Murder in Ballyhasset Read Online Free PDF

up on a hill overlooking the town.
    She walked away from the strand and up along Seapoint Avenue. She crossed the road and walked up High Street. She walked along past a pointy church and its green leafy bushes that surrounded the property. Most of the shops had hanging baskets bursting with purple and white petunias.
    Libby then called into Pamela's small apartment, located above one of the shops. Pamela had told her she lived over O'Brien's newsagent shop, at Number 29, on High Street. She wanted to ask her further questions about Dr Kathleen Lynch. The apartment was a small cosy place, obviously chosen because of its proximity to the hospital.
    Pamela asked her to come in, along with her dog. 'I love dogs,' she said, patting Buddy's brown head. He wagged at her.
    Pamela introduced Libby to Conor Reilly, her boyfriend. He smiled at Libby warmly and invited her to sit beside him on the sofa. Conor was narrow and around five feet ten in height. He had a small pale face, fine features and blond hair, cut in a pageboy style. He wore flared brown corduroy trousers and a white polo-neck jumper. He looked like a girl, Libby thought, a pretty girl.
    'Did you ever meet Dr Lynch?' she asked him, 'Pamela's old boss.'
    'Yes, I met her a few times in the Green Lemon,' answered Conor, 'that's the pub across the road from the hospital. I was drunk one night, and I got into an argument with her.
    'Oh. What did you say to her?' Libby asked.
    Conor sighed. 'I told her she made Pamela's life a misery.'
    'How did Kathleen react?'
    'She hit the roof. She started telling me how stupid Pamela was, that she'd no cop-on. The next day I remembered the argument.'
    'You did Pamela no favour there,' Libby said, 'attacking her boss. Pamela had to work with her.'
    'I realised that, so I rang Kathleen at her home the next day, to apologise. I really grovelled and begged her to forgive me.'
    'And did she forgive you?'
    Conor answered, 'Yeah, she accepted my apology and that ended the whole argument.'
    'Conor might have made things worse,' said Pamela, looking at Libby. 'But strangely enough that didn't happen. Kathleen wasn't any nastier after the row than she was before.'
    'How long had Kathleen been working in St Gabriel's, do you know?' Libby asked.
    'Only since January of this year.'
    'Where was she before that?'
    'The Bon Secours in Cork,' said Pamela. 'She delivered babies there. She told me she preferred this work to treating gynaecology patients.'
    'I wouldn't blame her,' Libby said. 'Being around young mums and babies must be more cheerful.'
    'Still, I love some of our older patients because they are so hardy. They accept pain better than younger women.' Pamela smiled. 'Some of them have had ten children.'
    'Ten children, how awful.' Libby made a face. All those painful childbirths. Once was enough for me, she thought.
    'That's why the poor women have womb problems and end up in St Gabriel's,' Pamela added.
    'At least you can cure them,' said Conor.
    'True,' Pamela said, in agreement with him. 'They're fine after a hysterectomy.'
    'Dr Lynch won't be doing any more of them,' said Conor.
    'Has the hospital found a replacement for Kathleen?' asked Libby.
    'Yes,' said Pamela with relief, 'a doctor from Dublin is due to arrive in the next few days.'

Chapter 5
    The next day, a Thursday, the private investigators called over to St Gabriel's mortuary. Painted white and containing a flat roof, the mortuary was a small one-storey concrete building located next to the main hospital building. They had an appointment to see the pathologist.
    Libby said, as they entered the room, 'I know Dr Gallagher socially; I met him with my estranged husband Derek.'
    'Your husband?' Dawn stared at her blankly. 'Is he a policeman?'
    'Yeah, he's a detective inspector. He works in North Cork Garda Station.'
    Large white marble tiles covered the whole floor, and small stone tiles lined the walls. Of the three metal trolleys which dominated the room, the central one contained a