‘Not a word. But I wouldn’t expect it over Christmas. The chief secretary and the under-secretary are gone to England and won’t be back until next week. Kelly might be gone himself. I think London is home for him. But we haven’t heard the last of them, you can be sure.’

‘You kept a very cool head with Kelly, if you’ll allow me to pay you a compliment, chief,’ Swallow said.

‘I have to,’ Mallon said simply. ‘It’s open warfare now between us. The English are determined to find some way of taking Parnell down, even if it means bloodshed and mayhem here. They can’t understand why people like you and me are reluctant to go along with that.’ He sighed. ‘So there aren’t any marks for past efficiency, or loyalty, or even an acknowledgement that Irishmen might know more about how to manage Ireland’s affairs than wealthy blow-ins from Scotland.’

It was a tacit reference to Chief Secretary Balfour, Swallow knew. Balfour’s family owned famously rich estates in Scotland. That John Mallon would utter such sentiments, even in private, was a measure of his frustration and anger.

Later that evening a chambermaid from the Dolphin Hotel on Essex Street, a minute’s walk from Exchange Court, dropped a plain envelope into the letterbox of Charlie Vanucchi’s house in Pimlico. Because she too lived in Pimlico she was an ideal secret courier between Swallow and his informant. The envelope contained a single sheet of paper upon which Swallow had written the letter ‘H’ and the number ‘21’. When Charlie Vanucchi read the sheet, he knew that Swallow wanted him to come to Hanrahan’s of Stoneybatter at nine o’clock.

When Swallow arrived he found Vanucchi waiting in the public bar at Hanrahan’s, impeccably groomed, as usual, and wearing his fine worsted overcoat. He joined him in a casual manner that to any observer would have suggested nothing more than a coincidental encounter.

‘Mr Swallow, I didn’t expect to meet you here,’ Vanucchi called aloud. ‘What will you have?’

‘A Tullamore would be grand, Charlie.’

‘A large Tullamore here,’ Vanucchi called to the barman. ‘And another large Power’s for myself.’

Swallow waited until the drinks were served. He raised his glass to Vanucchi.

‘Cheers, Charlie. Your good health.’

Vanucchi raised his glass.

‘And yours, Mr Swallow. And a happy New Year to you.’

Swallow came directly to the point.

‘We’ve got good information that someone in your outfit was responsible for the murder of Nellie Byrne, or Helena Moyles as you might know her better, in Chapel Court in November. We know she had money left to her by Ces Downes. Someone went to try to get hold of it. We know it’s in a bank book or a post office book. You can probably tell me who that person is.’