‘Ladies, we need to put a guard on the top of the steps, see who goes down and, even though it’s pitch black, see if we can see anything down there. That’s where the leaves are taking us – and we need to split up too. It’s ten o’clock and I think it’s time for us to heave big Paddy out of the pub and tell the men we have trouble. There is no way Peggy would be out this late alone. Maura, do you want to stay here and keep an eye on the kids? Everyone else, I think Peggy is in real danger and we need to find her, urgently.’

‘I do not,’ said Maura just as Nellie walked in.

‘Harry is with little Paddy,’ said Nellie, who could sense that all was not right.

‘Grand. Nellie, would you stay here and I’ll go and check on my house – and Kathleen, I’m going to talk to little Paddy, see if he can remember anything about what Peggy said, and I’ll take my bag into my own house.’

The warmth edged its way back into the kitchen and Kathleen was both sad and relieved to see that the ghosts of Kitty and Bernadette had left. Alice helped Kathleen on with her coat; she knew her mother-in-law well enough to sense that she hadn’t told them everything. As they reached the door, she held Kathleen’s arm and tugged her back.

‘Kathleen, what’s wrong?’ she asked.

Kathleen grabbed her daughter-in-law’s hand and in the light of the overhead bulb, Alice could see that her mother-in-law was pale and beads of perspiration stood out on her top lip. ‘I couldn’t look any more, Alice. Death was in every one of the cups but Mary’s and I couldn’t say that, could I? And Kitty… she was here, Alice, behind Maura’s shoulder the whole time. I had to get everyone out.’

Kathleen couldn’t tell Alice that Jerry’s first love was also in the kitchen she once called her own. Though Kathleen and Alice had had their differences over the years, the love Jerry had for Bernadette, that still burnt in his heart, was never spoken of, and was the root cause of all they had been through as a family.

‘Was it just Kitty?’ Alice asked, her brow furrowed.

Kathleen squeezed her hand as she lied. ‘Aye, just Kitty,’ and as she walked out of the door ahead of Alice, she blessed herself.

*