I had sent the text to Davy as I was leaving the university campus, but I was home a while now, and still hadn’t heard from him. He was probably at meetings or teaching classes. It could be hours before he saw my message. Still, it was worth waiting for him. He had an ‘in’ at Muskerry Castle with Ned Foley, the concierge, who could check the hotel’s records for the 12th of December 1998. If they still existed. Though they mightn’t. But if there were records, and if they showed a room reservation for Jeremy Gill, or for his then employers Thomson AdGroup, or for Joey O’Connor – he would have had enough money to pay for a room too – then that, along with Lorcan Lucey’s sighting of Deirdre at the hotel, was a breakthrough in identifying her rapist. That was something to take to Sean and Ann Carney, something real.

Eventually, Davy called back. When I told him what I wanted, he was matter-of-fact.

‘We can’t do this over the phone,’ he said. ‘Meet me at the end of Barrack in ten.’

He was the same when we got out to the hotel.

‘Leave it to me,’ he said. ‘I’ll do a bit of preparation work with Ned. He wasn’t too fond of you last time we were here, as I recall.’

I bristled, but I knew Davy was right. I went to the bar and ordered a pot of tea for three, hoping that he would be successful in getting Ned to join us, though I had no real doubt that he’d get somewhere with him. People did things for Davy, often without being asked. Ned Foley would roll over and let Davy tickle his belly, but if I asked the same questions he’d double-lock the door and call security.

I looked out the window into the misty, mossy, grey-green of the day. I was close now, I could feel it. But what about Lenihan? Was he following up or ignoring the leads I had given him? He hadn’t called me back. And I had been forced to stop texting and calling him after my conversation with Sadie O’Riordan a couple of hours earlier.

I winced at the memory. I was just home from UCC, waiting for Davy to call, when she rang.

‘Hiya, listen, Finn, one of the Macbride murder team was on to me to say that Lenihan, well, he wants you to stop contacting him. Except he didn’t put it as politely as that. He said you were to let him do his job or he’d have you arrested and charged with interfering with an active investigation.’

‘That bastard. He’d have no investigation only for me.’

I stopped then, realising how true that was, in more ways than one. Sadie didn’t notice my pause.

‘Leave it, Finn, for fuck’s sake.’