“Pardon?” I say.

“Sorry, I was talking to Laura there. Listen, Terry, I’m going to have to—”

“Wait.”

“What is it?” His impatience is almost tangible. I clear my throat.

“Brendan. I need to talk to you. It’s about Iris.”

“Iris?” He wasn’t expecting that. I can’t blame him. Iris is not someone who usually warrants an emergency phone call.

“Yes, Iris,” I say, so there can be no doubt.

“What about her?” The urgency is gone from his tone. He thinks this is one of my worrying about nothing scenarios. “Well, she’s...talking about going to Switzerland. She says she’s going to a place where she can...it’s a clinic. In Zurich. They help you to...you know...end your life.”

“What?”

“Iris is going to Swi—”

“No, Jesus, I heard what you said, I just...what the hell is she doing that for?”

“Well...she says it’s to do with her MS and—”

“But there’s not a bother on her. She’s not even in a wheelchair.”

“That’s why she wants to do it now, she says. While she still can.”

“That makes no sense whatsoever.”

“Look, Brendan, there’s no time to explain. The boat is leaving in...” I check my watch. “...an hour and a quarter, and—”

“Boat? What boat?”

“The boat to Holyhead.” It was a mistake. Ringing Brendan.

“But she’s going to Zurich, you said. Why would she—”

“She doesn’t fly. You know that.”

Brendan makes a sort of snorting noise down the phone. “So she’s going to kill herself, but she’s taking the boat just in case the plane crashes? Jesus, even for Iris, that’s crazy.”

“Don’t say that, it’s—”

The sound of a foghorn wails through the air, startling me.

“Where are you, Terry?”

“I’m...I’m at Dublin Port.”

“What are you... Jesus Christ, you’re not thinking of going with her, are you?”

“Of course not. I mean, probably definitely not. It’s just...she’s by herself and...”

Crackling on the line now, then a door—Brendan’s office door—being firmly closed. When he speaks again, his voice is louder. Clearer. As if he is pressing the receiver hard against the side of his face.

“Terry, listen to me now. She’s not going to go through with it. This is one of her notions. Like that time she said she was going to trek through the Sahara.”

“She did trek through the Sahara.”

Brendan pauses, takes a deep breath. “Look, Terry, you’re needed here. Work is crazy at the moment with the Canadians landing. And there’s Kate. We need to be in Galway for her play next week.”

“I know that, but—”

“And what about Anna? She gets so stressed at exam time. And these are her finals.” I want to tell him I know all that. I am her mother. These are the things I know. Like Anna being stressed and her skin being bad. I’m positive she’s not applying the cream I got for her eczema as regularly as she’s supposed to.

“The best thing to do is go home, Terry. I won’t work late tonight. I’ll do my best to be home in time for dinner. We can talk about it then.”