‘What’s the law on squatters’ rights and landownership in Ireland?’ she asked, straight to business. ‘In England if you annexe a piece of land and the landowner does nothing about it, you can claim it after twelve years. Is it the same here?’

Aidan took his cue from her serious tone and it was just like they were back at work together. ‘Yes it is. Why do you—’

‘Thanks Aidan.’ She clicked off her phone and realised that everyone around the table was looking at her. ‘Houston, I think we have a problem.’ She caught her lip between her teeth. Of course, Murphy’s fence made perfect sense now if he was trying to annexe that piece of land but why would he do that? What did he have to gain? It seemed a perfectly innocuous piece of land. Not big enough for a geological find. Too small to mine. What was special about it?

‘What?’ asked Fliss, for once looking intrigued rather than disinterested.

‘Something that’s been bothering me for ages. But I need to check something.’ She looked at her watch. ‘In law if someone takes over a piece of land by fencing it in or appropriating it in some way, if the landowner doesn’t object or do anything about it, you can claim the land as your own after twelve years. I think that’s what Adrienne’s neighbour, Murphy, is trying to do.’ There wasn’t much time if Niamh’s birthday was today. It meant the twelve years was up at midnight.

‘Right,’ said Alan, his eyes sharpening. ‘But what would this Murphy gain from that?’

‘I’m not sure.’ Hannah thought for a minute and glanced down the table where Adrienne and the rest of the family were gathered around Niamh, who was starting to open her presents. She could hardly interrupt them with a vague half-cocked idea. ‘But there’s something and I’m just not seeing it properly.’ What was it about that parcel of land that was important to Murphy. Why go to the trouble of refencing it so recently? She tried to picture the land and where it was. She really needed to see that boundary map. ‘I need to get into Adrienne’s office asap but I don’t want to disturb them until I know I’m not making something out of nothing.

‘Why Adrienne’s office?’ asked Fliss.

‘Because there’s a boundary map on the wall in there, which might explain something. The office is probably all locked but I really need to see it.’

Jason rose. ‘I can get you in there.’ He wiggled his fingers. ‘Lock-picking skills.’ There was silence round the table and he rolled his eyes. ‘If it’s an emergency.’

‘Oh, it’s an emergency all right,’ said Hannah. She looked at her watch again. Ten to nine. There really was no time to waste.

‘Fine, I’ll get you in.’