‘Please ask your client not to spit so much when he speaks, Mr O’Mahoney. You will have noticed that the District Court not only gave us the authority to bring in Mr MacGreevy’s dog, but gave us permission to take hair samples from him.’

Aidan O’Mahoney’s eyes narrowed. He had dealt with Katie before, and he knew that she never made accusations without having watertight evidence to back them up. ‘May I ask where this is leading, Detective Superintendent?’

‘It’s leading to the conclusive proof we now have in our possession that your client was responsible for constructing the explosive device that was detonated two days ago at the UCC School of Pharmacy.’

‘What proof?’ James MacGreevy burst out. ‘You don’t have any fecking proof! Come on, I’m asking you, what proof? Found any explosive in me house, have you? Found anything at all that I could have used to make a bomb with? You’ve not, have you? You’ve found squat, that’s what you’ve found! Squat and double-squat! I’ll bet you pigs went trawling through me computer trying to see if there was any bomb-making information on there, but all you found there was the wholesale price of Delaway cabbage!’

‘It was your client’s dog, Mr O’Mahoney. He was right to call him Fear.’

‘Oh, feck off. “Fear” only means “Man”, you know that. And so what’s me poor fecking dog got to do with it? Are you trying to tell me that he made the fecking bomb, and I told him how? Ever since he’s had them ear mites he’s been too busy scratching to dig up bones, leave alone make bombs.’

‘I could have reserved this evidence until later, but if it’ll stop your client from cursing then I’ll share it with you now. Stray dog hairs were found by forensic experts stuck to adhesive tape in the remains of the UCC bomb. These have been shown by DNA testing to match beyond any reasonable doubt the hairs of Mr MacGreevy’s dog.’

‘What?’ demanded James MacGreevy. ‘Dog hairs? Are you fecking serious?’

‘Totally. They also match hairs found by bomb disposal experts in Belfast in three other high-explosive devices – all of which were discovered and defused before they could be detonated, thank God.’

Aidan O’Mahoney said, ‘I’ll need to have sight of this so-called evidence myself, DS Maguire. I smell something here.’

‘You can smell something? Semtex doesn’t have a smell. Unlike the blown-up bodies of pharmacy students.’

‘I smell a fix between you and the PSNI.’

‘Oh, yes?’