Upstairs, he tossed his keys on the dining table and poured a drink.

What’s going on with Mrs Coyle? she said.

Her son is in trouble.

Cushla remembered now. His had been one of the names on the file she had read. What kind of trouble?

The kind of trouble in which unemployed youths from west Belfast tend to find themselves these days.

What did he do?

Nothing. He was identified in a line-up.

The case you were talking about before? Jesus. Can you help him?

I can if he’ll accept the services of a solicitor, but he’s been on remand with men who actually are involved and now he’s refusing to recognise the court in solidarity with them. The fool.

That poor woman. Do the others know? Penny and all?

Hardly.

The folders had multiplied but were tidy, Irish books stacked by the decanter. She took the one from the top of the pile and began to flick through it. It was an epic love poem, Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire, that she had studied in school.

Read a bit, he said.

I am not reading poetry to you in Irish. Or English for that matter.

Read a random line.

No!

Please.

Fuck’s sake, she said. She read a line in Irish.

Do you have any idea how sexy that sounds? he said, drawing her close and sliding his hand up her skirt.

You have a Fenian fetish, she said. Not that I blame you, when the alternative is shagging a woman who answers to the name Marjorie.

You don’t miss much, he said, walking her backwards towards the settee.

I miss loads. But that was pretty obvious, she said.

Shush, he said, pressing his finger to her lips.

Does Marjorie have a husband? she said, slapping his hand away.

Yes. She’s married to your friend.

That pig of a man with the crème de menthe?

Yes.

Ugh. So what did Marjorie like you to do to her?

You really don’t want to know.

She pulled the buckle of his belt tight then loosened it. I really do.

21

21

Two Catholic civilians were shot dead in a house in Mount Vernon in the north of the city. The Protestant Action Force has claimed responsibility.

Are they a new crowd?

It’s a cover name for the UVF, said Jonathan.

A 300-lb car bomb exploded beside the Lyric Theatre, causing extensive damage to the rear of the building. No one was injured.

Anything else? said Cushla.

I’m leaving next week, said Zoe. Me and my mum are going to stay with my nana.

It happened like this sometimes, with the soldiers’ kids. They arrived as families and the woman left early with the children, unable to stand a full tour of duty.