‘And your answer to that was—?’

‘For the time being at least, I’ll be taking over any and all press conferences we hold about our ongoing investigations here at Anglesea Street. You’ll be taking what you might call a back seat.’

‘Oh, they didn’t want me to quit altogether? Just to become less visible?’

‘If you want to put it that way, yes.’

‘Fair play, sir, even if I briefed you fully before any press conference, the media could still ask you some unexpected questions that you wouldn’t be able to answer. More important, they could well ask you some unexpected questions that you wouldn’t know how not to answer. And that would very quickly make you appear as if you didn’t really have a grasp on what you were talking about.’

‘I’m sorry, but I totally disagree with you. I believe I’m more than capable of handling the media and giving them all the information they want in a way that makes us look empowered and efficient and totally dedicated to a Cork with only minimum crime. Which we are.’

‘In that case, you’ll need to know all about the operation that we’re carrying out this afternoon. Operation Hubbard.’

Brendan was standing very close to her now, and she knew why he was doing it. She would either have to look up to him when she spoke or suddenly push her chair back and stand up herself, which would make her look clumsy and intimidated. She had seen him do it too often before, even with other men. But when she said ‘Operation Hubbard’ he jerked his head back a little and frowned, because she had caught him off balance.

‘Operation what?’

‘Hubbard. It’s a bit of a joke, do you know? “Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard to fetch her poor dog a bone.”’

‘What?’

Katie explained how the Riordans would go bursting into The Weavers in the expectation that the O’Flynns would be holding their birthday party there, and how officers from the armed support unit would be waiting for them.

Brendan stared at her as if she had told him that his car had rolled backwards into the River Lee.

‘You’re not serious? You’ve arranged for an out-and-out shooting match with Barry Riordan and his gang? What do you think this is? The Wild West? The gunfight at the OK Corral?’

‘What option did we have? Once we were tipped off about what they intended to do, we couldn’t very well ignore it, could we?’

‘This is in the middle of the city in the middle of the day! What if there are collateral casualties? What if innocent bystanders get themselves shot?’