‘Don’t worry. I’ll take full responsibility for it, so you won’t find yourself in any legal trouble at all. But I’d appreciate it if you could start doing it as soon as you can, and give me updates maybe three or four times a day. And also keep a record of everything he says and every text and email he sends out, no matter who it’s to.’

Conall looked back into Katie’s office at Kyna, who was now sitting down on one of the couches. Katie couldn’t quite read what must have been going through his mind, but he nodded, and kept on nodding, and after a while he said, ‘Sure. I’ll do that for you, ma’am, no bother at all. Come to think of it, it should be fierce interesting, shouldn’t it, catching up on all the day’s news before anybody else gets to hear about it?’

Katie gave Conall a quick smile. She was well aware what a risk she was taking, asking him to do this for her. Even if he found evidence to back up her suspicions, it could still be disastrous for her career. But she remembered what Conor had done. He had stayed true to his beliefs, never giving up or turning back, even though it had meant sacrificing his life.

‘Thanks a million,’ she said, almost silently. Conall stayed blinking at her for a few moments, as if he were trying to think of some pithy rejoinder, but then he simply swivelled around and went off along the corridor with a strange loping walk, like a cartoon character.

*

Kyna said, ‘We’ve found Doireann Greaney. She doesn’t live at Inniscarra Road any more. That’s her parents’ address. Well, her da and her stepma… her real mother died giving birth to her. She used to live there until she was nineteen years old but then she and her da had some kind of a falling-out about her never going to college like she was supposed to and never even trying to look for a job, so she moved out.’

‘So where is she now?’ asked Katie, returning to her desk.

‘She’s living in a rented bedsit in Ballyphehane… right on the end of St Nessan Street. So far as her parents know, she’s still not studying or working, but then they haven’t spoken to her for almost a year. In spite of that, they’ve seen her around town from time to time. And… this may be the clincher… on every occasion when they saw her, except for one, she was wearing a light grey tracksuit.’

‘Serious?’