Beth McKinstry was on the telephone when Nguyen walked into the office. He stood in front of her desk and waited. He was wearing his only suit, a grey one that was starting to go shiny at the elbows. He had on a white shirt and a blue V-necked pullover with three white skiers across the front. He was holding a white carrier bag in both hands, clasping it to his chest like a baby. Murphy was sitting on the sofa reading a magazine and massaging his aching shoulder. He’d looked up when Nguyen entered, but immediately dismissed him as any sort of potential threat and carried on reading.

Beth watched Nguyen as she talked, frowning slightly. He smiled and nodded at her and she looked down. She didn’t look up again until she’d finished the call. As she replaced the phone Kavanagh came out of Hennessy’s office and quietly closed the door behind him. He barely glanced at Nguyen before sitting down next to Murphy.

‘Yes?’ said Beth.

‘Please, I would like to speak with Mr Liam Hennessy.’

‘And your name is?’ she said.

‘Nguyen Ngoc Minh,’ he answered.

‘Can I tell him what it is about?’ She couldn’t even attempt to repeat his name.

‘It is very difficult to explain,’ he told her.

She reached for the intercom button but stopped halfway. ‘Are you the man who phoned last week?’ she asked.

‘I phoned many times,’ said Nguyen.

Beth took her hand away from the intercom. ‘I’m afraid Mr Hennessy is very busy. He won’t be able to see you.’

‘I must see him,’ Nguyen repeated.

‘He’s busy!’ insisted Beth, raising her voice. Her cheeks flushed red.

Murphy and Kavanagh glanced up. The secretary was good-natured to a fault and rarely lost her temper. Nguyen said nothing, he just smiled.

‘If you leave your number I’ll call you to arrange an appointment once I have spoken with Mr Hennessy,’ she said.

Still Nguyen said nothing.

‘You must go!’ she said. Murphy and Kavanagh got to their feet and walked over to Nguyen.

‘Best you do as the lady says,’ said Murphy quietly.

Nguyen looked at Murphy and the Irishman could see there was no trace of fear in his eyes. ‘I must see him,’ he said quietly.

Kavanagh put his hand on Nguyen’s shoulder. ‘What’s the crack?’ he asked Beth.

‘He’s been ringing up at all hours asking to see Liam. He won’t take no for an answer.’

‘Yez heard the lady, Mr Hennessy doesn’t want to see yez,’ said Kavanagh, gripping Nguyen’s shoulder and pulling him away from the desk. For a second Nguyen was off balance and he clutched the carrier bag tightly as if afraid that it might fall.

‘What have you got there?’ said Murphy, for the first time regarding the man as a possible threat. It wasn’t likely that the Loyalists would use a Chinaman to attack Hennessy, he thought, but these days you never could tell. He reached for the bag.

‘My shopping,’ said Nguyen.