Tharla cruinniú coiste de chuid bhuanchoiste an aonaigh
saothair ar siúl ar ardán an halla nuair a bhuail an Duinníneach
isteach agus bhí an tAthair Merrigan ag déanamh eadrána idir
seastán na gcístí agus lucht roth an áidh. Chuir sé na mná uaisle
ar fad in aithne don Duinníneach, a gheall go dtiocfadh sé chun
aonaigh agus go gceannódh sé stocaí bána cniotáilte uathu dá
mbeidís ar fáil. D’éalaigh siad on gcruinniú ansin agus shiúil
siad thart ar an halla, idir na stainníní, agus iad ag caint.

‘I’ll go in here myself,’ said Dineen when they reached the church.
‘I would like to have a few words with Tom Merrigan.’

A meeting of the standing committee of the job fair was taking place on the hall stage
when Dineen came in and Father Merrigan was mediating between the cake stand and
the wheel of fortune. He introduced all the ladies to Dineen, who promised to come to the
fair and buy white knitted socks from them if available. They then escaped from the meeting and walked around the hall, between the booths, talking.

‘I was glad to hear that Nellie Pinkerton was probably killed by a stranger,’
said Merrigan’. ‘When I saw poor Charlotte on the side of the road yesterday,
that poker in her hand, while she was raving about Nellie, a stabbing pain
came through my heart.’

‘Tá sé ina chúntóir anseo le trí bliana. Dea-thuairisc ó
plaróiste i Learpholl mar a raibh sé roimhe sin. Tuarastal an-
bheag aige. Síntúis ó lucht bainise agus tórraimh a chuireann im
ar an arán dó. Mná an pharóiste an-mhór leis, Nellie a rug air
agus rinne sí an-mhaith dó. Bíonn sé gléasta go galánta anois,
luach pionta ina phóca aige agus leathchloch meáchana curtha
suas aige.’

Dineen was especially interested in the coats for sale on the clothes stand.
‘What do you know about John Pinkerton?’
‘He has been an assistant here for three years. Good reports from a parish in
Liverpool where he was before then. He has a very small salary. Donations from
wedding parties and funerals put butter on the bread for him. The women of the parish
like him a lot, Nellie took him and did very well for him. He is now elegantly dressed, ‘
he has the value of a pint in his pocket and put on half a stone [7 lbs] of weight.

‘Cé tá freagrach as an eaglais a oscailt ar maidin agus a
dhúnadh istoíche?
‘John.’

‘Has he not left this place since the time he came in before ten
that you were called out?’
‘He was around. I was not watching him, but certainly. But doen’t that
matter? If he had done the deed, he would do it before coming in,
at ten, for him. But he did not commit the treachery, Patrick.
Some mad man broke into the house. A crazy person who did not
understand the harm he did. ‘
Dineen sighed.
‘Who is responsible for opening the church in the morning and
closisng it at night?’
‘John.’

D’fhill an tAthair Merrigan ar an gcruinniú. Shiúil an
Duinníneach chun na beairice. Bhí an Sáirsint Balfe ina oifig
agus cuma sháraithe air.

‘When did he close the church last night? ‘
‘Wait I will see. Michael Peter Ward’s body was brought in at six.
The relatives were around about seven or so. I myself left for the house
as soon as they left. I left it for John to turn off the lights and lock the doors.’
Father Merrigan returned to the meeting. Dineen walked to the barracks.
Sergeant Balfe was in his office and looked overwhelmed.

‘Ní dóigh liom gur ann dó,’ arsa an tAthair Pádraig go brónach. ‘Ní
ólfadh Nellie seiris le gadaí,’ a d’fhreagair Balfe.

‘It will be harder than we thought to find any information about this
stepbrother. I thought there would be some reference to it in the paperwork at
number 22, but the man dealing with it says no. Charlotte Lehane has no
knowledge about it. If he is the illegitimate son of the father of the deceased,
it is most likely he has his mother’s surname. . . ‘
‘I don’t think he was there/exists,’ said Father Patrick sadly. ‘Nellie would not drink
sherry with a thief,’ answered Balfe.

‘ ‘Bhfuil seoladh agat dó?’

‘Nellie did not drink sherry with anyone, Joseph. Her husband,
John Pinkerton, killed her. He had a house and money and
freedom to get out of it. He killed her in the morning with the
poker before leaving to ring the bell for Mass at ten ‘
‘But X came later. You saw it for yourself. He left a print on
the poker and a glass.’
‘Michael Peter Ward did that.’
‘Do you have an address for him?’

‘He was from Charlemont Mall but moved to Jerome Hill. This is how it
happened, Joseph, and you will have to seek the proof yourself. John
Pinkerton took a poker and a glass with him to church last night.
When everyone was gone, he removed a piece of the lid from the coffin and wrapped
the deceased’s fingers around the poker and around the glass. He secured
the coffin again and locked the church for the night. He took the glass
and the poker home with him. In the morning, he killed his wife in the
kitchen with the poker – wearing gloves, of course. He left her there.
Out with him. Charlotte called him. She did not notice that he had any
particular stress, as there wasn’t. He is a cool headed man. He rang the Mass bell. He blessed Father Merrigan. He welcomed the relatives of the deceased. Then when the
mass was being read by Merrigan, he put on the dun coat and the hat, as he has
often done in recent times, a scarf around his chin and hurried home.

I do not know whether he then put glass and sherry on the table
or whether he had already done so. He had made this trip in the dun coat
often enough for Charlotte to be convinced that some stranger was visiting
Nellie. He understood that Charlotte hated and loved him. He was certain she
would be watching 22. She would give evidence that X went into the house that
morning after he himself had left it. He fainted when he saw Charlotte carrying the
poker. He was afraid she had rubbed off Michael Peter Ward’s fingerprint, probably.

‘Cá bhfuair Pinkerton an cóta agus an hata? Cár choinnigh sé
iad? ‘

The Sergeant did not speak for some time.
‘It will be easy enough to prove that I am right,’ said Dineen.
‘Bring Michael Ward’s body up from the grave. . .’
‘Ward’s fingerprint could be found in his own home first.
There is no woman who would clean and polish before it.’
‘Where did Pinkerton get the coat and hat? Where did he keep
them? ‘

‘Bhí Nellie saoistiúil, éilitheach. Pinkerton an té a
bhainfeadh leas as an marú. Bhí seastán cótaí sa halla i 22, ach
bhí ribí den chineal a thiocfadh de chóta lachtna ar chathaoir sa
seomra suí. Ní théann éinne isteach sa seomra suí i dteach mar
sin. Cén fáth go bhfágfadh X a chóta ansin?

‘There has been stuff being collected for a job fair for a long time.
I noticed while walking around, some time ago, that there is a coat
of the right color on the clothes stand. Worth looking at them{?],
compare the thread with the hairs on the chair at number 22.’

‘What put this notion in your head for the first time?’ the
Sergeant later asked Dineen when he had gathered the evidence
and arrested John Pinkerton.
‘Nellie was bossy, demanding. Pinkerton was the one who would
get benefit from the killing. There was a coat stand in the
hall of 22, but there were hairs of the kind that would come from
a dun coat on a chair in the living room. Why would X leave his
coat there? ‘

It came to me while I was half asleep on the train home to
Portmarnock … How/Because Nellie could not be allowed to see it?
Why not be allowed? How/Because John Pinkerton could not come home
from church, a few times a week, after ringing the bell for
Mass at ten, and have a coat, which did not belong to him, hanging
in the hall.

X was a broad man. I saw, in my imagination, removing a coat, hat
and scarf and throwing it into the living room. I saw X hurrying
into the kitchen then. But it was the face of John Pinkerton,
his black coat on him, calling to Nellie that he had returned for a
cup of tea. . . or the like.’

Tamall ina dhaidh sin bhuail an Duinníneach isteach chuig
Charlotte Lehane agus shuigh sé ina parlús arís léi. Bhí cuirtíní
nua ar an bhfuinneog agus bhí an scáthán bainte den bhfalla.
Bhí Charlotte ábhairín maolchluasach.

‘I like it that we have your evidence to make a case
against him,’ said the Sergeant. ‘I would like/did not want to tell that
story to the judge.’
Came a time later Dineen came Charlotte Lehane and sat in her
parlor again with her. There were new curtains on the window and
the mirror was removed from the wall. Charlotte was somewhat
subdued.

‘Charlotte, ???,’ said Father Patrick, ‘Do you remember that I
mentioned a cousin, Seán Mac Gearailt, excellent man. Native
of Kerry, of course, who will be in for the All-Ireland term.
With the strength of the festival[???], you said that you would
take care of it. Well, would you believe that he wrote to me
saying to me that he will be coming to Dublin for the Spring
Show. What in the name of Crom, will I do with him? ‘

Ligh an cat dubh a bheola.

‘Well, Father,’ said Charlotte pompously, ‘in the usual way,
I would not think of letting a room to provide accommodation.
For a man, especially! . . . But, in this particular case,
since it is about a relative of yours, and you would be in a
fix if I would not come to your aid, I will make an exception
to the rule.’
The black cat licked its lips