Franklin was told everything, and it was obvious what he thought, even with it being self-defence. That Matty was dangerous – more than dangerous. Untrustworthy. He was always in the room when Sheanna was there, a bodyguard, an obtuse presence. Yet he yielded to Joe. They had an odd dynamic, Joe often the more docile, submissive, but he could stand up for himself when he wanted to. And standing up for Matty was something he now insisted upon. He asked Franklin what he would have done, if someone had been laying into him as this man had.

It had given him energy, this extra excitement. There was an unnatural brightness in his eyes, more than the first day. He kept looking to the driveway as if he was readying himself for a Wild West shootout. Instead, with Sheanna occasionally buzzing around them, they talked. There was no chronology. It was a patchwork, an arbitrary visiting of the fourteen years they’d spent apart.

‘Did you never love Mamma?’

‘Ah no, I did. Course I did. She was a stunner, your mother. We had something for a while.’ He looked up. ‘When did you last see her?

‘Three months before she – I was going to say before she died, but – three months before she was found.’

‘What’s the difference?’

‘She wasn’t discovered for almost three weeks.’

It was as if he was hearing about her death for the first time again. Worse. His eyes seemed to lose their colour, a hand moving over his mouth with a slight tremor. It was surprising, almost, how upset he looked. ‘Oh, God.’

‘She didn’t have any friends. Not really. There were men that came and went but … I wasn’t very good in the end, at seeing her.’

‘It’s not your fault.’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Matty. It’s not your fault. You hear me?’

The morning passed. Cormac didn’t come.

‘You’ve got a goat.’ There was an allotment too, up on the highest ground, two long lines of cabbages and hard green shoots under webbing.

‘I know.’ He looked almost embarrassed, but not quite. ‘Believe me, I know.’

‘You didn’t like Ireland. You always wanted to leave.’

‘I was glad to see the back of it when I was younger, honest to God. I miss London. I always did. But things have changed. I’d never have dreamt that this country would drag itself up the way it has. It’s got the bloody internet, for God’s sake. In the towns. I didn’t ever imagine living practically on the border like this, but …’ He shrugged. ‘Well, it looks like it’s heading in the right direction. Touch wood and all that.’ He stepped forward and tapped the edge of the plank bridge. ‘And Franklin – well, he saw some opportunities. He’s a canny one.’ A guilty smile, one that couldn’t help still being warm.

‘He’s been good for you?’