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The two thousand that already existed around here weren’t enough, clearly.
Michael Swann was known to everyone in and around Fox Point. Swann Farm was on the outskirts of town, and the Swanns owned a ton of land, including a successful petting zoo that was open from April through October. From what I remembered Grandpa telling me, they were stinking rich until the markets crashed in 2008 and they had to sell off a portion of their land. I could only assume that was what they’d had issues over.
Alan Sumpter was Declan’s business partner at Tierney Construction Ltd. If it was true that he wanted out because of the legal issues the company was facing, then I couldn’t blame him. Not getting his fair share of what he was owed was definitely a strike against him.
And Stephanie Tierney.
Not to be stereotypical, but statistically, the romantic partner was the most likely one to be at fault. They clearly didn’t have a happy marriage—Gwen said they were divorcing, and it was shaping up to be a huge battle over their assets. She definitely stood to gain a hell of a lot more with Declan dead if he was trying to fight what she was owed, but I didn’t want to typecast her as a bitter estranged wife without knowing more.
That sounded like the kind of thing the Fox Point police would do. Home in on someone just because it seemed like it was the right thing, proof or no proof.
No. I wasn’t bitter. Not at all.
Ahem.
Alan and Stephanie had the clearest immediate motives, so I was going to start at the bottom: with Guy Quinn and Michael Swann. I knew the police would look at Alan and Stephanie first, if they ever gave up on me, and Ash had already said she might be able to bribe information out of Noah.
Unlikely, but not impossible, she’d said.
I also knew the least about Guy and Michael, so I started with a basic Google search.
I typed in Guy’s full name and only got one hit, so I added in the old secondary school’s name and tried again, this time getting tons of hits.
Bingo.
OLD SCHOOL LAND IN HIGH DEMAND
When the old secondary school closed nine years ago and students were moved to the new site closer to town, residents of Fox Point wondered what would become of the huge space it occupied.
After many years of discussion, the Fox Point Council’s planning department formed a committee to oversee the sale and development of the land. Companies and individuals were invited to visit and submit their plans for the space, and they were warned that plans favoured would be ones that served the local community.
Eighteen months ago, three applicants were told they’d made it to the final round of consideration: Declan Tierney and Alan Sumpter, owners of Tierney Construction Ltd; Whitmarsh Holiday Park Group; and Charles de Lorenzo, an independent bidder.
Despite having the most popular bid amongst the locals, Mr de Lorenzo withdrew from the running within weeks. It was suspected that Declan Tierney, most famous for constructing new-build estates with numerous issues, had paid him a large sum to back off. Both de Lorenzo and Tierney deny such claims, with the latter threatening legal action against those who continued to claim it as fact.
The committee assigned to the development have yet failed to reach a decision, being split almost exactly in half.
Many welcome Mr Tierney’s investment in the area. Born and raised close to Fox Point, Tierney told the Fox Point Post that it “would be an honour to invest in a community that has been so close to my heart for my entire life.” His business partner, Alan Sumpter, declined to comment.
Those welcoming the Tierney bid are vocal supporters of more housing being built locally. The local economy is booming thanks to Fox Point being named a Top 10 UK Staycation Spot for the fourth year running, and they believe a large, new housing estate complete with a public playground would entice business owners and entrepreneurs to the area on a more permanent basis.
On the other side are the supporters of the Whitmarsh Holiday Park Group. Their belief is that the town should invest in tourism rather than residency. Hotels, bed and breakfasts, and local holiday parks are booking out at a rate of knots, with several businesses no longer operating thanks to higher running costs. Some places, like the notable and once-popular The Ivy Bed and Breakfast by the dunes, have been closed for years.
Guy Quinn is one of the leaders of the committee and is vocally against selling the land to Tierney Construction Ltd, backing Whitmarsh Holiday Parks’ bid for the land.
“Tierney Construction isn’t the kind of business we want investing in Fox Point,” Mr Quinn told us. “You only have to do a quick search to see that his construction company might as well be building houses out of LEGO—buyers are reporting foundation issues, plumbing problems, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Fox Point is a historic community, being a seaside favourite for Britons since the Victorian times, and we should not be encouraging such shoddy investment in our town.”
Ouch.
Tell us how you really feel, Mr Quinn.
Indeed, Mr Quinn isn’t wrong. At the time of writing, there are six active lawsuits open against Tierney Construction Ltd, including one brought by a conveyancing company. Goodhart Conveyancing in Newquay, Cornwall, allege that Mr Tierney’s company failed to pay their fees when they carried out survey work on one of their new estates and found numerous serious issues that would have caused buyers to back out.
Robert Goodhart, owner, declined to discuss the case when we reached out, stating only that he “could not comment on an open legal matter,” but that he would “be happy to discuss when the process is over.”
The houses his company deemed not up to standard were later sold.
Sources close to Tierney Construction tell us that Guy Quinn should not be on the committee. Mr Quinn’s sister was married to Mr Tierney some twenty years ago, before Mr Tierney married his second wife, Stephanie.
