A pistol round being chambered.

Michael turned towards the sound and saw a figure emerging from the darkness. A figure from his past, with a pair of pale eyes that he would recognise anywhere.

SEVENTY-THREE

‘You came alone.’

Michael and Hirst had spent hours together in the course of Hirst’s trial. In all that time Michael had never heard humour in Hirst’s voice.

He heard it now. A cold, vindictive mockery.

‘I’m not sure if I’m impressed or disappointed.’

‘Where are they, Karl?’ Michael glanced at the semi-automatic pistol in Hirst’s right hand. ‘Jenny and Tina. Where are they?’

Hirst glanced towards the large mausoleum. Just for a moment. Michael could not tell if it was subconscious or if it was an indication. Either way, it answered the question.

‘Are they both alive?’

Hirst smiled.

‘Wouldn’t you like to know.’

‘I’m entitled to know,’ Michael replied. ‘Me for them. Both of them. That was the deal.’

‘You didn’t expect me to honour that, did you?’ Hirst sneered, a twisted smile on his face. ‘You can’t be that naive.’

‘I don’t suppose I did, no.’

‘And yet you still did as you were told. You still came alone.’

‘I don’t see I had much choice.’

‘You could have just let them die,’ Hirst shrugged.

‘No, I couldn’t. But I don’t expect you to understand that.’

‘Ah yes, the famous Devlin chivalry.’ A smile grew on Hirst’s lips. An unattractive distortion to an already ugly face. It did not extend to his eyes. They remained as pale and as emotionless as ever. ‘How did it go again? “No one else is gonna die for me, Sarah. This is all my fault. They died for something I did.”’

Hirst spoke with a bad Belfast accent as he mocked the words spoken by Michael in Reid’s kitchen.

Michael stared at him, realisation dawning.

‘You bugged the crime scenes. You bugged Derek’s house.’

Hirst’s smile faded into a malicious grin. It better suited his face.

‘And how right I was to do so, eh? Because if I hadn’t, I’d have never known about you.’

Hirst moved closer as he spoke. Out of reach, but close enough for Michael to see him clearly. He raised the pistol as he came forward and aimed it at Michael.

‘And that’s the irony, Michael. Because until I killed your fat friend, I assumed you had nothing to do with what happened. You were just a kid. I didn’t think you even knew.’

‘What?’

‘I thought it was Reid and Blunt and Longman. I thought they were behind it. And the girl. Obviously the girl. But I’d accepted I’d never find her. So after Reid I was done, it was over. And then you came stumbling in to Reid’s house, confessing everything.’

Michael felt a cold fury growing.

‘You piece of—’

‘If only you’d kept your mouth shut,’ Hirst continued, ignoring the interruption. ‘I’d never have known I hadn’t finished the job. That there was still one more bastard to kill. The little bastard who was behind the whole thing.’