Conor looked at his dad and then at Ginny. For all that his father hadn’t wanted the case reopened, he was too good a policeman, too good a person, to shut this down without thinking it through. ‘Do either of you remember ever seeing Helen and Leo Galvin together?’

‘No,’ said Ginny, ‘but that doesn’t mean much. Just say I had seen them. Unless they’d been draped around each other, I wouldn’t have considered it odd. It’s a small village. Everybody talks to everybody else. There’s not much choice.’

‘Can we go back a step?’ said Flan. ‘If Tom Crossan did have information, important information, why didn’t he say so?’

‘If I knew that …’ said Conor

‘… you wouldn’t be sitting here.’

‘Precisely.’

‘A few months ago, when he gave you the brush-off, what did you think? Honestly now, did you reckon he was keeping something from you?’

Detecting a thaw, Conor spoke softly. ‘I did. And the more I thought about the night of the party, the more suspicious I became.’

‘How well I remember the pair of you telling me about the carry-on in the shed. The small heads on you. You were petrified. And to prove what a funny old world it is, this time tomorrow, Tom will be the minister for justice.’

‘The reshuffle isn’t for a few days, surely.’

‘No, I was listening to the radio on my way back from Limerick. They reckon it’s been brought forward to tomorrow on account of there being so much speculation. It’s all become a distraction apparently.’

‘I see.’

His father stroked Ginny’s hand. ‘I’m surprised to hear myself say this, but I think you should ask some more questions.’

‘I agree,’ she said.

Relieved as he was to hear this, Conor didn’t know how to proceed. There was no easy course of action. He could talk to Tom, but at what cost? He’d screwed it up the last time, why would he succeed now? This wasn’t a game of Cluedo. He couldn’t keep guessing until he got it right. The first time they’d spoken, he’d had surprise on his side. The next time, Tom would be prepared.

Conor considered talking to Helen Minogue. But what would he say? ‘Hello there, Helen. How’s Nina? As I have you there, I heard a rumour you were involved with Leo Galvin. Did Emmet find out? Is that what happened?’ If he wasn’t careful, he would ignite a ferocious row. He thought of Nina. How would she react? What would she say? What would she want him to do?