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Back The Last Drop of Blood Save as PDF
Chapters (60)
  1. Cover
  2. INTRODUCINGKATIE MAGUIRE
  3. ALSO BY GRAHAM MASTERTON
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright
  6. Epigraph
  7. Contents
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. 45
  53. 46
  54. 47
  55. 48
  56. 49
  57. 50
  58. 51
  59. About the Author
  60. An Invitation from the Publisher

The third shot had punctured the front of his puffer jacket, slightly to the right, so that it had probably penetrated his liver.

Lenny the barman appeared in the doorway. ‘I’ve rung the guards, like. I told them that we’ll be needing an ambulance, too.’ He peered over at Billy and said, ‘Jesus. Is he dead?’

‘Of course not,’ said Thomas. ‘He’s having a bit of a snooze, that’s all. What the feck does it look like?’

‘What do we do now, boss?’ asked Milo, the second of his henchmen, anxiously gnawing at his thumbnail. On the opposite pavement, a small crowd of curious onlookers was gathering, but none of them ventured across the road because they could quite plainly see that Billy was beyond any mortal assistance.

‘We wait here until the razzers arrive, and when the razzers arrive and ask us what we saw we tell them the truth. We saw nothing and we know nothing. We don’t even know who this is, who’s been shot.’

‘I know who he is,’ said Milo. ‘He’s Billy Hagerty.’

‘Did he ever show you his birth certificate?’

‘Well – no, of course not.’

‘So how do you know that it’s really him?’

‘I don’t.’

‘So that’s what you tell the razzers. You don’t know who he is. End of story.’

Milo was about to say something else when he saw the expression on Thomas’s face, and this time Thomas’s eyes were about as wide open as he had ever seen them, like the heads of two steel nails.

‘No, you’re right, boss. I don’t know who he is at all. In fact I never even saw him before, even when we had a scoop together in The Constellation last Friday.’

‘God, give me strength,’ said Thomas, and took a deep breath. He couldn’t hear sirens, but flashing blue lights were being reflected from the shop windows all along Gerald Griffin Street, as two Garda squad cars came speeding down towards them.

4

Katie had intended to drive straight home to Cobh after Conor’s funeral, so that she could take her Irish setter, Barney, and her red-and-white setter, Foltchain, out for a walk up to the tennis club. Conor had always made such a fuss of them, and whenever she arrived back at Carrig View alone it was clear that they wondered where he was, but how could she explain his death to two dogs?