Death Wears a Four-Leaf Clover: A Nora Duffy Mystery

By Babs L. Murphy

In this third book in the series about Nora Duffy, her family, and friends, Death Wears a Four-Leaf Clover follows the progressively violent activities of a young man obsessed with the idea that his copper four-leaf clover necklace will protect him from death.

Nora is a petite pediatric brain surgeon based in Chicago, whose handsome lawyer husband, Tom Barry, continues to think of her as his Irish warrior princess. Having inherited a castle in the town of Sneem on the southwestern coast of Ireland from her great-uncle, Nora and her family, along with their precocious four-year-old daughter, travel to Ireland for the first time after a global pandemic--only to be once again surrounded by mayhem and murder.

An elderly woman, trapped in her small car, is pushed into a mire and quickly sinks into the quicksand. This is followed by other mysterious deaths, and the assaults continue during a vacation around Europe.

Despite this, many positive events have taken place over the last year at the castle. The valuable treasures discovered in a hidden room have been given to a museum in Dublin, and the renovations of the collapsed part of the castle have been finished. The store on the estate is thriving, and the proceeds are used to help the poor and orphaned at St. Brigid's Orphanage. The Medical Research Center has finally been completed, and a dedicated group of researchers are seeking answers to long-neglected diseases. Owing to the success of their medical supply business during the pandemic, Nora is able to add a second woman to the board.

Things should be looking up for Nora and family, but a possible new claimant to Uncle Cy's fortune appears and causes heartache and distress. Once again, Nora and Tommy, along with Garda Chief Jack Brennan and Solicitor Fiona Finnegan, are mystified when murders occur with seemingly no motive or clue as to the killer's identity. Nora and Tom's friends from the Chicago Police Department continue to protect the family, whether they are enjoying the Irish countryside or visiting the Parliament buildings in London, the catacombs in Paris, or the rocky desert Skellig Michael Island, where death is no stranger. Meanwhile, the latest Duffy Hall Castle ghosts are determined to cause as much trouble as possible at the castle and environs, which they consider theirs.

Nora and Tom try to maintain a sense of balance amidst this chaos, relieving their stress with the many activities of their large families and trusting that God is in charge every step along the way of their interesting but traumatic journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638819752

Book preview

cover.jpg

Death Wears a Four-Leaf Clover

A Nora Duffy Mystery

Babs L. Murphy

Copyright © 2022 Babs L. Murphy

All rights reserved

First Edition

NEWMAN SPRINGS PUBLISHING

320 Broad Street

Red Bank, NJ 07701

First originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2022

ISBN 978-1-63881-974-5 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63881-975-2 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Chapter 59

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Chapter 62

Chapter 63

Chapter 64

Chapter 65

Chapter 66

Chapter 67

Chapter 68

Chapter 69

Chapter 70

Chapter 71

Chapter 72

Chapter 73

Epilogue

About the Author

For the victims of SARS-CoV-2 and their many and varied caregivers

The Road goes ever on and on,

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

—sung by Bilbo Baggins in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

[B]ut about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.'

You will not surely die, the serpent told her. For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

—Genesis 3:3–5 (Berean Study Bible)

Chapter 1

Friday, May 10

Sneem, Ireland—9:00 a.m. IST

Jerry O'Rafferty decided during the night that this was the day that he would kill Derval's grandmother.

He had been tossing and turning on his narrow mattress last night when he felt that familiar pain behind his left ear that no amount of rubbing or aspirin would relieve. He knew that he would not be able to sleep again until it was finished, so it was time to stop dithering and just get it done.

Derv told him yesterday that Josie said that he was a lazy, crazy, drunk and that she should be afraid of him. He had been trying to ignore the old lady, but that was the tipping point for him. He really hated it when people called him crazy. The last person who had done it had fallen off a roof.

He had no qualms about killing off an old and sick woman; he thought that he was really being kind to her. Derv told him that her grandmother was always in a lot of pain, so a quick death would be merciful for her as well as good for him.

Derval's help was essential to his scheme to get more money than he would ever want from that rich American girl who now owned the nearby Duffy Hall Castle. He needed Derv's loyalty and ability to focus on the plan he had been working on for many months, but he knew that her grandmother's influence was strong and deep.

Josie hated him, with good reason, he had to admit, and he was sure that Derv would never have the guts to carry out the plan as long as Josie was alive.

Derval had told him many times that she wanted to get away from the old woman and her strict rules, so he had little fear that she would feel too bad when she was gone. One never knew about women, though, and he wasn't convinced that Derv meant what she said. She had been living with her grandmother since she was six years old, and he sensed that she had a bundle of conflicting emotions about Josie.

Derv had told him that today was the one day in the week when her grandmother ventured out in her old black Volkswagen to the pharmacy in town to pick up her heart pills and chat with some of her friends. A driving accident like he had in mind would be the ideal way to make the old lady disappear.

Jerry fastened his old black skinny jeans and started to pull on his Van Morrison Loves Brown Eyes T-shirt over his head but realized that he was in a lot of pain. Breen Cassidy had finished up tattooing the large black-and-red skull on his left arm yesterday. He admired the impressive piece of artwork again in the old mirror above his dresser, but he needed something without sleeves today. He rummaged through the pile of clothing on the floor next to his bed and found his old black leather vest.

Another glance in the mirror at the bags under his eyes told him that he'd been having too much alcohol and not enough sleep. He gave up looking for a comb and just ran his fingers through his long black hair. He usually shaved because he hated the feeling of those hairs on his face, but he thought it would be best if he left right away.

He retrieved a plate from under the dresser and saw the dried-up remains of a stinky hamburger and catsup, which a family of some kind of skittering bugs was enjoying. I'd better get Derv over here soon, he thought to himself. Everything needs a good wash.

He needed a cigarette but saw that he was down to only two in his pack of Marlboros. His hands were shaking as he hurriedly lit one up and took a deep drag to get that rush he needed. He made sure that his large necklace with the copper four-leaf clover was straight. He would need some luck today to make his plans for Josie work out.

He looked for something to eat, but breakfast would have to consist of the leavings of last night's pizza and Killian's Red. He grabbed them as well as a bag of Tayto chips and a Diet Coke. He switched off the radio, which interrupted the Beatles in their rendition of A Hard Day's Night, a song that suited his mood perfectly.

He headed out to his dark-green SUV, drove to Josie's house, and parked well enough away so his car would not be seen. He walked over to the gray metal toolshed and hid behind it. He saw Derval leave to go to work wearing the pale-blue coat that she loved. It did look good with her blond hair, but Jerry thought that she didn't have too many brain cells working underneath those yellow curls.

Whether he would have to kill Derval too was a question for another day in the future, after he had the money. He needed to get out of his dreary basement flat and begin to live like he had always dreamed of doing.

He had let Derv think that they might be getting married soon, but once it was all over and he had the money, he would go back to Dublin and his longtime girlfriend, Saoirse. He smiled as he thought about that willowy girl who made few demands on him and exuded more sex appeal with a wave of her long black hair than Derval could do with her whole body.

Jerry wasn't sure how long he'd have to wait to see Josie make her exit from the house. He was just settling down to enjoy his snacks when he saw the old crone dressed in black with her distinctive long white ponytail topped with a rumpled pink straw hat. She moved faster than he thought she would as she struggled down the rickety stairs with her cane and headed for her rusty black car.

He made sure that Josie had a good head start and then followed in her wake with his Volvo. She drove like she lived, slowly and with no variation to the left or right.

Once the old lady arrived at the pharmacy, Jerry parked on the other side of the road and commenced eating his chips. She was in there quite a long time, and he thought they were probably talking about the shenanigans that young people were getting into in today's world. Little did she know what this young man had planned for her.

Once Josie got back to her car and took the road that led back to Sneem, Jerry knew that the old lady had fallen into his trap. He had been a little concerned lest she might drive someplace else, but it was clear that she was just planning to go home.

As they neared the road back to Sneem, Jerry gunned his car and cut her off from the entrance. She shook her fist at him and gestured for him to move, but he pretended that he was stuck, and she had no choice but to take the infrequently used, long-way-around road that led to the Atlantic Ocean. Jerry felt that sudden surge of exhilaration when his plans were working out well, and the pain behind his ear started to subside.

The earlier misty weather had quickly changed to a storm, and the crackle of thunder and lightning and driving rain matched Josie's fear and tears as she searched for an alternate way to get back home. She had recognized Jerry's Volvo by now and realized that he was forcing her to drive her old Volkswagen as fast as she could on this narrow stretch of roadway.

The fog this close to the sea was dense, and her rearview mirror told her that Jerry's dark-green SUV was getting closer and closer to her. She had warned Derval that Jerry might someday want to kill her, but now she realized that he was planning to do the same to her.

The terrified old woman tried to remember the Act of Contrition she had learned in a long-ago catechism class when one thought death was near, but she could only recall a few words, O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee… She frantically pleaded with the Mother of God, Hail, Mary, full of grace…pray for me now and at the hour of my death, and protect Derval…

The wheels of the Volkswagen made a squealing sound as she whipped around the sharp curve, and a large yellow triangle sign at the edge of the road warned:

Slow Ahead

Bracken Mire

Quicksand

A second sign posted next to it reiterated the warning in Irish:

Mall Romhainn

Bracken Mire

Mearsand

Josie heard the first crunch of metal and felt pain in her spine as Jerry banged into the back of her car. She managed to right her old car and drive a little farther, but a second and more powerful crash made her head fly first backward and then slam forward into the steering wheel. Josie gave a high-pitched scream as she realized that her car was plowing through the high metal fence and sailing out over the mire.

Mercifully, she was now unconscious from the whiplash and concussion she had sustained so she was not aware that it took only a short time for the little black car to gradually disappear into the depths of the dark muck.

A lorry driver going the other way heard the tremendous noise of the crash and called the Garda on his phone. He said that he hadn't seen any vehicles involved, but judging by the sound, he thought that two cars must have hit each other right near the mire. Garda John Lynch thanked him for the report and said it was too dark to see now. They would be investigating it and talking to him tomorrow.

Jerry had sped off with a sigh of relief and a smile on his face, thinking that the first part of his plan had gone easier than he thought. He remembered some old movie that said murderers always make at least one mistake, and he didn't want anyone to ever say that about him. He was so smart, and the local gardai were not. They had never discovered that he had killed three other women.

He mulled over important next steps. On the way back to his apartment, he pulled over under some trees and carefully stepped through the squelchy soil next to a slough. He got out some tools and removed his dented front green bumper that had many splotches of black paint on it. He saved the number plate and then watched as the bumper sank slowly into the dark water. It was a shame that his headlamp had gotten smashed and dented, but he'd worry about that later.

Jerry thought now would be a good time to visit his cousin in London for a week or so and whistled a happy tune as he got back onto the road. He stopped back at Derval's house and left her a note saying that he had left for London that morning to help out an old mate of his and would be gone for at least a week.

He went back to his apartment, put together a knapsack, and then hastily headed for Dublin and the ferry trip across the Irish Sea to Liverpool. Once he got to Dublin, he might stop in to see Saoirse, and that prospect lightened his mood even more.

Jerry recalled an interview he had watched with Bono and U2 talking about some of the differences between Ireland and America. He said that in America people pass a mansion on a hill and think, One day, I'll live there. In the part of Dublin where he was from, they see the mansion on a hill and they think, One day, I'm going to get that son of a bitch.

Jerry was in a mood to get any son of a bitch who challenged him. Bono and his mates had achieved the kind of lifestyle that he wanted, and nothing was going to stand in his way of doing the same.

He thought about leaving his car in the ferry boat parking lot, but on the off chance that some alert gardai would notice that his right front headlamp was smashed and his number plate was missing, he drove to his friend's garage. He asked Declan Stokes to fix up his car and store it there for about a week. Declan looked annoyed, but Jerry knew he would do it since he owed him several favors. He would also be too afraid of what Jerry would do to him if he didn't do what he asked.

He had a few hours to wait for the ferry, so Jerry walked over to Saoirse's small house. Her parents were Irish gypsies or tinkers, and she had grown up with the wisdom acquired from ancient practices. Jerry wondered if she had inherited a witch's magic from her people.

Her beguiling dark eyes and dark hair certainly placed a spell over him whenever they were together. She covered her lovely shape with thin pastel dresses that accentuated her curves and ramped up his desire.

Saoirse had developed a small business of making Irish jewelry and stained-glass pieces that she sold out of her backyard and at local fairs. She had decorated her two small rooms with billowy white curtains that drifted back and forth in the breezes that came from the sea. Hanging silver bells tinkled, and crystals reflected every color of the rainbow. She was obsessive about her place being clean and smelling of Murphy's Oil Soap and fragrant oils. Vases of small flowers sat on every table.

Jerry wanted to surprise her by showing up early, and he had stopped at a gas station to tidy himself up before going to her house. She liked him to be clean and tidy. He stood outside her door for a while and listened as she played a wistful tune on her small harp. Saoirse gave a pleased gasp of welcome to him when she saw his face, and he entered her charming domain. There was only room for a modicum of furniture, but her small bed, covered in a fluffy white coverlet, was all they needed to spend a few hours drinking and making love.

He thought to himself, God, this girl is so good at what she does to me. He told Saoirse that it was time for him to go now, but he hoped to see her after he returned from England. She gave him a sandwich, a bottle of beer, and a pack of Marlboros for his trip and kissed him tenderly.

He then jogged over to the Liverpool ferry entrance and was glad that the Irish Sea looked calm for his seven-and-a-half-hour trip. He had a tendency to seasickness and usually stayed away from being on the water whenever he could.

He sat in the indoor section of the large boat in the hopes of taking a nap. He would still have to take a three-hour bus ride to London after arriving in Liverpool. Being inside seemed like a good idea at first, but the foul smell of engine oil was stronger down here, and he recognized the first signs of seasickness as the boat pitched up and down. They were selling snacks down here too, and it was noisy with people chattering and kids crying.

Jerry went up to the deck, found a striped chair, and closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at the never-ending waves. It was cold out here, but the prescient Saoirse had given him a small blanket that he huddled under. He listened to the squawking of the seagulls that followed in the ferry's wake and made sure that his four-leaf clover necklace was turned the right way. He ate his sandwich and drank the ale, and he eventually dozed off.

Jerry thought to himself that he would work his charms on Derval again when he returned to Sneem. He was sure that she would not connect his leaving with the death of her grandmother. The power of a young woman's love to obliterate her common sense always amazed him.

Chapter 2

Friday, May 10

Sneem, Ireland—6:00 p.m. IST

When Derval returned from work, she was surprised that Josie's Volkswagen was not in the driveway. She wondered where in the world her grandmother could be. The old woman had been somewhat of a recluse even before the COVID-19 pandemic; she only left her house occasionally and then came right back. Derval didn't feel much love for the old lady, but she had relied on her protection for so long, and she was afraid of being alone. This had never happened before, and she tried to think of what to do.

She called Mr. Brown, the pharmacist, and he said that Josie had been in his shop that afternoon but just for a short time. He said that there were usually other people having a cup of coffee, but this morning, no one else had come in. In addition to picking up her heart pills, Josie had bought some Epsom salts and said she was going home to soak her sore feet, so he had the impression that she was heading for home right away.

Derval worked at the market in town where Josie sometimes stopped to pick up a few groceries, but she knew that she had not been there today. Once before, Josie had gone to her old friend Bertha's house, but a call there assured her that Bertha had not seen Josie in months.

Between her nervousness about Josie's disappearance and the disappointing note from Jerry saying that he could be gone for a week, Derval found it impossible to sleep. Finally, she called the Garda to report that her grandmother, Josephine O'Connor, should have been home hours ago, and she had no idea where she might be.

Garda John Lynch took down her information but said they would not do a formal investigation until twenty-four hours had passed. He encouraged Derval to come into the station in the morning to talk to him.

Early the next morning, a jogger, Jack Hollis, called Garda Lynch to say that he and his friend ran down the old road that led to the sea and past Bracken's Mire every day. Today they were surprised to see that the high metal fence around the sharp curve had been knocked flat, and they feared that some type of vehicle must have fallen into the mire. The jogger said they couldn't see a thing through the thick fog, and they didn't want to get any closer to the quicksand than they were.

Garda John Lynch thanked Jack for his call, and he began to wonder if there was a connection between the disappearance of the grandmother and the knocked-down fence next to the mire. If there was a car in there, he had no idea how they would go about removing it, but he called his construction friend who worked at Cork Harbour and asked for his advice.

Ken Melville in Cork told Garda Lynch that under no circumstances should the local garda think they could handle trying to extricate a car from the deep muck of the mire. It would be a hard and dangerous job, one that should be done by professionals with the proper equipment. Garda Lynch quickly concurred with this advice and said Ken would be hearing more from his chief tomorrow.

John murmured a quick prayer for anyone who might have lost their life in such a horrible manner. He also updated Chief Albert Byrnes about the little he knew about the case so far.

Chapter 3

Saturday, May 11

Sneem, Ireland—9:00 a.m. IST

Derval had had a distressing sleep after realizing that something bad must have happened to her grandmother. She hadn't realized how many small noises just happened in an old house, like the shingle that flapped back and forth in the wind or the squeak in the floor for no reason. Josie's nightly routine before she turned off the lights had been to peek in on her granddaughter, which Derv had always regarded as an invasion of her privacy. Now she wished she could hear the swish-swish of Josie's old house slippers. No one now would even know or care if all was well with her.

She woke up realizing that she had fallen asleep in her clothes, so she hastily took a shower and changed into her favorite white jeans and blue flowered T-shirt. It was cool this morning, so she wiggled her way into her comfortable maroon Irish sweater.

She was unsure which place to contact first, but she decided to start with the local hospital. They assured her they had no patient there by the name of Josephine O'Connor. Josie used to be a frequent churchgoer at St. Mary's in Sneem, but her disability had prevented her from attending many services recently. Derval called the parish rectory and asked if they had heard any news about Josie, but Mrs. Hamilton, the rectory cook, said they hadn't seen her in quite some time. She remembered Josie well and hoped that she had not been injured. She asked Derval to let them know if she discovered any more news.

Derval finished dressing and realized that she was shaking as she attempted to brush her long blond hair. She had never bothered looking through the papers in Josie's old desk, but she tried to anticipate questions that the garda might ask her. She realized that she knew next to nothing about Josie's business dealings. She picked out a few papers she thought might be useful, and then she drove out to the garda headquarters in Sneem.

She asked for Garda Lynch, who shook her hand and expressed his sorrow and concern about her grandmother's disappearance. He jotted down all her information and asked if she knew the number plate of Josie's car. Derv had been able to find that in Josie's well-organized desk and handed it over to him. Garda Lynch said they would begin their investigation today.

He also told the pretty young woman that they had received word of a possible accident at Bracken's Mire and a knocked-down fence that indicated a car might have somehow driven into the quicksand. Derval felt tears spring into her eyes at the mention of quicksand, but she assured Garda Lynch that her grandmother was the most careful of drivers and only drove slowly to a very few places. Josie had often warned Derv not to go near that dangerous road that led to the sea.

We've hired a professional firm to use their equipment to see if they can drag the car up from the mire, Garda Lynch told the distraught girl. We can only hope that it's not your grandmother's car, but we should know more by tonight. In the meantime, let me know immediately if you hear anything more about her whereabouts.

Derval thanked the diligent garda for his help, and then she left to go to work at the convenience store. Many customers had heard about Josie's disappearance by now and expressed their good wishes to Derv. She tried to pay attention to her work, but the frightening thought of having to live on her own kept popping up in her mind.

She had never paid much attention to Josie's bills, but when she returned home, she searched through her desk. She realized that she knew little about how much money was involved to maintain a home, even an old one like theirs. She had thought of herself as a grown-up, but now she was properly scared about what lay in front of her. She had no one to help her.

Derv had tried to call Jerry several times on her mobile last night, but she had no answer. This was a particularly bad time for him to be gone when she needed his help so much.

She supposed that she should have driven out to Bracken's Mire to watch the retrieval operations to recover the sunken car, but the thought that it could be her grandmother's car that they fished out of the quicksand made her want to vomit. She anxiously awaited the call from the garda.

About 3:00 p.m., Derval saw the call coming in from Garda Lynch. He asked her to drive over to their headquarters and said he had more information for her. Mrs. Mallory, her boss at the convenience mart, knew that Derv must have had bad news, and she asked her if she would like her to accompany her. At first, she was going to refuse the kind offer, but she found that she was having trouble walking, let alone driving, so she said she would appreciate her help.

Garda Lynch and Chief Albert Byrnes greeted the two women at the door and guided them to a small conference room. They told them that a professional firm had pulled out the small black car from the mire, and there was a body in it that appeared to be an old woman. He handed Derval a mud-encrusted bag that she recognized as Josie's trusted black purse, which was always with her.

Derval's hands were shaking so much she dropped the bag onto the tile floor, which she noticed was old and cracked. A rushing noise filled her ears, and she started to fall forward, but Garda Lynch caught her. He waited for the girl to recover, and Chief Byrnes hurried over with a glass of water. He also directed one of the officers to contact Dr. Malone and ask him to come right over.

This had seemed like a police detective show from the telly before, but now it had become only too real, and Derval began to cry tears of fear and loneliness. She also cried for the horrible way in which her grandmother had died, and she finally allowed herself to think about the fear that Josie must have experienced. It must be true that you only remembered the good things about people when they die, and she thought of the many ways that Josie had kept her safe and provided for her.

Garda Lynch told her that there were numerous scratches and dents on the back of the little car, and they were going to be treating this as a suspicious death or homicide. Someone must have smashed into the back of her car and forced it to sail through the fence and into the quicksand. Those details provoked another set of tears from Derval. Dr. Malone arrived, quickly examined Derval, and gave her a sedative and some pills that she could take throughout the nighttime.

The kind garda asked if she was aware of any enemies that Josie might have had, but Derval shook her head no. He thanked Mrs. Mallory for helping Derval through this and asked them both to let him know if they thought of any other clues that could help in their investigation. He said that they would release the body to her for a funeral after a few days more.

The garda and Dr. Malone exchanged looks with each other that said even they were surprised about this level of heartlessness that had killed an old woman and traumatized her granddaughter. Garda Lynch thought to himself, Just when you think you've seen it all, you realize that there seems to be no limit to the depravity that people can sink to.

Derval went home, called St. Mary's, and told them what had happened. They were aghast at the news and said that someone would call on her tomorrow to help her through the coming days. She attempted to call Jerry again, but there was still no answer on his mobile. She thought that Jerry would be glad that he wouldn't have to put up with Josie's complaints anymore when he returned.

Mr. Leonard from the local funeral home called Derv and said that he had heard that they had recovered her grandmother's body, and he offered to help her make heads or tails of the arrangements and the bills.

Three days later, Derval was attempting to put together a dark-hued outfit that would be appropriate for a funeral. The best she could do was a pull-on skirt and a black blouse. She had no dark coat, but she looked through Josie's closet and settled for her black cloth coat. It was tight on Derv, but it looked well enough. Mr. Willoughby from St. Mary's had worked with Derv to comfort her and to prepare her for the funeral.

Mr. Leonard took charge of things, and a wake was held at St. Mary's, followed by a Mass said by Fr. Lanigan. The only music Derval recognized was Amazing Grace, and she asked God to comfort Josie and her. Then Josie was buried toward the back of the churchyard under a large oak tree. Mr. Leonard had told her he would order a small headstone for her, and Derval could make periodic payments to him.

Derval had seen funerals on television, but they were simply temporary scenes leading to the next part of the story. The entire experience today was surreal, and she stood there like a mannequin, mumbling some responses to the small band of people who had known Josie and offered her words of comfort. She hadn't thought about her parents in a long time, but it would have been nice to have someone who loved her to hold her up and assure her that things would work out. She knew she was truly alone in the world now, and she wished she could just hide under the bed like she used to when she didn't want to face reality.

Garda Lynch told Derval that no one they had contacted had the slightest idea of who might have been so anxious to get rid of Josie that they would have forced her car into the mire. They would keep the investigation open, but so far, it seemed it was at a dead end.