The Sin Eater(88)

‘Go on,’ said Benedict.

‘Somehow I don’t think he meant Benedict’s parents and grandfather to die,’ said Nell. ‘I think they just got in the firing line. Colm had committed those Mesmer Murders and perhaps he was ready to face the consequences of that, but—’

‘But there was the added weight of those other sins,’ said Benedict. ‘Nicholas Sheehan and Romilly. And even though it doesn’t sound as if either of them would have particularly serious sins on their consciences—’

‘Sheehan had apparently turned his back on his priest’s vows, and Romilly had aborted her unborn child,’ said Michael. ‘Colm and Declan would both see those as massive mortal sins.’

‘Yes. And Colm could only offload them on to the person who recited the original ritual.’

‘On Declan,’ said Nell. ‘Or on Declan’s descendants after his death. That’s fairly classic ghost behaviour.’

‘And for that he needed the chessman’s power,’ said Michael, thoughtfully. ‘So he may have been trying to keep the chess figure in Holly Lodge so he could harness its power. Benedict, did your parents know about the chess set?’

‘I don’t know. But I know my father believed there was something wrong inside Holly Lodge,’ said Benedict. ‘I remember him saying I should never go inside because “it” was still there. And my mother said, “Even after all these years?” and he said, “Yes,” very positively.’

‘They probably wouldn’t know all we do,’ said Michael. ‘But a few memories could have come down through Declan. Let’s not forget that Benedict’s grandfather was Declan’s son.’

‘But look here,’ said Nell, ‘are we really believing a nineteenth-century ghost carried me into that tunnel? Because there was no one in there when you both turned up.’

‘There wasn’t, was there? And yet I’m sure I saw someone going in there,’ said Benedict. ‘I’d followed him for quite a long way – even on the tube. That was all a bit peculiar,’ he said, sounding uncertain. ‘As if I might not have been quite in the present at all.’ He gave a half-grin. ‘Just imagination going into overdrive, I should think. But whoever I followed had a female with him. He wasn’t quite carrying her, but he nearly was.’

‘I saw that as well,’ said Michael. ‘And someone must have taken you there, Nell.’

‘Mightn’t it have been a twenty-first-century villain?’ said Nell. ‘A burglar – someone high on drugs?’

‘What would his reason be?’

‘If he was high on drugs he wouldn’t need a reason. Not a logical one.’

‘But you listened to all that stuff about sin-eating and the chess set.’

‘I’d fallen downstairs,’ said Nell, defensively. ‘I could have been unconscious or concussed and hallucinating.’

‘But what about Benedict’s story and all the confirmations we’ve found? All the people who existed? Fergal McMahon’s memoirs for instance. They’re clear enough, real enough.’

‘Fergal could have been fantasizing.’

‘Then how about the formidable brothel keeper? Flossie Totteridge existed. She’s on the Title Deeds to Holly Lodge.’

‘All right, I’ll give you Flossie Totteridge. But how did the house come to belong to Declan?’ demanded Nell. ‘He and Colm were penniless Irish boys, seemingly.’

‘That’s a missing piece so far,’ admitted Benedict. ‘But I’m trying to track it down – Land Registry and Land Searches and whatnot. I’ll find the evidence eventually.’

‘How about the evidence of the chess piece?’ said Michael to Nell.

‘Now you’re sounding like a Sherlock Holmes story. The Evidence of the Last Chess Piece.’

‘But even without Fergal’s memoirs, there’s that story in Owen’s book,’ said Michael. ‘Eithne who was a servant in Kilderry Castle.’

‘You don’t like that chess piece, do you?’ said Benedict suddenly, to Nell.

‘No. That’s why I’ve brought it here tonight. I think it should be burned or smashed into fragments.’

‘And the fragments cast to the four winds?’ said Michael, and although he spoke lightly he glanced uneasily at the small wrapped package on the table.

‘I’m being serious.’

‘Actually, so am I.’

Benedict looked at Nell. ‘You saw him,’ he said. ‘Colm, I mean. He didn’t stay in the shadows while he was with you, did he? You saw what he looked like.’

‘I’m not sure what I saw,’ said Nell, in a low voice, not looking at either of them. ‘Whatever it was, I’m still going to believe there’s a logical explanation – it’s just that we haven’t hit on it yet.’

Benedict said, ‘I’m going to return the chess figure to where all this began.’ He looked at them, and said, ‘I think it’s what Colm wants. It think it’s what he’s always wanted. So I’m going to take it back to Kilglenn.’

After Benedict had gone, Michael said to Nell, ‘You still don’t entirely believe, do you?’

‘Not entirely.’