‘I thought you said it was a quiet village?’ Matron said to Mr Keene, who was removing his driving gloves.

‘It is – it was. Something is obviously very wrong.’

Joe’s car pulled up with Pete and Seamus as passengers, and Michael leapt out of his car and ran over. ‘We need a plan, we cannot call the guard,’ he said as he handed the letter to Seamus.

Rosie popped up by his side. The villagers were huddling in a tight circle around Michael ‘What’s up?’ she asked. ‘Miss Gallagher came to the school and told me about the letter. This has to be some kind of sick joke, doesn’t it?’

The letter was passed from one person to the next to read. The visitors watched on as the tension mounted palpably. They were largely ignored, much to Mrs Doyle’s discomfort, who’d been rather hoping they would be treated like royalty upon their arrival.

Declan had heard the commotion and had followed Rosie out of the schoolroom and up the main street. He’d left Teresa in charge of fifty children, who he knew would by now be anticipating an early playtime. He ran over to stand at Joe’s side and read the letter. As he did, he caught Cat’s eye in the back of Michael’s car and, despite the noise and bustle, held her gaze and smiled. She seemed to be fishing in her handbag on her lap for something. A few moments later, she held up his note from earlier that morning, grinned like she was about sixteen years old, blushed, nodded and mouthed the words, ‘Yes. Thank you.’

Declan felt the blood rushing to his face as he grinned back. He was quickly brought down to earth by Joe.

‘We need to organise search parties,’ Joe said, and then, spotting Mr Keene, he shouted over, ‘Mr Keene, what on earth are you doing here?’

Mr Keene was at his side in a few strides. ‘I’m accompanying a hospital matron from Liverpool, helping her recruit new nurses from the villages. You seem to have a bit of a problem?’

‘I do that,’ said Joe. ‘Someone has kidnapped Michael Malone’s daughter and they’ve demanded that I leave a thousand pounds on the grave of her mother at midnight before we can have her back. The note says that if we call the guard, she’ll be murdered in cold blood.’

Michael joined in. ‘And it’s signed by a man we know has murdered before – Kevin McGuffey, my father-in-law. He ran away after he murdered my mother-in-law, Angela, and he hasn’t been seen since. They say he went to join the IRA.’

Seamus had earlier shouted for Paddy to get his gun. Keeva had answered his call and now came running out of the butcher’s carrying the shotgun, followed by Tig.

‘A gun,’ squealed Matron, and the village women, who’d been talking amongst themselves, clustered round her.

‘’Tis a terrible thing,’ said Philomena to Matron, not waiting for an introduction. ‘My son is a priest and he says the Devil himself walks up and down this street when the fancy takes him.’