A middle-aged man came up behind him, with a gravy-stained napkin still tucked into the front of his sweater. ‘They shot a hole clean through the window of Cask’s, right next door there. It was pure chance there was nobody sitting there.’

‘Did you see the car they got away in?’ asked Katie.

‘Silver, it was. Range Rover or something like it.’

‘You didn’t see its number plate?’

‘Don’t even think it had one, to be honest with you.’

Katie took out her phone and rang the station. As she was waiting to be answered, Kieran laid his hand on her shoulder and said, ‘You saved my life there, Katie. God in Heaven, you saved both of our lives.’

‘Sergeant O’Farrell? This is DS Maguire. I’m outside Hotel Isaacs on MacCurtain Street. There’s been a shooting here, not three minutes ago. At me, would you believe, and Justice Connolly. No, nobody hurt. No. But the shooters left the scene in a silver car, heading east along the Lower Glanmire Road, at speed. Maybe a Range Rover but a witness says it had no registration plates.

‘Yes, we’ll need the area cordoned off. And we’ll need to take statements from everybody who saw it happen. And if you can contact Bill Phinner for me so that we can have the technical experts up here as soon as they can pull on their rushers. It’s lashing out, and if there’s any cartridge cases or other forensics I don’t want them washed down the shores.’

When she had finished calling for backup, the restaurant manager came up to Katie and said, ‘Come here, why don’t you both come back inside? Have a brandy on the house. You must be fierce shaken up, the both of you.’

‘I’d kill for a brandy, but I’ll have to make do with a strong cup of coffee. I’m back on duty now.’

They sat down at a table near the door and waited to hear sirens and see blue flashing lights in the wet street outside. Kieran took hold of Katie’s wrist again, and said, ‘You’re extraordinary, do you know that? You’ve just had two gowls shooting at you, trying to kill you, and you’re as cool as if somebody had done nothing more than let one of your tyres down.’

Katie gave him half a smile. ‘Don’t tell me you don’t hear evidence in court that makes you want to gawk up your breakfast. But you don’t, do you? You stay calm, and listen, and you make a considered judgement, because that’s your job. Staying calm when bullets are flying around, that’s my job. That doesn’t mean I won’t go to bed tonight and have nightmares that wake me up screaming. That’s if I do get to bed tonight, which I doubt.’