‘We could,’ Katie told him. ‘But Muireann has a compelling reason for wanting to stay with Thomas O’Flynn. And I’m not sure that either of them would ever feel safe, even if we did give them protection. According to Muireann, Megan won’t walk out on Barry Riordan because she’s convinced that he would find her and kill her if she did, no matter where she went.’

Inspector O’Rourke raised his hand like a boy at school who knows all the answers. ‘I hope I’m not being presumptuous here, ma’am, but I have the distinct feeling that you’ve thought up some way of getting around this particular problem.’

‘I have, Francis. And that’s to arrange it so that the O’Flynns don’t hold their party in The Weavers at all.’

‘How in the name of Jesus can we do that? And even if we can – what’s Barry Riordan going to think if he and his gang show up at The Weavers all ready to do battle and there’s no sign of the O’Flynns? He’s going to know at once that somebody’s ratted on them. He may have no proof that it was his wife – but like you say, he’ll probably blame her anyway.’

‘Well, you’re right,’ said Katie. ‘But you remember the Bord Gáis barriers that we put up in the street when the School of Pharmacy was bombed? That’s what gave me this idea. What we do is, we send two officers to The Weavers early tomorrow morning wearing jackets that we’ve borrowed from Bord Gáis. They’ll be carrying false identity cards to show that they’re emergency response gas fitters.’

‘Okay… I think I see where you’re going with this.’

‘Our two fake fitters will tell the landlord that there’s been a strong smell of natural gas detected in the street and that there’s a suspected mains leak right outside their front door. Remember that this part of the city still has the old cast-iron gas pipes. The fitters will say that there’s a serious risk of an explosion, which might even demolish the whole pub. After that they’ll put up the barriers and they dig up the pavement. The landlord will have to contact the O’Flynns and tell them that their party is either cancelled or postponed or that they’ll have to hold it somewhere else.’

‘And what happens when the Riordans roll up?’ asked Inspector O’Rourke.