Finally, formalities out of the way, his father was off. ‘I suppose you want to know about Kilmitten’s hour on the telly,’ he said. ‘Well, it could have been worse. We were mentioned, but nobody pointed a finger in our direction. Mags Moynihan appeared and said we were decent people. I gave her a free fill of petrol to say thanks. Of course, there were a couple of snide references. “Haulie and Cora Crossan declined to appear on this programme,” the announcer woman said. She’d one of those voices. You know the type, sounded like her throat needed clearing. Anyway, hand on heart, it wasn’t that bad.’

‘Right,’ said Tom. ‘So was—’

Before he could say anything else, his father had started up again. ‘But you know what the big news is? The programme pinned it all on Noel O’Grady. I mean, they didn’t actually say he was guilty, but you’d have to be thick not to get what they were driving at.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘They went on about how he owed a tidy sum of money to Leo Galvin. As you know, back in those days they were all demons for playing cards. On the morning of the party, the two of them had had a row. Oh, and Noel O’Grady had been telling people that Father Galvin needed “putting in his place”. I have to say, I’d heard all that before and I didn’t put too much store by it, but it seems the guards reckon it’s the most likely explanation for the poor man’s death. On the night itself, Noel had had a fair bit to drink – and he disappeared for a while – so putting two and two together …’

An echo appeared on the line followed by a burst of static. Tom feared the connection had been lost but, no, there was his father. ‘Can you hear me, Tommo?’ he was saying.

‘I can, Dad, only—’

‘Where was I?’

‘You were saying that—’