Jo fought the urge to giggle. ‘Are you ready to go?’ she asked Ewan, as she leant a little closer to him. ‘I think we have an audience who is about ten seconds away from calling the police herself.’ She gestured her head backwards and Ewan looked in the direction of the woman before smiling once again.

‘Yes. Yes, I think maybe we should be off,’ he said quietly before he raised his voice again. ‘Lots of murdering to be done.’

He grabbed his case, and his laptop bag – which was significantly more stylish and professional-looking than her laptop-wrapped-in-a-towel ensemble – and led the way outside, to where his car had been left waiting for him.

‘I can tap our destination into the satnav,’ he said. ‘Or maybe you know a quicker way, being a local and all.’

‘Where’s our first stop?’ she asked him.

‘Buncrana,’ he replied. ‘The Inishowen Gateway Hotel. Do you know it?’

‘I do indeed. Everyone from round here knows it. No need for the satnav, just point your car towards those hills,’ she said, pointing to her left. ‘It’s more or less a straight road from here, or at least from the bottom of this hill.’

‘Then I’ll take your lead. I do appreciate you doing this, Jo,’ he said. ‘And I promise I’ll do my very best to help you in any way I can with your writing.’

‘I’m happy to help,’ she told him, struck by his sincerity. If only Lorcan could see him, he’d know that Ewan only had a professional motive. She, of course, quickly chided herself for letting Lorcan in. ‘What kind of thing are you hoping to see or what do you want to research?’ she asked.

‘Well, I want to catch some of the small-town feel of Buncrana today. Take in the shops, the pubs, the Irishness of it. I really wanted to see a seaside town, just to immerse myself in the sights, sounds and smells of it. I write better that way, you know.’ Jo took in his words, hardly daring to believe that he was really speaking to her as a fellow scribe.

‘And, late afternoon, we could sit down and discuss your book in more detail. I finished it last night, and wow, for a first book it’s incredibly accomplished. There are a few plot strands I think you could expand a little and I’ve some character notes, which you are more than welcome to ignore.’