Celine rubbed her hands together. ‘Couldn’t leave him out. I saw him in Nice once. Good-looking. Tiny though. They’re all tiny. Tom Cruise is only two-foot high in real life.’

‘Really?’ Sullivan said.

‘Yes. Pocket-sized. It’s all done with trick photography.’

As a quick series of ads flashed by, Eliza tried again to convince Sullivan to leave with her.

‘No, it looks like it might rain. I didn’t bring a raincoat.’

‘It’s a sunny day, Sullivan.’

‘We’ll just watch to the end. Please, Eliza. I never get to watch things like this at home.’

‘That’s what’s worrying me.’

‘Leave him alone, you nag,’ Celine said. ‘Let the kid have some fun.’

‘It’s not fun. It’s celebrity gossip.’

‘Shut up, would you?’ Celine said. ‘It’s back on.’

Sullivan sat back happily. ‘Mel Gibson’s Australian like Eliza and me,’ he said, as snippets of the actor’s films flashed on to the screen – Mad Max, Gallipoli, What Women Want – interspersed with shots of award ceremonies and photos of him over the years.

‘He doesn’t sound it,’ Celine said.

‘He’s an actor. He can do all sorts of accents,’ Eliza said, drawn in now despite herself.

Celine scoffed. ‘A terrible Scottish one, though. There, look, in that one.’ On screen, the actor was now on a horse, blue paint covering most of his face, shouting in a Scottish accent. ‘Braveheart? Rubbishheart, more like it. Such liberties with Scottish history. Garbage from start to finish.’

‘Did you ever see that film, Eliza?’ Sullivan asked.

‘Count your blessings if you didn’t,’ Celine said.

There was no answer.

They turned around.

Eliza was gone.

Olivia was still with Maxie when Eliza came bursting in.

‘Braveheart! Mum and I saw Braveheart on video one night. I remember she got really excited about it! She said it was filmed in Ireland. That she worked near the castle they used. That she wished she’d been living there when it was filmed, maybe she could have been an extra.’

‘But it’s a Scottish story, Eliza,’ Olivia said. ‘She must have been mistaken.’

‘Please, Maxie, google it.’

Seconds later, Maxie looked up from her laptop, eyes wide. ‘Eliza’s right. It was filmed in Ireland. In a town called Trim, in County Meath.’ She googled again. ‘There are only fifteen pubs in Trim.’

*

Olivia printed out a list of the pubs and their phone numbers. They decided on a cover story. Maxie would speak in her native Australian accent. Say she was calling from Melbourne. Putting together a surprise for her brother’s fiftieth. Tracking down his old friends, getting them to record video messages. Did anyone from the pub have a relative called Emmet who’d lived in Australia thirty or so years ago? Her brother had shared a house with him.