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“That’s what I’ve heard,” Viv confirmed. “And my daughter-in-law works for the local magistrates and said Alan was in there the day before you found Declan’s body. He was trying to bring a lawsuit against Declan to force him to pay what Alan’s half of the business was worth. She overheard him telling his lawyer that he wanted it filed before Declan’s ‘bitch of a wife’ brought their divorce to court and he’d have an even harder fight. They were trying to settle it through mediation, but it wasn’t going well, and it seems Alan wanted to get in there before Stephanie did.”
Barb nodded. “I heard something similar. About an hour after Declan’s family left is when everyone really started to let loose, and I hung out by the bar for a bit. I heard Richard Holmes saying that Alan wanted to confront Steph for his money at the wake, but he and Alan’s brother talked him out of it.”
I blinked, glancing at Ash. “Wow. He’s really after it, isn’t he?”
“With good reason,” Viv said, gently dipping her paintbrush into the red paint. “He’s broke.”
“What do you mean, he’s broke?” Ash frowned. “He’s co-owner of a business that turns over millions upon millions—hell, a house on his estate sold for two million just six months ago. How can he have no money?”
“Because some rich people are the poorest of us all.” Viv rested her paintbrush and turned around to face us. “He has no money, girls. He’s long dabbled in a bit of casual gambling, and there’s nothing wrong with that. My son likes a tenner on his football team of a weekend, and I fancy a flutter on the horses every now and then.”
The other ladies all nodded in agreement.
What were they, the ceramic-painting gambling bandits or something?
“Are you saying he gambled all his money?” Ash asked.
“Seems that way,” Betty said. “Unlike you two, we were on a divide and conquer mission, meaning we’ve been able to put it all together while you were sinking Tracy’s finest cocktails. Viv and I spent some time in the beer garden when Alan and his brother were outside and overheard them talking. Apparently, the bank is talking about foreclosing on his house.”
I paused, holding a Jelly Baby halfway to my mouth. “His house is mortgaged? Huh. I thought he’d own it outright, given how much money that company brings in.”
“It was at one point. He released some equity with the bank and now can’t pay the mortgage. Without his wife knowing, too,” Betty confirmed. “He gambled through most if not all of their cash reserves, from what we could figure out, hence the equity release.”
“What an idiot,” Ash quipped.
Well, yeah.
Pretty much.
“From what we pieced together, the bank gave him four weeks to prove he was being bought out of his company and could clear his arrears within a certain time or they’d begin the foreclosure process,” Viv added. “The only reason they gave him that is because he got some dividends from another investment and wisely used it to buy himself some time.”
“So, he’s become increasingly desperate for money,” I surmised. “To save both his marriage and his house, hence his repeated arguments with Declan about selling local rental properties and being bought out.”
“Exactly.”
Betty sniffed. “His problem was that he told Declan he was in trouble. Declan seems to have bailed him out once or twice and wanted that money back out of Alan’s share if he was buying him out.”
“Well, that’s fair,” Ash reasoned. “He owed him money, it’s an easy way to collect it. What’s the issue?”
“The issue, dear granddaughter, is that loan shark Declan Tierney was charging interest on it,” Gwen said. “He wanted twice as much as Alan owed him,plusDeclan was exploiting the terms of the contract in his favour.”
“He really was a lying, cheating bastard,” I muttered.
Barb nodded. “He most certainly was. Declan saw an opportunity to keep more of his money with one hundred percent of the company. Alan thinks he saw his desperation and was trying to use it to get him to accept less than he was due. His last offer was insulting, according to Alan—his original stake, his debts, then something like two hundred grand on top of it. Nowhere near what his share in the business is actually worth.”
“Do you know that for sure?” Ash stole a Jelly Baby and bit off its head.
“From his lips to our ears,” Viv confirmed. “He was offloading a bit to his brother after he’d talked him out of corralling Steph, and Alan was sinking his booze very swiftly indeed.”
“Did Steph know about any of this?” I asked, propping my chin up on my hand. “Or Alan’s wife?”
“From what we know, no. Declan kept all his business affairs apart from her, and Alan certainly wasn’t about to tell his own wife that he’d lost all their money at the bookie.”
Ash wrinkled up her face. “I don’t blame him. How do you even tell your spouse that?”
“Okay, but what does killing Declan achieve?” I tapped my fingers against Ash’s order book. “It doesn’t hurry up the process, does it? Declan’s estate has to go through probate, presumably, so is he going to get his money any faster?”
“Well,” Barb said slowly. “Separated or not, he and Stephanie were still married. Unless he has a will saying otherwise, it’s all marital property, including the money. She can, realistically, access it all and pay him off.”
