The Scrapper Read Online Free PDF Page B

of the Chambers of Commerce in this country; they are the driving force of the machinery of my office.’ Kieran smiled wryly. In the fourteen years since his graduation from Templemore, Kieran Clancy had arrived where he wanted to be and yet was nowhere near
what
he wanted to be. He had married the Commissioner’s daughter Moya Connolly twelve years before, and had worked his way up to Detective Sergeant, as he predicted he would. There were many that derided his promotions as favours granted to the son-in-law of a Police Commissioner, but they had no idea of the hard work Kieran had put in, nor did they take the trouble to check that he had graduated top of each class he had ever attended. The rumours never bothered him.
    What did bother him was that, having made it all the way to Detective Sergeant, he had now become a babysitter. He had spent the last eight years attached to Dublin Castle, and had gained the title ‘Special Detective’, but the only thing special about being a Special Detective as far as Kieran was concerned was that there was nothing to do. Day after day, he escorted politicians or high-ranking civil servants to and from meetings.
    An elderly woman pushed the heavy door of the function room trying to get out. Kieran grabbed the brass handle and pulled it open for her. The woman smiled her thanks, nodded towards the room and remarked, ‘Isn’t he very good!’
    ‘He’s a wanker,’ Kieran mumbled.
    ‘I beg your pardon?’ the old lady asked.
    ‘I said thank you,’ Kieran spoke out loud. The woman seemed satisfied and left. Kieran looked down the corridor. Around the corner at the bottom he saw an arm appear. It was pointed straight out and in the hand was a Webley automatic pistol. Slowly the figure of a man crept around the corner, crouched ready for action. The man made the sound of gunfire as he came towards Kieran, still half-crouched.
    Kieran grinned. ‘Will you put that thing away!’
    The figure now stood erect; he was tall and lean with ginger hair. He pulled back the left side of his jacket to reveal a hip holster for the Webley. Spinning the gun on one finger like John Wayne, he slipped the Webley back into its holster.
    ‘Is he still talking?’ Michael Malone asked.
    Kieran simply nodded. He took out a cigarette and lit it. The only time Kieran had ever asked his father-in-law for a favour was when he had been appointed as a Special Detective – he asked would it be possible to transfer Michael Malone to the same unit. The Commissioner pulled a few strings, Malone was transferred and the two men became partners. Kieran and Michael had been solid friends since Templemore. They’d been roommates there, had graduated together, and Michael had been Kieran’s Best Man.
    ‘What are you doing tonight, Kieran?’ Malone asked.
    ‘Don’t know.’
    ‘Fancy a game of snooker?’ Malone tried to enthuse Kieran.
    ‘Yes. Sure, why not.’
    From inside they heard a round of applause. Kieran quickly stubbed out his cigarette, straightened his tie and buttoned his jacket.
    As usual McCarthy simply came through the doors and walked past the detectives. To him they were like office furniture. The chauffeur held the door open for the Minister, who climbed into the back seat. Within seconds the limousine, followed by Kieran Clancy and Michael Malone in an unmarked detective car, left the carpark of the hotel in convoy.
    * * *
Kandy Korner store, Snuggstown, 12.45pm
    When Dublin Corporation decided to close the tenement buildings of Dublin and knock them down, they created in a semi-circle on the north side of the city a whole new batch of satellite towns. In some cases these were already established outlying villages that were simply expanded into towns. In other cases, as was the case in Snuggstown, a whole new town was built in what had once been green fields. Snuggstown was now the largest of the satellite towns: ninety-six thousand people living in four square miles. Although well laid out,