Tony nodded. He couldn’t put his finger on what, but something felt familiar about the path they now followed, though if he were honest, it might have been simply that he was convincing himself that they were on the right track, for the trees blended one into the other. He was looking for the stream; it alone would prove that he was leading them in the right direction.

‘Who was he?’ Tony asked, gaining a quizzical look from Mullan. ‘The third man, from back then. The one who beat us up.’

‘It was hardly a beating,’ Mullan laughed. ‘I’ve got worse in the bar evenings.’

‘He took a nail-studded bat to me at one stage.’

Mullan shrugged, glancing at Karen sceptically. ‘I think you’ve misremembered that.’

‘I know what happened to me,’ Tony said. ‘Who was he?’

‘Joe Doherty,’ Mullan said. ‘He was one of the Nutting Squad. He helped us out.’

‘He was an animal.’

‘He did what needed to be done to be sure we had the right person.’

‘We didn’t have the right person,’ Duggan muttered from behind them.

‘And why were you there?’ Tony asked.

Mullan looked at him askance. ‘Me? I was in charge.’

Duggan spoke behind them again. ‘Uncle Sean here was the one set us all up together. He was the one sent me to the health centre to meet you, Karen. And he told me to look out for you, too, after your brother’s death. We’re all together now because of him. He was even the one who named the cop to us.’

‘I thought it was Martin who saw him in a supermarket,’ Karen said. Tony nodded, grateful at least that her memory coincided with his in that regard.

‘Martin told me that Sean here sent him to that shop, week after week. Told him he’d heard a rumour that our guy was living in the area, shopping there. Martin knew him from back home.’

‘Is that right?’ Karen asked.

Mullan nodded, smiling a little ruefully. ‘I’m surprised he told you. We knew the target was living in the area; we’d got word from someone that he’d relocated there. Kelly knew the man already; it made sense to send him out to check whether the rumours were true.’

‘Martin told me everything back then. So, why didn’t you come to me directly?’ Duggan asked. ‘Why go through Martin?’

‘You always needed to feel like you came up with your own ideas, Hugh,’ Mullan said. ‘If I’d sent you after him, there’d have been no guarantee that you’d have followed through. Why do you think we’d sent you to Scotland? You were too awkward, too prone to heading off in your own direction.’

‘That’s a lie.’

‘Your move over here was sanctioned at the highest levels, Hugh. You know that. You were brought back when the ceasefire started, because there was nothing more you could do.’