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“It’s an incredible tale! A woman called me at home this very afternoon and told me she had the means to help us keep our village and our arts center safe.” He took her arm as she led him into the kitchen. “She asked me to meet her in Castlebar at the cemetery, beside the grave of a man you won’t know. He was a good man and died some twenty years ago, but— He’s not important. Anyway, she wouldn’t tell me more over the phone, and she said I couldn’t tell anyone about our meeting—or she wouldn’t come. Otherwise, I would have called you earlier.”
“Don’t think my feelings are hurt! This is extraordinary, Eoghan.”
Liam pulled out a chair for each of them and helped them sit. “So you went?” he prompted.
“Yes, I hated lying to my Sandrine, but I told her I was going to the pub.” He wiped his forehead as she sat enthralled beside him. “A tale she wouldn’t see through, of course.”
“Of course,” Taylor agreed. “Then what?”
His eyes were nearly feverish with excitement. “My blood is still racing from it all. I drove all the way there, praying to the angels to keep me safe, and when I reached the cemetery, I found this lovely silver-haired woman in a green rain jacket standing beside the grave she’d mentioned. Her smile was the thing that made me trust her straightaway, as much as the fact that her hands were shaking as she handed me a shopping bag. She said she’d been Malcolm’s secretary for over fifteen years before he’d set her aside for a younger, prettier girl. Now she lives on state benefits.”
Figures he’d go with a younger model, Taylor thought, pushing the tea Liam deposited on the table closer to Eoghan as Liam took the seat next to her. The dear man picked up the tea and swore as he scorched his lips before laying the bag on the table like it was a historic find from an archeological site.
“She didn’t give me her name—to protect us both—but she said she’d seen our problems and sympathized. She took note of me leading the protest in Watertown and thought I seemed like a trustworthy man, one she could count on to keep her involvement secret. I won’t give you her name, but I know her participation is safe with you, Taylor.”
She touched his arm and smiled. “You and I are both good at keeping each other’s secrets.”
“That’s the way of it.” He tapped the bag. “I figured you’d have a better go of looking through what she gave us. Or we might want to fire up Linc’s plane and take ourselves off to Kinsale. Arthur and the Merriams will know what to do with it for sure.”
She drew out the files as Liam’s hand touched her back. “She was a brave woman, stepping forward to help.”
“She’d always known he was doing some things on the side—many Irishmen in her association do—but it sounds like he grew greedier as he accumulated more power. In the beginning, she ignored it because she was divorced and raising four children on her own after her husband ran out on her. Malcolm had paid well. But putting Liam in jail like he did frightened her. She has a son your age, Liam, and she feared Veritas was right—anyone could be next. Taylor, I couldn’t wait to tell you that last bit.”
She kissed his cheek loudly. “It warms my heart like a stove. Now, let’s see what we have here.”
The first file held copies from a ledger. The headings at the top had her dancing in her seat. “Do you see these titles? One is for actual payment while the other is for recorded payment. The numbers don’t match, and they’re itemized. I recognize some of the companies from the MIU.”
Eoghan peered closer. “Do you see this entry? It’s for Gerry Campbell. He was in the Parliament and a corrupt bastard. They say it’s a campaign contribution.”
“But the numbers don’t match, so the extra could be a payoff,” Taylor said. Lifting her gaze to him, she cried out, “Oh, Eoghan! This looks like a treasure trove.”
Heart tripping, she grabbed the next file. Squinting, she said, “Why would there be two figures listed for a horse?”
Eoghan laughed and Liam joined in. “My boy, we have a lot to teach this one. Taylor, people cut deals under the table like this to keep the VAT down. This way you don’t pay as much to the taxman.”
“So fraud,” she breathed out, sweeping her finger down the page and turning to the next one. “A whole bunch of fraud.”
“Petty stuff in a single instance,” Eoghan said with a wink, “but with this much discrepancy, we’re talking about a lot of money people didn’t receive. In the government and beyond.”
“Bingo! This is exactly what we were looking for.” She examined the last file and inhaled sharply. “We have a list of public contracts and what Malcolm’s companies were paid. With names.”
“Clara and I had some of these bastards at the top of our list!” Eoghan sat back and raised his arms to the sky. “Thank the heavens. We’re saved.”
She turned to find Liam smiling softly. He’d been quieter than usual after they’d returned home and started working on the Malcolm files. She could all but feel his ordeal seeping back into his mood. It would take some time for him to heal from it, he’d told her. Leaning over, she pressed her cheek to his, love swamping her. “We’ve got him.”
He cupped her nape gently. “So it seems. You’ll want to call Arthur.”
Eoghan clapped his hands and wiggled in his chair. “They’re going to be thrilled when they hear the news and see the evidence.”
Taylor laughed. “They sure are. We need to send this information to our MIU right away. Anyone up for a drive to the arts center? I can call them from the media center. That way we can put them up on the big screen and see their faces as you tell them the news, Eoghan. After this, I think you need your own code name.”
He pointed at himself and then let out a happy shriek. “Like you. It’ll be between the two of us then. How about something like the Crow? There’s no bird that’s cannier than him.”
“The Crow it is,” she said, holding out her hand to him. “Nice to meet you. I’m Veritas.”
“A pleasure,” he said, lifting her hand and kissing it lightly. “Shall we head over to the arts center then?”
“I’d be delighted, sir.” She rose and turned to Liam. “Do you want a code name?”
