She paused, frowning at the paper that she had just picked up, and then she said, ‘As soon as the technical experts have finished up at White’s Cross, they’ll be taking his remains to CUH for a post-mortem. I’ll be after getting in touch with Mary Kelley in a minute to see if she’s free to do that. What’s left of his car will be hauled off to Midleton for a full forensic examination. There was a witness who saw another vehicle at the scene when his car caught fire, a local farmer. He’s been shown pictures of various SUVs and he thinks it might have been a Range Rover or a Land Cruiser. We’ll be putting out an appeal for anybody else who might have noticed it.’

‘Sean said it didn’t look like an accident.’

‘No, it didn’t.’

‘Do you have any possible suspects in mind? The O’Flynns would seem the most likely, don’t you think?’

‘The O’Flynns had a motive, admittedly, what with Donal Hagerty about to be sentenced. But Justice Quinn has sent down scores of criminals in his time on the bench. Hundreds, even. Any single one of them could have been harbouring enough of a grudge to want to get their revenge on him.’

‘Yes, I suppose you’re right. Do you know, once I had a sledgehammer thrown through my living-room window by some scuzzy drug-dealer that I’d arrested five years previous.’ He was silent for a while, but looking at her intently. ‘All right, Katie,’ he said, at last. ‘Keep me posted, won’t you, if there’s any developments?’

‘I will of course.’

Katie continued to leaf through her messages, occasionally jotting down a note, and still she didn’t raise her eyes.

Brendan glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Moirin couldn’t hear him, even though her office door was open. Then he said, in a very low voice, ‘Erm… about the other thing.’

Katie put down her pen and looked up at him. He could never stop looking handsome, with that dark wavy hair and those hawklike features and mischievous eyes, but what she had once found so amusing and attractive about him she now found shallow and insincere. She couldn’t even stand the smell of his Boss aftershave.

‘Have you… had any more thoughts about it?’ he asked her.

‘No, to be honest with you.’

‘So you won’t be taking it any further?’

‘I don’t know. I’m not sure I’ve even been able to come to terms with it yet.’

‘Katie… I admit that I made a mistake. I misread the signs that you gave me.’

‘What signs did I give you? I was totally wrecked. I wasn’t even conscious, for the love of God.’