Monday 26th September – 11.30 a.m.
James could see the situation that was about to unfold, as he watched Aoife and her newly discovered grandparents gape in horror at Brandon’s claim.
‘Brandon!’ his mother gasped.
The colour drained from Aoife’s face. ‘W … what do you mean?’
Maeve shoved Brandon’s chest, thunderous with fury. ‘Don’t you dare suggest—’
Staggering backwards, Brandon threw his hands up in disbelief at Maeve. ‘I’m not suggesting anything. I’m just the one who had to live with it.’
A frisson rippled around the family in the room. Furtive glances darted between Finn and Sean; Conor exhaled. But Maeve was ferocious. ‘Don’t you dare go round saying—’
‘You’re the one hell-bent on finding the truth. Don’t you like it, now you’ve heard it?’
‘I don’t think you’re very well acquainted with the truth, Brandon. Let’s just leave it at that, shall we?’ Maeve simmered, green eyes flashing. ‘Aoife, don’t take any notice. Brandon’s always been this way. Jealous of everything and everyone.’
‘Oh, yeah, that’s right.’ Brandon’s brittle sarcasm spiked through his nasal tone. ‘No jealousy from Finn – that the boring brother got the girl he had his eye on – was there? Never did stop him flirting with her, seeing if he could make trouble. Then your man over there,’ he jutted his chin towards Conor, ‘was always in the shadows, watching and waiting, expecting things to go wrong. While Sean was busy making a pretence of smoothing things over, so he was always in everyone’s good books.’
‘You’re deluded,’ Maeve snapped.
Finn glared at his brother. ‘Well, Siobhan wasn’t getting what she wanted from you, was she? We knew she was unhappy.’
‘You couldn’t know what was going on.’ Brandon’s eyes burned.
‘We all knew it, Brandon,’ Finn said. ‘We all watched the light in her go out. And we were all helpless.’ He gave a pitiful shrug. ‘I guess at least she could confide in me, talk to me. It wasn’t enough, but it was something.’
‘What? ’ Maeve turned, eyes blazing. ‘What did she tell you?’
Their parents looked on – shock burning from both the Kennedys and the Delaneys at the exchange – but were unable to interrupt.
‘Come on, Maeve,’ Sean said. ‘Even if she didn’t spell it out, you must’ve seen it.’
‘Yeah, I saw it, thank you. But she never said anything. I never had the chance to help her. And now you’re telling me she confided in you? Told you? ’ Maeve gaped. ‘Hold on … was Brandon right? Were you having an affair with her, Finn?’
‘That’s my daughter you’re all talking about!’ Maeve’s mother stood up, trembling so much she had to hang onto the fire surround. ‘How dare you make accusations like this, besmirching her name – on the day of her wake.’
‘That’s right, Brandon,’ Maeve challenged. ‘Do you have any proof for this slander?’
‘Not yet.’ Brandon turned to Nell and his grim expression made her stomach thump with dread. ‘But we could have. Once and for all. Couldn’t we, Nell?’
‘Out! All of you! Now!’ Maeve’s tiny mother swatted them away to the door. ‘I won’t have you here if you’re arguing. And I won’t have you here speaking about our Siobhan like that. Go. All of you.’
The brothers sloped off, like chided adolescents, their parents with them as if wanting to save any awkwardness.
Only Maeve appealed to her mother, trying to explain her motives. ‘Mammie, we may only have this chance to find out what happened to her. Don’t blame me for chasing the truth.’
‘There’s only one fact that matters. And that’s that she’s gone and not coming back to us. It’s broken our hearts, Maeve. And we don’t need you heaping more sorrow on it. Let her just rest in peace now.’
James loitered in the doorway, hearing Maeve’s plea.
‘Fine, Mammie. Then I’ll keep quiet. But please don’t bar me from my own sister’s wake.’ Emotion was getting the better of her, her voice rising in her desperation.
Her mother fixed her with a hard stare. ‘You’re not the type to keep quiet, though, are you? Don’t you think it’s been bad enough, hearing people’s theories about her all these years? I don’t want anyone – including you – firing any of those wicked scandals up on the very day we’re setting her soul to rest. So you can go along with the rest of them.’
Nell saw Maeve’s bitter resentment at being turned out of her own sister’s wake. And she knew it was only making her all the more determined to get to the truth. Her stance was rigid with fury, her face grim.
As she tried to keep up with Maeve’s purposeful stride, Nell was glad for the fresh air. Her eyes were hot and gritty from lack of sleep, and the bracing wind on her face was refreshing. The view of the harbour and the village stretched out below them, but Nell had no time to take it in as Maeve caught up with the brothers.
‘You heartless bastard, Brandon.’ She thumped the back of his shoulder, making him turn, eyes flashing dangerously. ‘How dare you. That’s my family back there, needing support today. And I needed to be there.’
Brandon wheezed a laugh. ‘You might be her family, Maeve, I was her next of kin. No one thinks that she might have hurt me, do they?’ He shrugged at Maeve. ‘If you’re so certain of her, get the tests done.’
Immediately, Nell was bombarded with questions by Finn. What kind of test? How long would it take? What kind of samples? When could she do it?
‘Whoa, hold on!’ Nell raised her hands. ‘I’m not saying I’m doing anything—’
‘Oh, please, Nell! You’re our only hope!’ Aoife hurried to Nell’s side.
Nell shook her head. ‘I’m very much not your only hope! There are hundreds of companies who could process samples, who aren’t as involved as me, who would do an accurate, reliable job! And surely, you don’t want even the slightest element of doubt?’
‘Oh, come on, Nell! I saw you in the lab,’ Aoife cajoled. ‘You obviously know what you’re doing. We’d all trust you! And you’d do it in a few hours! None of us want to be in suspense any longer. Do we?’
Waves of tension emanated from Finn and Sean and Brandon.
Nell met Rav’s eyes, and she knew the same foreboding cycloned in his gut.
There would be no good answer from this. Someone was bound to be disappointed at best, distraught at worst – that they were or weren’t the father. Maybe all the heartbreak, betrayal and pain would pour out when they shot the messenger.
But maybe this would give Maeve the resolution she needed to find peace. And give Aoife the answers she needed. Maybe even lay some ghosts to rest for the brothers.
They walked on in silence until they reached the farmhouse, where everyone naturally gravitated to the kitchen, and Brandon asked, ‘What would we do? Hypothetically.’
They sat round the large table as if there had been no dispute, and they were discussing something they’d already agreed upon.
‘Well …’ Nell glanced at Conor. ‘If you want to demonstrate it’s conclusive, you should all take the test. Then you’ll see the differences between you all, and whose DNA sequence out of the brothers would make up the gaps between Siobhan’s and Aoife’s DNA. But, of course, you may not all want to. And it’s time-consuming—’
‘Right. So we’ll have Nell test all of us.’ Brandon’s sweeping gesture took in all his brothers before he turned to Maeve, voice low. ‘Unless you’ve got a problem with that?’
Maeve was clearly unable to disagree. But, catching the expressions of Finn and Sean – tense and shifty – Nell paused. Something about their reactions fired her curiosity. Her glance slid to Conor. His almost imperceptible but firm nod told her: he’s OK with this.
‘Fine,’ Nell relented, and Aoife gave a relieved sigh. ‘But let me give you some caveats. It might not work – I may not get a conclusive result, and you may want to verify it with a professional company. So I don’t mind trying, as long as you understand that this might not give any answers at all. And if it does, they may not be the answers you want.’
Everyone around the table fell silent, gazes twitching. As Aoife hugged her arms around herself, her sleeve rode up, revealing a bracelet.
Maeve gasped, then asked, ‘Would you show me that bracelet?’
Around Nell, the brothers froze, and Conor spun round to see.
Wide-eyed, Aoife held her arm out so Maeve could inspect the multi-coloured, six-stranded leather plait.
‘How did you come by this?’ Maeve demanded.
‘It was left with me, wrapped around my wrist,’ Aoife said. ‘This and the locket were the only two things I had from her.’
‘She must have made one for you,’ Maeve said. ‘Just like she made all of ours.’ She pulled up her own sleeve, revealing a matching braid. ‘I couldn’t wear mine while I was in the army. But I kept it and wore it again when I could. And they’re the same. Right down to the coloured leather strands. She made one for each of us.’
Sean peered at the intricate design. ‘Oh yeah. The sage green thread is for me. Because I was always the wise one.’
‘You were green because you were … well, green.’ Maeve retorted. ‘Fuchsia for flashy Finn. Magenta for me.’ She glanced at Aoife with a self-conscious smile. ‘Siobhan and I were a bit grungy and gothy, always in black or purple.’ Maeve tweaked one of Aoife’s cerise curls. ‘She had purple hair for most of her teen years. She’d have loved this.’ The tender look shadowed. ‘And black for Brandon.’
‘Oh?’ Aoife looked surprised. ‘Another goth?’
‘No,’ Sean said, ‘just moody.’
‘Nice, that, wasn’t it? We were dating then.’ Brandon folded his arms, glowering.
Maeve carried on. ‘It was silver for Siobhan.’
‘Because she was quick,’ Sean quipped.
‘And copper for Conor.’ Maeve eyed him. ‘Remember?’
Sylvia looked at him askance, but said nothing.
‘Because I was called the Bad Penny,’ Conor said. He shot a hard look at Finn, who managed to miss the glare.
‘Yeah.’ Sean found humour where Conor didn’t. ‘Because if there was trouble, then there was Conor. Turning up like the proverbial.’
Conor stared at Sean until the younger brother’s smile faltered, and he looked away.
‘Is that the kind of thing that was said to the Garda, though?’ Nell asked, fearful at the bad feeling stacking up against Conor. ‘You know, at the time …?’
‘No,’ Sean gave a half-laugh and a little relief seeped through Nell. Until he finished his sentence. ‘No need. It was common knowledge.’
Finn laughed with his brother, as if relishing the criticism of Conor. ‘Especially when Bran moved out. You could make a fight out of anything, then, Con. Mammie and Da thought it was because you’d lost the influence of your big brother. Had to send you away.’
‘Oh yeah! To Aunt Mabel’s at Gwendreath.’ Sean’s nose scrunched in recollection. ‘Didn’t she set you on some house renovation work?’
‘Supposedly.’ Finn snorted. ‘From the photos it looked like he had a charmed summer of surfing, mucking about on their smallholding and posing with no shirt and a toolbelt. Jammy sod. Wonder if the place is still standing?’
‘You stayed until Christmas, didn’t you?’ Sean asked. ‘And into the new year. I always wondered why you were there all that time, Con.’
‘What, you think I was in a hurry to get back to your ugly mugs?’ Conor sat back, folding his arms. ‘Some of us were moving on with our lives, weren’t we? It was a year of … of change. For all of us.’
There was something pained in Conor’s tone, which only made Nell’s concern grow.
Maeve nodded. ‘Yeah, after Brandon and Siobhan got married, everything fell apart, didn’t it? She was in such a hurry to grow up, move out, be independent. Break free. Not have the expectations of running the family business on her shoulders.’ She shook her head. ‘Which I do not understand.’
Sean caught her hand, and they exchanged a rallying smile.
‘I suppose that’s why I still wear that stupid bracelet she made me.’ Maeve sighed. ‘Reminds me of when it was simpler. When we were all close. Before all the heartache.’ Her gaze swept around the brothers. ‘Don’t any of you still have your bracelets?’
Nell tried not to react. But a certainty thumped through her that its copy – the one that Siobhan had clutched in her hand – had obviously been taken by Maeve.
And now, Nell understood why it was significant.
‘Oh, somewhere,’ Finn said. ‘I use it as a bookmark. It’s probably in the book I brought with me.’ He gave a sheepish smile. ‘Couldn’t bring myself to part with something she’d made for all of us.’
Sean shot Maeve a sentimental glance and she nodded at him, saying, ‘I know yours is tucked in that keepsake box under your bed.’
‘Oh, you do, do you?’ Sean smiled. But Maeve had already turned to Brandon and Conor, expectant.
They stayed silent, both staring out towards the sea.
‘Brandon?’ Maeve’s voice was low and dangerous.
When he shook his head, she strode towards him, reaching to grab his sleeve.
‘Hey!’ He snatched his arm back.
But Maeve was raging at Brandon. ‘I know for a fact that Siobhan grabbed the bracelet from the person who attacked her …’
Conor glanced up, his dark gaze unreadable as he stared at Maeve.
‘… And lo and behold, Brandon – you’ve lost yours.’