Ridiculous as it might sound, images were floating through her head: men in grey wigs and black gowns striding into a public building; Kilmitten on the nine o’clock news; her father in the witness box. Nina had been there on the night of Father Galvin’s death. She, above all people, should have a handle on this. Yet she felt as if everything had become too complicated, too slippery. For the first time, she wanted to shout, ‘Stop.’ She wished Julian wasn’t making the documentary.

‘You know what politicians are like,’ he was saying. ‘If any controversy gets knotty enough they tend to set up an inquiry. To be fair, though, I don’t think that will happen here. Greg hopes that if he creates a stir, he’ll give fresh impetus to the investigation. Give the guards a kick up the arse. Not that he’d use that type of language himself. He’s a bit of a holy Joe.’

‘Will Flan still talk to you? Take it from me, he’s going to be raging when he reads that article.’

‘He might be annoyed, but he’ll have to talk. In fact, I’m hoping this will make him more forthcoming. That he’ll want to fight back.’ Julian patted the sofa. ‘Come over here. I don’t like you being angry with me.’

She frowned, then did as he asked. He looped an arm around her. ‘You know what your problem is, Nina Minogue? You’re too good.’

‘Ah, please.’

‘No, seriously. You’re a good person, a sincere person, and you think everyone’s the same.’

This didn’t tally with how Nina saw herself but, right then, it was what she wanted to hear. ‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘You’re not the worst of them yourself.’

Several times over the next couple of weeks she tried to call Tess. She left messages galore, but not one call was returned. She knew she should ring Conor, but every time she lifted the receiver she became overwhelmed by nerves. The longer she delayed, the more difficult it became.

Her mother rang to say that some people in the village were upset by the newspaper article.

‘What about Dad?’ Nina hadn’t spoken to her father since the day she’d broken the news about Tom and Julian. She had the feeling he didn’t know her mother remained in touch. She had hoped he’d be swayed by Julian’s family name. Compared to Tom, the Heaneys were very well connected. They weren’t just comfortably off, they were properly rich. Her hopes had been misplaced.

‘To tell the truth, your father’s embarrassed. He worries what people will make of you being mixed up in all of this.’

‘I’m not mixed up in anything,’ Nina replied.