When Katie walked into Isaacs restaurant on MacCurtain Street, Orla Quinn was already waiting for her in the back alcove, half-hidden behind the bare brick walls. Katie had met her only two or three times, at legal functions, and the last time had been at the opening of the new courthouse. She looked white and gaunt, almost like a crack addict, and she was wearing a black suit, with a black three-stranded choker around her neck, made of jet.

She stood up when Katie came in, and Katie embraced her. Underneath her black suit jacket Katie could feel her ribs.

‘Oh, Orla,’ she said. ‘What a tragedy.’

They sat down and a waitress came over, but all Orla wanted was a bottle of sparkling Ballygowan water. Katie asked for a latte, even though she had already drunk more coffee this morning than she usually did, and it was beginning to make her feel jumpy.

‘Do you have anybody staying with you for now, to keep you company?’ she asked Orla.

‘Our daughter’s with me – Davina. She drove down yesterday afternoon from Kilkenny and she came along with me this morning to see the solicitor. She’s taken herself off to buy herself a new spring jumper while you and I are having a chat. Our two sons will be coming down from Dublin this afternoon so. Jamie and Joyce.’

Orla sat there for a while, looking towards the restaurant door as if she were half-expecting somebody she knew to walk in. She had hooded hazel eyes and a sharp straight nose and her light brown hair was braided into a tight coronet. When Katie had first met her she had been beautiful in a slender, mythical way, like one of the women in a Pre-Raphaelite painting, but her looks had become harder since then.

Katie was about to ask her about her sons, but Orla said, ‘Those two officers of yours who came to break the news to me – they were so kind and sympathetic. They told me that Garrett would be taken to the hospital, for a post-mortem. Do you know how long that’s going to take?’

‘It’s impossible to say for sure, Orla. But I know that Dr Kelley has already made a start. She’s the Assistant State Pathologist. We’ve also sent two forensic experts to assist her.’

‘Forensic experts? Why? Does that mean you think that Garrett’s death might not have been an accident?’

‘I never jump to conclusions before I’ve seen the evidence. But considering the circumstances, do you know, I have to keep an open mind. Do you have any idea why he might have gone up to White’s Cross, instead of driving straight to the courthouse?’

Orla gave Katie an almost imperceptible shake of her head, still staring at the door.