Of course, these people might not be what Cooper himself would call friends, but just acquaintances, the sort of people he sat with in the pub. Familiar enough to spend time with during his off-duty hours, without having to know anything about them, except what they drank when it was his turn to get a round. That kind of relationship was very shallow, wasn’t it? Not something to regret that she didn’t have herself.

‘Perhaps,’ said Cooper. ‘But that saying is originally from a carving in a Japanese shrine. The three wise monkeys represent the principle “If we do not hear, see, or speak evil, we ourselves shall be spared all evil.” It’s a play on the Japanese word for monkey. But sometimes there’s a fourth part to the saying: “Do no evil.” Most people seem to miss that one off.’

Cooper glanced across the pub to see where Liz had got to. She’d found some friends and was chatting happily to them at another table. He felt a momentary spurt of jealousy. But that was completely irrational. She’d left him alone to make his phone call in peace, which was exactly what he’d wanted her to do, wasn’t it?

Fry was very quiet at the other end of the phone. And that was odd, too. Cooper felt she ought to be interrupting his thoughts by now and telling him what to do next.

‘Are you all right, Diane? Shall I come into the office this afternoon and we can talk it through?’

‘I’ve got a new assignment, Ben,’ she said.

‘A new –?’ Cooper wasn’t quite sure what she meant.

‘You won’t be seeing me for a little while. I’m going on a trip. Mr Kessen wants me to fly to Dublin to interview Martin Rourke. I have to liaise with the Garda Síochána.’

‘Ireland? Well, that’s great.’

‘Is it?’

‘You ought to be delighted, Diane. Anyone else in the department would give their right arm to be off on a trip to Ireland. When do you fly?’

‘Tomorrow. I’ll be away until Wednesday probably. So you won’t see me around the office for a couple of days.’

‘We’ll manage without you for a while,’ said Cooper, trying to lighten the tone of the conversation without understanding why it was taking a downbeat note.

‘You know what’s happening on Tuesday?’ said Fry, a trifle impatiently.

‘Er …’

‘Our new detective superintendent is putting in an appearance. In person. She’ll be meeting the troops for the first time. Except, she won’t be meeting me, because I’ll be in bloody Dublin.’

‘But, Diane, that doesn’t mean anything,’ protested Cooper.

‘It doesn’t mean anything to you, Ben,’ she said. ‘But that’s because you never see what’s really going on.’