are into now is even bigger and more secretive.”

“So, are you a conspiracy theorist also?”

“I don’t close off any avenue of investigation. That’s what makes me so good.”

I want to ask him how many crimes he's solved but resist, as that doesn’t really matter here. All I need is information. I don’t even have to ask any questions, as he seems happy to offer up all he knows.

“On the day that Andrew was found, he was not the subject of the emergency call. A woman’s body was found lying on Andrew’s.” Rian stops walking, and so do I. “I saw two bodies come out of these woods. I have been trying to see if there are any clues here that the investigators missed. Might have missed on purpose, if my theories are right.”

“A woman’s body? I never heard about that.” Which I hadn’t. I want to ask him if he's sure, but he's claiming to have seen it with his own eyes, and if he has a Gardaí scanner that he listened to when the call was made, there is no reason for him to lie to me. But I wonder why no one else knows about the woman’s body. Maybe we shouldn’t be here; this seems far more dangerous than I thought. Not just one body but two.

“You need to be careful,” I say to Rian. He seems nice, and eager to solve this crime, but people like him might get hurt. If someone like Victor knew he was snooping around, would his name end up on some piece of paper in an abandoned post box? Would mine?

“Maybe stick to Gardaí scanners and the internet to do your research.”

“What would be the fun in that? Besides, I’ve already been arrested twice, but I’m determined to find the truth.”

The truth. Is it worth the price of someone finding out he has been poking his nose into the burial site? I’m questioning myself for even being here.

I shiver as my damp clothes and hair soaks into my bones. I had forgotten about the rain, too enthralled in what Rian had to say.

“I better go,” I say, giving a little wave before turning away.

“You came here for the same reason as I did. You want to know what happened.”

The truth is, I don’t care what happened; I was seeking some kind of information on Diarmuid and his family, not to find out who murdered a woman.

I don’t say anything, and Rian takes a step closer to me. He presses a business card into my hand. “You can call me if you ever want to find out the truth.”

I want to hand the card back, but it’s Rian who jogs off before I can do so. I glance down at the heavy paper.

When I glance back up, Rian is out of sight, swallowed up by all the trees and underbrush. I pray his curiosity doesn’t lead to his ruin.

I stuff the card into my pocket and start back toward the village. I’ll dump the card, as I don’t want Diarmuid to find out that a man gave me his phone number, not after what happened with the maid. He’s far more dangerous than anyone truly knows.

Chapter Ten

Diarmuid

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