The Death of an Irish Sea Wolf Read Online Free PDF Page B

little.
    “Anyhow, it’s all in here. And you and your son, Karl—of all the people that we know in the world—deserve to control it. The first name and address on the top sheet is the firm you should contact to take control. They’re solicitors in Merrion Square. You need only to present yourself to them andsay exactly, ‘Dorfmann sent me.’ When she says back, ‘But I don’t know a Mr. Dorfmann,’ you’re to say, ‘Klimt says you do.’ Do you have that?”
    Mirna cocked her head quizzically, her smile brittle, her eyes glassy. “I think so.”
    “Repeat it.”
    She complied, adding, “Don’t you want to sit down. I can get you—”
    But he cut her off. “The second name and address is another firm that will help you dispose of what’s left in the cave, which is now the lesser part of the cargo I brought to the island. I haven’t had to trade with them in years, but the old man there is fair. It’s him you should see.”
    “Cave?” Mirna asked, shaking her head, her brow furrowed. From her expression it was plain that she thought him daft and babbling, and she was concerned for him.
    “Yes, cave. The map to it is also in here.”
    “I know of no actual cave on Clare Island.”
    “Well, damnit, there is one. Peig showed it to me when I first got here. Back in forty-five.”
    She cocked her head quizzically. “And what’s in it?”
    “Just something I put together at the end of the war. You’ll see. Now—the final name is of this man, Rehm, whom you should avoid at all cost. He’s my age or thereabouts, small, square, blond. Well…” Ford glanced at the windows, realizing that he no longer knew what Angus Rehm actually looked like. “He could be white or bald or…but, if he thinks he knows who you are, he’ll probably approach you as somebody else. Or he’ll have confederates, so you must be on your guard. Or”—Ford straightened up, the thought only now striking him—“he is somebody else by now.”
    “Oh, Clem—can’t I make you some tea?” Her voice was filled with concern.
    “No, you must promise me. You must avoid this man and take yourself away, ever should you know of his presence.”
    Mirna shrugged and nodded. “Whatever you say.”
    “I’ll come back, if I can, and answer your questions. And help you, because you’ll need help. But I must get back to Breege. This packet is now yours to do with as you see fit. I should have given it to you a long time ago. I know you andKarl will handle it well, but promise me you won’t open the sealed pouch until you’ve taken a look at the cave and visited the solicitors in Dublin.”
    Mirna nodded, but she was plainly dismayed.
    “Promise?”
    “I promise.”
    Ford thrust the manila packet into her hands and turned for the door.
    “But—I don’t understand. Why are you telling me this? What’s in here? What’s happened?”
    The blast swept into the room, as Ford pulled open the door. “Whatever you do, keep it to yourself. Tell nobody but Karl, and only after you swear him to secrecy!” Ford launched himself into the darkness.

CHAPTER 5
    FORD STAGGERED AND fell again. He had imagined the descent down the muddy and slick slope to Mirna’s compound on the cliffs would be hardest on his old bones, but the climb back up proved far worse. He could barely get his knees to lock and unlock with each step. How could he ever hope to defend himself or even flee with Breege, when he could barely walk himself?
    Fighting through the pain, he forced himself to think of how Rehm had got onto him, after all these years. He had scuttled the boat in a trench off the continental shelf. Could it have broken up and some of its pieces been caught, say, by one of the modern draggers that now fished Irish waters? It was unlikely, since the boat had been designed never to break up, even under the most harrowing fire.
    No—Ford stopped to brace himself after blundering off the trail into a slough of mud—it was probably the release of all the