“From above the road?” I rubbed the window of the car and tried to peer out. There were high rocky banks on this side where the road had been cut through, but I couldn’t see clearly enough in the dark.

“I think so. But it was just so shocking. It was like I’d been attacked. I swerved and pulled in straight away. As soon as I stopped shaking, I got out of the jeep to have a look, in case something was hurt.” Her voice quivered.

“Go on,” I said gently.

“It was a man, a middle-aged man. Dead.” Her voice went up a notch and her eyes welled. “And then I thought, fuck, did I run him over? Was it my fault he was dead?” But no, I’m certain it was a body that landed on the car, not a person.” Her voice lowered to a whisper as her eyes widened in renewed horror. “The windscreen cracked.”

I reached out to touch her arm between the two front seats. “What did McFadden say?”

“He says he’s no expert, but he thinks the man’s been dead for a while. That I wasn’t the one that killed him. Thank Christ. I mean, I knew that; I didn’t think I had, but it was good to have it confirmed.”

“So what happened to him then? Did he just …”

She shook her head in disbelief. “I think he rolled down the hill. I know that sounds crazy, but I think it must have been the rain. There’s rain coming down the hills and dislodging all sorts. Landslides. Rocks and everything. I was hit by a flying fertiliser bag yesterday, scared the bejaysus out of me.” She gave a wry look. “I thought I was scared then.”

I looked out the window again, but I still couldn’t see anything, just Molloy and McFadden talking to one another with the tarpaulin at their feet. McFadden began taking pictures on his phone. And as I watched, Molloy took out his own phone and made a call.

Maeve was still speaking, almost as if she was talking to herself. “He must have been lying up there and the rain washed him down. That’s all I can think. I mean, there’s no one else about. I hadn’t met another car for an hour. No one’s out in this weather that doesn’t have to be.”

“So he just fell on your jeep as you were passing?”

She gave a weak smile. “Lucky me, eh?”

“At least he was found. If he was lying dead up there, he might have been there for a while before anyone came across him. Nothing but sheep.”

Maeve hugged herself with a shiver. “I wonder how long he was there.”