Aaron thought that he had prepared for everything. That his life was now perfectly in order and that there was no impediment that could get in his way. Not a bad achievement for a quadriplegic, he would often think to himself. He had managed to get his life back on track after his accident. The large payout helped, but so did his own determination and resolve. Now, he had a lovely two bedroom ground floor apartment and made extra money trading shares online, something that he had gotten very good at. An older Lithuanian lady called Martha would come and look after the cleaning, cooking and some personal care.

Yeah, so he had it made. Or at least he thought he had. He still remembers the first time he heard about the coronavirus, later called Covid-19. Being a trader, he needed to know everything that was happening around the world, especially things that might move the markets up or down. There were just news reports about a new mystery flu breaking out in China. At first, it didn’t cause him or the markets much concern. But that dramatically changed as the months passed. He had managed to trade well and avoid the losses that had destroyed others. But now the virus was in Dublin, directly threatening the safety of both himself and those around him.

The entire country was due to go into lock-down that night. Martha had rang him terrified that morning to say that she was too scared to leave the house and would be unable to come. This was a major problem. There were certain things that he required assistance for like shopping and cooking that would become very problematic fast. It didn’t sound like Martha would be showing up for some time.

A huge flaw in his whole strategy was now apparent. He had isolated himself too much since his accident, moving away from his friends and aging parents. Martha was an informal worker too so there wasn’t going to be any disability organizational inquiring if he would be okay.

The stress suddenly was becoming too much, so he decided to drive around the streets in his wheelchair to clear his head. The bustling streets now had a quiet and eerie feeling, all but deserted. Then he saw her in the distance, the homeless woman that he often called his shadow to himself. They had never spoken since the incident but would often see and smile at each other. Aaron had thought it best not to approach her, she might have a drug and alcohol problem.

But this was a disaster scenario and he headed straight towards her.

“Hey, hows things?”

For a brief moment she seemed stunned.

“Yeah I’m good.”

“I know this is going to sound really strange but I’m in a bit of a crisis. You’ve probably heard about the virus and that. My helper isn’t coming later. Would you be able to help me out for a day or two. I’m not a perv or anything.”

“Yeah I’ll help you. Just tell me what you need me to do?”

“Thanks a million. What’s your name? If you can just follow me.”

“Meredith and yours?”

“Aaron.”

Merideth was so thankful that the gentleman in the wheelchair had intervened when he did. Her knight in shining armour, with a wheelchair for a horse. The thought made her smile. That was Garrick that had been bothering her, pestering her to do a trick for him.

“You did before. What’s wrong with ya? And ya can get yourself some dope. You like that, don’t ya”

He knew I had changed, but he wouldn’t listen.

“Too good for me now or somethin'”

Yes, she had done it before. Not just with him but with many others. Men of all ages and the odd woman. It sickened her, brought to the fore all the reasons that she had fled Cork in the first place. The touching and the fear of hearing footsteps during the night. But the draw of the next fix had been too much. She wondered what would that nice guy in the wheelchair think of her if he knew? Would he have bothered to come to her aid?

She had been quick to leave. Not, because she wasn’t thankful but because she was embarrassed by her appearance. It was different because he had really seen her, something that hadn’t happened in so long. Afterwards, she fled to the only spot where she could feel secure, under a disused bridge. It provides shelter and the heaps of rubbish along with the rats dissuades any threat of company.

It pained her to think that this might be the closest thing she would ever have to a place called home. She tried her best never to think about the future, because it was something that didn’t exist for people like her. There was no future, only future torment.

A few days later, she spotted her Knight. She was walking behind him, but no sound would come from her mouth. Not just the one time either. Better to stay in the shadows.

Aaron had taken to the city centre living as well as he had envisioned. He had always liked the city life and still wanted the hustle and bustle despite now being a quadriplegic. There was nothing he liked more than whizzing up and down the busy streets in his wheelchair. Just looking at all the different people and the goings on.

The only thing that saddened him were the homeless people he would see. It shamed the great people of Dublin that people lived in such destitution. But most people of the city were living good lives filled with cappuccinos and vegan sausage rolls.

Aaron was on his way back to his apartment block when he noticed something that he found concerning. It had been a sweltering day but it was now somewhat cooler in the evening. There was a man dressed in rags that seemed to be bothering a homeless woman. One that he had seen regularly about the place. He anxiously looked around the street to see if there was someone else to intervene but the once crowded street was now far more deserted.

He felt compelled to act. He turned the cursor of his controller and headed towards them.

“Hey leave her alone!” Aaron shouted.

The man looked visibly stunned.

“Mind yer business, this has nothing to do with you,” he replied angrily. The woman was now visibly upset with tears streaming down over her red cheeks.

“Leave her alone or I’ll ram you!”

There was a sound of people approaching in the distance now.

“Oh, fuck the lot of yez.” With that he quickly walked away much to Aaron’s relief. Any ramming would probably have injured him more than the other guy.

“You okay?

“Yes, am fine. Thanks for that.”

For a few moments, a silence descended between them.

“Will you be okay? He won’t come back tormenting you?”

“No, I’ll go to a safe spot. I’ll be fine.”

With that she got up and quickly walked away.

Nobody saw the early morning raid coming, least of all Thomas Ahern. He looked ahead into vacant space dumbfounded as a Garda informed him of his rights. Detective O’Callaghan had made a special effort to get up during the night, to be there in the early morning. He always like to saver the moment of justice.

It had all boiled down to money. Well. cryptocurrencies in this instance. McMahon’s bank statements showed him what he needed to know. As O’Callaghan watched the youngest Ahern being put in the squad car, he wondered what had driven someone with so much ahead of him to such a heinous act.

Then a tall, heavy set man approached O’Callaghan. He had an appearance of another Ahern and it didn’t taken him long to identify himself as Brian Ahern.

“What did he do now?”

“The murder of Ray McMahon.”

“Ah no Tom, why?”

That was a question O’Callaghan also wanted answered and he got his opportunity later that day to ask it. It was in the interrogation room of the local Garda Station. It was a plain room with blue walls and a table at its centre. To O’Callaghan it was just perfect. He could look the killer straight in the eye.

“We have everything we need Thomas, you are going down. What happened? You are a smart guy, you must have known you had left a trail behind you. Why?”

The pretty lawyer gestured for him not to respond but he ignored her and began to speak through his sobbing .

“It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Marks’s party, that’s where it all started. I was drunk, we all were. I started talking about how easy it was to make money with cryptos. A few days later, Ray rang out of the blue, said he wanted to invest. That he didn’t want to have to work for that Mark fucker till the end of his days. At first, I said no but he insisted.

We were making good profits and he kept on getting in deeper and deeper. Then a few months ago, the coin I had invested everything in collapsed. He couldn’t understand, he threatened to go to the cops or worse kill me. I panicked and went for the only solution I could think of. I knew when he would be out of the house, all I had to do was ask Mark some questions about which was scheduled to be with him. Then, I sneaked into his house while he was on duty and put some arsenic in his breakfast cereal.”

O’Callaghan had heard enough and rolled out of the room. The local cops could finish this off. He had other work to catch up on and other victims that deserved justice.

O’Callaghan was in his office and looking at the bank statements with glee. Finally, there was something that he could sink his teeth into. There were large monthly payments going into the victim’s account from overseas up until recently. It was the kind of wealth O’Callaghan could only dream of. However, it seemed to be draining from his account just as fast, like he was a conduit. Then, he salivated at the thought of a major bust of a drug or sex trafficking ring.

He rang Mel Linn and asked for an update in his office.

“No enemies, sir”

Nothing could hide her shock when he showed her the statements.

“Come on, Mel Linn. No enemies. This McMahon was in the army for years. He was a trained killer. The people of Mullingar are taking you for a ride. You need to dig deeper! We’ll have more information about the originator account within a few hours”

With that, she left his office slamming the door behind her. He knew what he was doing. She was too content, gone too soft. Ever since she met lover boy, O’Callaghan wanted the tigress back.

(Some time later)

Mel Linn was just about to head home after what had been another exhausting day when she heard the buzzing sound of her mobile phone. It was O’Callaghan. The last person she’d want to hear from at this hour but she knew it would be important.

There were no niceties.

“Thomas Ahern, who is he? Anything to do with that fella in the chair?”

She immediately recognized the name and took out her blank notebook.

“It’s his youngest brother. “What’s this got to do with him, Sir?”

The response was swift.

“Everything.”

O’Callaghan tossed and turned in his bed unable to sleep. He always had the odd night like this since his paralysis. He just wasn’t able to get comfortable. He tried to console himself by at least recognizing the extra time it gave him to think.

And there was so much to think about as he lay in his bed staring at the ceiling. On his return to Dublin, he put Mel Linn, one of his best detectives on the case. She was to find out who killed Ray McMahon and why? Of course, he told her of his concerns, that perhaps the Ahern fella had something to do with it. He just wasn’t giving off a good vibe.

Mel Linn had looked at him with incredulity. You think that the guy in the wheelchair bumped off his PA so that he could get a prettier one?

Nevertheless, she got straight on to it with her usual zeal. It only took a few days before she provided her first written update. O’Callaghan had read it a few hours earlier. Mr. Ahern’s new assistant was called Janina. The Centre for Independent Living, her new employers were of great assistance to Mel Linn. Janina is twenty-five years old and from Lithuania. She moved to Ireland just over six months ago. No prior experience in the area but was able to step in when Mr. Ahern had recruitment problems after the murder. She has no criminal record.

“I think you’ve got this one wrong,” Mel Linn had said matter of fact as she handed him the report, “I spoke to her. She didn’t even know Mr. Ahern before the murder and quite frankly, seemed quite amused by the line of questioning. Sir, just because you think she is beautiful doesn’t necessarily mean anything untoward is going on.”

O’Callaghan had perhaps been mistaken. Now everybody who knew this Ray McMahon was to be questioned. What darkness was there in his life?

The next day O’Callaghan would take a different tact. He was in the process of getting permission of the court to view the bank records of the victim. Perhaps, that would throw up something.