Eventually we passed lights and a couple of houses and we turned left, heading again into blackness. I knew the route snaked ahead before cutting through the hill but could see only as far as the headlights permitted. We passed the sign saying Fáilte go fod duchais an amhráin Grásta Iontach. You are welcome to Amazing Grace country, and I recalled the story of John Newton. Tonight it was easy to imagine the storm he’d experienced. Molloy’s grip was tight on the wheel.

Eventually, the road climbed with rocky outcrops high on either side. We emerged from a particularly severe hairpin bend and suddenly I saw flashing blue lights. The shrine and St Columcille’s holy well appeared to one side, like a hologram, eerie in the headlights. A crunch of stones beneath the car and we were here: Mamore Gap.

I squinted, trying to see shapes and figures as we pulled into the little parking area. Molloy glanced across at me. I knew that look – it was his “stay put” look – like the glare you’d give a pet before crossing the road. But I ignored it and we climbed out of the car at the same time.

Banks loomed high above us on either side. As we approached, I saw that the squad car was parked at an odd angle across the narrow road. Its headlights were on full and immediately ahead of it was Maeve’s jeep with a cordon around it and a tarpaulin thrown across the front. Jesus, was Maeve’s jeep a crime scene? Beside the jeep’s right front wheel, lying in between the two vehicles and illuminated by the squad car’s lights, was some more plastic sheeting, another tarp, covering something. McFadden was alongside in his waterproofs as if standing guard. He was on the phone.

Molloy made straight for McFadden, who looked relieved to see him. He waved at me and indicated the squad car where Maeve was sitting in the passenger seat. When I opened the door, she had her head in her hands.

“Are you all right?” I asked softly.

She jumped as if I’d given her a fright. She was paler than I’d ever seen her, her lips almost blue. Wordlessly she indicated the back seat and so I opened the rear door and got in.

“Did you call Charlie?”

She nodded. “He wanted to come but I didn’t want him to wake the boys.”

“What on earth happened?” I asked.

She twisted around to look at me. “Just what I said in my text. I was on my way back to Clonmany and I heard a loud thump. I was blinded for a second, but I knew something had hit the windscreen.” She took a deep shuddering breath. “I thought at first it was a large bird, an eagle or something. I knew it couldn’t have been an animal – it seemed to come from above.”