Mallon saw Swallow enter the parade room and gestured to him to come forward to the front. Harrel moved to the rostrum. The room fell silent. Swallow let his gaze rove across the rows of faces. There were veteran sergeants and young beat men, hardened crime detectives and buckshee volunteers—uniformed men willing to work in plain clothes on lower pay in the hope of promotion to permanent detective duties.

‘Good morning, men,’ Harrel began. ‘I’m not here to direct this investigation. I’m not a detective. You have officers much more skilled than I in this kind of thing. Like Chief Superintendent Mallon here.’

The commissioner was an accomplished speaker, pitching his words so they could be heard even at the back of the room.

‘I do not need to tell you that we are now faced with a situation of the utmost gravity, and that the Dublin Metropolitan Police now faces a considerable challenge. Two women are dead, brutally murdered. A third has escaped with her life but has suffered severe injuries. My message to you comes from the chief secretary himself. No effort is to be spared to keep the streets of the city safe. And the pursuit of the person or persons responsible for these outrages will not abate until they are made amenable.’

A murmur of agreement rippled across the room.

‘I am afraid that this will require very considerable sacrifices from members of the force at all levels,’ Harrel continued. ‘With immediate effect, all leave is cancelled other than compassionate leave for the death or grave illness of an immediate family member. Patrols are to be increased in the hours of darkness. I am instructing all superintendents to release members from clerical and other duties in order to get the greatest numbers out on the streets. Officers on duty will exercise stop and search powers under the Dublin Police Act to the maximum. I will personally make random checks on selected patrol books to ensure that this instruction is being complied with. If there are those who believe they can prowl the streets with impunity, wreaking violence on the population, we will make them think otherwise.’ He paused. ‘I shall now ask Detective Chief Superintendent Mallon to bring you up to date on the latest developments and to outline further steps to be taken in these investigations.’

Mallon’s voice was heavy with exhaustion. Swallow guessed that he had no sleep after leaving the wedding celebration.