‘Nothing new on Justice Quinn? I’ve had the Commissioner nagging me about it, because the Minister’s been nagging the Secretary General about it and the Secretary General’s been nagging him.’

‘We’re still working on the possibility that the O’Flynn gang was behind it – maybe to warn the judges not to hand down too severe a sentence on Donal Hagerty. But we have to be open-minded. Justice Quinn made a rake of enemies over his years on the bench, as all judges do.’

‘And the stabbing at the Zombie Lounge?’

‘Again, we’re still interviewing witnesses and assessing the forensics.’

‘And the High Five drug-dealers?’

Katie looked at him narrowly. ‘Has that Owen Dineen been on to you, sir, from the Sun?’

‘Yes, he has. And he asked me a whole lot of fierce difficult questions. Like, why is the Garda allowing gangs to run riot in Cork city, and why aren’t we solving more murders and assault cases and hauling in more pimps and people smugglers? It’s even worse in the countryside. Farmers are having their tractors and their livestock stolen and their houses broken into and we seem to be doing nothing to catch the gangs responsible. He said that many members of the public are feeling pure apprehensive when they go out at night, especially the older generation. A county councillor has complained to him that Cork is like the Wild West these days, only worse.’

‘You’ve seen the figures, sir. So far this year we’ve cleared up five per cent more cases than we did this time last year, and our conviction rate has gone up by three-point-five per cent.’

‘It’s still not good enough, Kathleen, if the public are feeling unsafe.’

‘Then get me more money, that’s all I can say.’

‘It’s not just a case of more money. It’s a question of competence.’

Frank Magorian took a deep breath, and paused, as if he were undecided about what he should say next.

‘Go on,’ said Katie. ‘What else did the charming Owen Dineen have to say to you?’

‘He asked me when we were going to let you go and replace you with a detective superintendent who could actually catch criminals.’

‘I see. And may I ask you what you replied?’

‘I told him that I have complete trust in you and your team, and that if he looked back over your record he would see that your performance as a DS has been exemplary. I said that you’ve cracked some of the most complex crimes that have been committed in Cork city and county in the past few years, and that you’ve put behind bars some of the most dangerous men in Ireland.’

‘Thank you. But I sense a “but”?’