Sales Pitch

All right, here it is, here's the pitch. Bar owner gets accused of murder, but he's innocent, see? No, no, stay with me, now. So he's innocent, but there's this one cop, a detective, see, and he's on the case. Yeah, a regular bloodhound. And he's got evidence against the bar owner, but the guy's as innocent as Bambi.

You've got the bar owner accused of murder, the cops are after him, and all the neighbors figure he's guilty, so there's some conflict there that'll keep the pages turning. How does it end? Ten years or so, you've got the bar owners fighting to clear their name, and they get some higher ups in the police department to start looking into things, and they get the goods on the detective. Yeah, he's trying to be a big shot in the department, itching for promotion, and they end up proving that the dead guy was a hit and run victim, but the detective set up the bar owner. Classic Alfred Hitchcock, isn't it?

But it's not fiction at all, you see. Far away in County Donegal, cattle dealer Richie Barron was discovered on the side of the road, dead, and members of the McBrearty family stood accused of murder. Sgt. John White of An Garda Siochana was on the case, utilizing the services of Bernard Conlon, a local troublemaker who had it in for the McBrearty clan. As it turns out, Conlon was a willing party to White's clever little tricks, like setting up the McBreartys to make it look like they were serving after hours, with Sgt. White poised to issue summonses and license revocations.

It took a long time, but the innocent were validated when an investigation proved that Richie Barron was killed by a hit and run driver. As for the noble sergeant, well, he didn't let legalities stand in the way of furthering his career. The Morris Tribunal, which has been investigating Garda activity in Donegal, has concluded that Sgt. White planted an explosive device on a telephone tower, with an eye to implicating those who were protesting against the tower. Then there was the time that he planted a shotgun so he could make a few arrests. When the investigators came to call, the sergeant led them down the garden path, covering up and misleading so that his deeds might go unpunished. All in all, the tribunal has concluded that a few of Donegal's gardai were loose cannons, doing things without regard to the law and justice. A few people with badges and power were not interested in following orders or maintaining discipline, preferring to conspire to cover up their activities, and damaging the reputation of the entire force in the process.

So you see, truth really is stranger than fiction. If I were inclined to write mysteries, this story would make one incredible, twisting and turning, page turner of a novel.