When they got back to his flat, he folded himself into the brown leather sofa and studied the paper again. Compared to the motley assortment of junk in her place, the flat was beautifully furnished. At the start, she’d assumed he was renting. She’d even remarked on how lucky he was to have found such a fantastic place. He’d done nothing to put her straight until one night he’d let slip that his father owned the house. Julian lived on the upper floor rent-free. His family owned several similar houses. Investment properties, he called them.

‘I might go home,’ she said.

On a normal Saturday, they’d be all over each other by now. The previous weekend they’d had sex on the kitchen floor. She still had the bruises to show for it.

Belatedly, Julian realised that something was amiss. ‘What is it?’

‘Do you have to ask?’

He tilted his head to one side. ‘I’m afraid I do.’

‘The article – it’s not what I expected.’

‘How so?’

Nina walked around the room. Was he being deliberately obtuse? Or did he genuinely not appreciate how much hurt the report would cause? ‘The piece makes it sound like Flan didn’t want to catch the person who attacked Father Galvin, that the investigation was a screw-up because he was in cahoots with the killer.’

‘It says nothing of the sort. Anything along those lines would be libellous. You must know that.’

‘I do, but it looks to me like that’s what Gregory Galvin wants people to think. He sounds like a right snake.’ Calm down, she thought. You’ve got to calm down. Lately she’d been lurching from argument to argument and she didn’t want to fall out with Julian.

‘The man’s brother was thrown up against a cupboard and left to die. Are you saying he doesn’t have a right to be angry?’

‘Of course I’m not, but the stuff about people in the village protecting a murderer. That’s … that’s not right. There’s absolutely no reason to think that.’

‘I don’t know.’ Julian scratched his neck. ‘Is it really plausible that not one person has information about what happened? That no one suspects a loved one or a neighbour?’

‘Some folks did come forward with suspicions, but none of them stacked up.’ She stopped pacing and stared at him. ‘This will be upsetting for people, for Flan and Conor in particular. And for Ginny and Tess. Oh, and was there any reason to mention my father?’

‘I’m not setting out to upset anyone, least of all your friends. Why would I do that?’

She didn’t answer.

‘What matters most,’ said Julian, ‘is that someone gets to the truth. That’s what you want too, isn’t it?’

How could she disagree? ‘Will the Galvins get their way? A public inquiry would be a big deal.’