Eileen put her hand over her mouth to stem the tide of vomit rushing up inside her. Molly, with a strength born of desperation, pushed the lifeless form from her. Dragging herself upright, she put her hand to her mouth in shock. The two stood there like statues until Abel, who had arrived with the cart, was sent in by his mother.

He took one look at Paddy lying spreadeagled on the floor, his head a mush of blood and brains, and swore under his breath.

‘Jesus sodding Christ! What happened here?’

Eileen began to shake. It started in her hands and travelled through her cold body until even her teeth were chattering. Abel dragged Paddy over on to his back. The unbuttoned trousers told him the whole story.

‘Was he at the girl? Was he at Eileen?’

He assumed that Molly had taken the iron to him. She shook her head, and as he heard Eileen moan, Abel saw the iron still in her hand.

‘He was at you, Moll?’

She nodded. Her blonde hair was in disarray and her clothes were ripped. A strand of saliva was hanging from her top lip as she tried to speak.

Abel took the iron from Eileen and put it into the sink. Then he went outside to the pump and filled a bucket with icy water. He washed the iron clean of blood, talking over his shoulder as he did so.

‘First I want you to get some sheets to wrap him in. Come on, you two!’ His voice was urgent. ‘We have to get rid of him, girls, or else one or the other of you will be before the beak in the morning.’

Molly felt his words penetrate her brain and forced herself into action. Going up the stairs, she pulled the sheets from her bed and brought them back down to the kitchen.

Abel had put Eileen in the easy chair and was pouring out a cup of hot sweet tea for her.

‘We’ll wrap him up tight and I’ll dump him somewhere. We’ll think of a story later, let’s just get rid of the ... of Paddy’s ... of his body.’ There, it was said.

‘Oh, Abel, what are we going to do?’ Molly’s voice had risen now as the shock wore off and he went to her and put his arms around her.

‘Listen to me, Molly. We must get rid of him now, before anyone finds out what’s happened. I’ll take him down to the docks, dump him in the water. Plenty of people turn up there dead. You report him missing tomorrow and the police will assume he was set upon for his wages.’