‘That’s right. On the Ballincollie Road, not far from The Bridle.’

‘Ring Patrick back. Tell him to get in touch with the court office manager and find out if Justice Quinn has showed up yet.’

‘He’s already done that, ma’am. There’s no sign of him yet, although the sentencing isn’t due till three.’

‘Right. Let’s go and take a look at this car. If we turn off at Killalough Cross it isn’t too far.’

Katie put her foot down and they began to speed at more than 100 kph into the lashing rain. Kyna sat silent for a moment, but then she said, ‘Are you sure you want to do this? Sean can take care of it, no problem at all. And you’ve just laid Conor to rest.’

‘I know. But it’ll give me something to take my mind off it. And besides, I’ve known Justice Quinn since before I was promoted. If it is him – it’ll be a tragedy. He’s kind, and he’s fair, and he’s the handsomest judge I’ve ever known.’

Kyna said nothing, but sat with her hands in her lap as they turned off at Killalough Cross and drove down the winding roads that would take them to the scene of the burned-out car.

*

They arrived at the same time as Assistant Chief Fire Officer Matthew Whalen, and parked right behind his red Ford Ranger. As they were climbing out of their car into the rain, a second fire engine came down the boreen, its blue lights flashing, although it was obvious now that it wouldn’t be needed. The burned-out car had been draped over with a large grey tarpaulin and the first-responding firefighters were standing around it, shuffling their feet, dripping wet and subdued.

Katie lifted her shiny black raincoat out of the back seat. It had a pointed hood and Conor had always told her that it made her look like one of the witches of Islandmagee. Kyna’s yellow anorak had a hood, too, with a furry surround. They caught up with Matthew Whalen, and as they did so, Garda Phelan and Garda O’Connor got out of their car, where they had been sheltering, and Station Officer Hogan came over, too.

‘So, what’s the story?’ asked Katie.

‘It looks like both petrol tanks went up, one after the other,’ said Station Officer Hogan. ‘We’ll have to see what the fire investigation fellows have to say about it, of course, and your technical experts. As a general rule, though, almost all spontaneous vehicle fires start in the engine compartment, not the petrol tank.’

‘Meaning that you don’t think this was spontaneous?’

‘Like I say, we’ll have to wait for Cumann Imscrúdaitheorí Dóitéan to check it out. But I’d bet money that this fire was started deliberate-like.’