‘I realized that the officer we were watching had a child,’ Tony said, being extra careful not to use names, either for the man or Alice, which might suggest more intimate knowledge of them than would have been expected from him.

‘And?’

‘I was worried that, in the event of an attack, the child might be killed, too.’

‘What difference would that have made?’ the unnamed man asked.

‘I didn’t think it fair that a child should be killed,’ Tony said, tamping down the tone of sarcasm in his voice that he should have to explain such a thing. Clearly he’d not tamped it down enough, for the man bridled a little and straightened in his seat.

‘Don’t get smart with me, son,’ he said. ‘What did the child of a cop matter to you?’

‘She didn’t matter,’ Tony said. ‘Beyond I didn’t want to be part of something which resulted in a child’s death. My own brother was just a child, really. I saw what that did to my family. I didn’t want to be part of that.’

‘Badly enough to sabotage the whole mission?’

‘Of course not,’ Tony said, then realized that he’d yet to ask why they were questioning him. His mind raced as he tried to assimilate all that had been said. Would they suspect him because he hadn’t asked why they were there? Would he be expected to know that it hadn’t gone ahead as planned? ‘Why, did the mission not go as planned?’

‘No. The target left his home in the early hours of the morning, before we could plant the device,’ Duggan said. ‘He’s not been back since. Our sources tell us he’s left the area completely.’

‘Maybe something spooked him,’ Tony offered.

‘Someone is much more likely.’

‘And do you think… it was one of us?’

Mullan nodded. ‘Only a certain number of people knew what was planned,’ he said. ‘That means there are only a certain number of people who could have been responsible. We intend to find out which of them it was.’

‘What’s more interesting,’ the unnamed man said, ‘is that you’ve only just asked what all this is about.’

‘I just assumed it was…’ Tony began, but he could find no suitable excuse. ‘I’ve nothing to hide,’ he added, feeling that a protestation of innocence would be expected in the situation.

‘Everyone has something to hide,’ the man said. ‘And like I said, everyone confesses in the end.’

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Two

‘In the end, they tried to blame him for a bomb attack in Belfast. He confessed to it, even though he’d been on holidays when it happened,’ Barr said. ‘I mind standing in the shed with him at the allotment, the radio buzzing in the background, and him holding this pot in his hands. He just stood there, the pot in his hands, his arms outstretched, just standing like this.’