Author's note: I've borrowed some of the dialogue in this chapter from the episode Among Friends, although I've changed it slightly to fit with my plot. I hardly ever watch this episode (for obvious reasons!) but I do think it's beautifully written.
Carmel Powers had been having a bad week. First she'd been sent to Wexford to cover a dull story about the county show and then, on the way back to Dublin, her car had broken down on a country road in the middle of nowhere. A local farmer had popped up out of a field and offered to tow her to the nearest mechanic in a sleepy backwater called Ballykissangel. The mechanic had pursed his lips, shook his head and sighed a lot before finally telling her the car needed new parts. Suddenly she'd been looking at an unplanned overnight stay in the middle of nowhere. It was extremely frustrating.
But, sometimes you can find stories where you least expected and she definitely seemed to have stumbled upon something here. The mechanic had told her about the recent pub fire so she'd gone into the local shop hoping to overhear some gossip and had been delighted to discover that the shopkeeper was exactly the right sort of nosy old bat. She started to tell Carmel that the local priest was embroiled in a scandal surrounding the fire. Unfortunately she'd been interrupted before she told Carmel any more but a couple of women near the church had filled her in with a bit more of the story. Evidently the priest had risked his own life to save the women from the fire. The rumour was they'd been having an affair for some time and that's why her husband had left. The story seemingly had it all; danger, near death experiences, passion, adultery and the wrath of the Catholic Church. So the next morning she picked up her newly working car, but rather than leave the area she drove to the local hospital, where she'd been told the publican was still a patient, and sat in her car waiting. She'd spent part of the previous day in Kildargen library looking through old newspaper articles, trying to find out more about the priest. It wasn't hard, he seemed to be very involved in the community and there were several photos of him at local events. So, when he pulled up in the car park that morning she instantly recognised him. He went inside and she followed, pretending to be engrossed in a sign on the wall when he stopped, knocked on the door of a room and went in. She was just considering inventing a sickly relative in order to get talking to the nurses when a familiar face appeared at the nurse's station, Leo McGarvey, a rival reporter for a different paper. How had he unearthed this story so quickly? They occasionally covered the same stories but she was sure that no one else had heard about this. It also struck her as a bit odd that he'd even be here since his paper usually wouldn't cover this type of scandal, but maybe times were changing.
Carmel missed the first part of McGarvey's conversation with the nurse as a group of visitors passed by, chatting loudly. When they'd gone she strained to hear what they were saying.
McGarvey looked angry and upset as he said, "This friend would he be tall and English by any chance?"
The nurse looked at him in surprise. "Yes that's the one. Lovely guy and apparently he was the one who saved her. What I wouldn't give to find a man who'd rush into a burning building to save me," she smiled in a flirty manner at him.
He ignored her, grunted his thanks and left.
Another nurse appeared at the station saying, "That's Miss Fitzgerald's chart, she's just getting ready to leave."
Carmel decided to wait in her car and see where the couple went. She wanted to beat McGarvey to this story if it was the last thing she did.
When the priest appeared in the car park again he had his arm wrapped around a young woman with auburn hair. From the way she was leaning against him, and the way they were looking at each other, Carmel guessed his arm wasn't just around her to offer support. Carmel studied Assumpta Fitzgerald. She was certainly attractive, her auburn hair set off her creamy skin and she had an enviable figure. She wondered what the woman saw in the priest, but then he wasn't what you immediately pictured when you thought about priests. He was tall and she supposed he was handsome in a boyish way. They made quite an attractive couple and certainly seemed wrapped up in each other. She watched them as they got into a silver car and sat discussing something for a few minutes before driving off.
She followed them into town where he stopped briefly to pop into a supermarket and then drove onto what seemed to be a local beauty spot. She drove past their car, not wanting to arouse their suspicion, and stopped further up the road. She grabbed her camera from the boot and took the path down to the lake but, rather than following it all the way, she found a good spot in a clump of trees overlooking the couple. Luckily the zoom on the camera was excellent and she got some good photos of them relaxing together. Especially good were the ones with the woman resting her head in his lap while he stroked her hair, which would leave the reader in little doubt as to what the relationship was. The best was yet to come though as the couple began kissing and when things started to get even more heated between them Carmel could hardly believe her luck. The only thing that could have made the photos better was if he'd been wearing his collar, but you couldn't have everything she supposed.
"There's nothing platonic about this, eh Father?" She muttered as she continued to click away.
It was starting to rain lightly so she picked her way back up the path and waited in her car for the couple. Sure enough they appeared after a few minutes and drove off in the direction of Ballykissangel, with her following at a safe distance.
They pulled up outside the burnt out pub and Carmel was once again forced to drive past and park out of sight further up the road. By the time she crept back down, holding a guide book of the local area as a rather ineffective disguise, she arrived to see a dark haired woman slam the door of the police house in Assumpta Fitzgerald's face. Assumpta and the priest then crossed the road and entered the pub.
Whilst the couple were inside the burnt out building a black car pulled up. Carmel watched as Leo McGarvey got out. He got stood looking at the pub with an odd expression on his face and then moved to the door of the police house and banged aggressively on it. Carmel thought he looked upset, almost haggard. The dark haired woman answered the door and gasped when she saw Leo.
"You could've told me Niamh," McGarvey spat the words out.
"Leo?" The woman was obviously shocked to see him.
"Do you not think?" McGarvey slumped dejectedly against the door, all the fight seemed to leave him.
"When did you get here?" She reached out to touch his arm in a sympathetic gesture.
"My wife nearly died," he said pointedly. Carmel inched forward suddenly realising that McGarvey wasn't on this story, he was a part of it.
"I know Leo, I'm sorry."
"She dumps me and then she nearly dies. The effect I have on women eh?" he laughed humourlessly. "The hospital told me, next of kin you see." He paused as if collecting his thoughts and then stared at the woman with an accusatory look. "Someone should've called me. She nearly died. I'm still her husband, she chose me."
McGarvey was getting choked up with emotion.
"I'm sorry," the woman said and hugged him. McGarvey hugged her back briefly then stepped back.
"I suppose the priest was on hand to dash in and save her?" His tone was full of bitterness.
"I'm glad he was," she said quietly.
McGarvey frowned at her answer then looked intently at her. "I'm going to ask you a question Niamh. You don't have to answer it just don't lie to me, ok?" He paused for her to nod and then continued, "Is there something going on between Assumpta and the priest?"
"Is that what you think?" She avoided his eyes.
"Niamh don't answer a question with a question," he said angrily, "Is there something going on?"
Niamh glared at him. "Don't you dare speak to me like that Leo."
"I have to know," he said beseechingly.
"How can I answer a question like that? Do you think she'd tell me?" She muttered.
"Yes," he replied.
"Well she didn't!" She snapped.
"Why can't you just say no? Why can't you just say 'Don't be stupid Leo, Assumpta and the priest, are you mad?' " he ranted.
"What does it matter what I say? You're going to believe what you want to anyway."
McGarvey turned away in disgust from her just as the pub door opened and the publican and priest emerged hand in hand.