Swallow’s brain was spinning. It made no sense. Dan Flannery’s alibi had held up, or so it seemed. The witness he named had placed him at Huband Bridge, well away from Blackberry Lane at the time his sister had been attacked. In contrast, Werner had no alibi, he had a motive, and he had a record of violence.

‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Yes, writing it down is important. Well done.’

‘He says he’ll sign a statement,’ Vizzard said. ‘But he wants you to witness it.’

‘Is he fantasising?’ Swallow asked. ‘Does he seem rational? Coherent? It may all be in his imagination, a story he’s making up for some reason.’

‘I don’t know, sir. He seems a bit distracted all right, but he doesn’t sound like a man out of his mind.’

‘Right,’ Swallow nodded. ‘I’ll take it from here. Would you get one of the lads to slip down the yard and tell Chief Mallon what’s happened? But not a syllable to anyone else. And tell that fella down on the desk in the public office to keep his mouth shut too.’

Dan Flannery attempted a weak laugh when Swallow re-entered the crime inspector’s office with Johnny Vizzard.

‘Well, Mr Swallow, it turns out yer not so smart after all, are you?’

Swallow pulled up a chair and sat.

‘Will you tell me what all this is about, Dan?’

‘I killed her. I killed Alice, Mr Swallow. It’s as simple as that.’

‘You’d want to be very careful now, Dan.’ Swallow put a hand on his shoulder. ‘I need to tell you that anything more that you say will be taken down in writing here by Detective Vizzard, and it may be used in evidence. Do you understand that?’

‘Of course I do. I’m not a fool.’

Swallow nodded to Vizzard to take out his notebook.

‘Before you say anything else, I’d remind you that you already made a statement denying anything to do with Alice’s death and saying that you weren’t anywhere near home when she was killed. You gave us an alibi that you were at Huband Bridge and you told us that a man called Geoffrey Bradley, a former teacher of yours from Synge Street Christian Brothers School, met you there. And you told me to look to the priest as her killer.’

Flannery made a little laugh.

‘Ah, that’s true. I did. And I’d have been happy if you’d blamed him. He’s the cause o’ me sister’s death even if it was me own hand that ended her life.’

‘Would you explain that to me?’ Swallow asked.