She managed a half-smile. “I’m pretty desperate for a bit of exercise to be honest. My bike is still up at Malin Head with all the others.” She crossed her arms protectively across her chest as if she was cold, although it was mild enough this morning.

“How is your sister doing today?”

“Oh, she’s good,” she said. “A lot better, actually. Dad’s taken Peadar up to see her. It was good that you found her.”

So, she did know who I was after all, I thought. “I’m glad to hear that,” I said. “You must have got a terrible fright, all of you.”

“Yes. We’re glad she’s going to be okay.” She moved to head on, to get back to her run.

But I wasn’t ready to let her go yet. “It’s been a rough weekend, what with what happened to Bob.”

Reluctantly she stopped again and shook her head. I felt like Columbo with his “one more thing” question. “Oh, I didn’t really know him. But yes, that was awful too.”

“Didn’t you?” I threw in the only link I could be sure of. “You work in St Finbarr’s Hospital, don’t you? Bob was there too, at some stage, wasn’t he?”

Not surprisingly, she looked startled, but she recovered quickly. “There are a lot of employees there. It’s a big place. I wouldn’t have had anything to do with the board.”

But she knew he’d been on the board, I thought. How many nurses know the board members of the hospitals they work for?

She placed her hands on her hips and her eyes locked on mine. They were a deep blue. “Can I go now?” she said smartly. “Or do you have something else you want to ask me?”

Chapter Twenty

WHILE SUE MADE her escape my phone rang in my pocket. It was my mother. Relieved, I answered it. “Hi, Mum.”

But she was in a hurry too, I could tell. It seemed everyone wanted to get away from me this morning. “Hi, we got your message. Glad to hear you’re all right and things are getting back to normal up there. We’re just on our way out to church, so I’ll speak to you later.”

“Okay …” I heard a voice in the background call her name. I was pretty sure it was Stuart.

“Okay, bye then.” And she cut me off.

I looked down at the screen, more than a little confused. My parents had never been huge churchgoers but since my sister’s death they hadn’t darkened the door. I couldn’t decide if this latest development was a good or a bad thing.