“So there we are,” said Lar. “That’s how we got here.”

Minogue looked from face to face. They looked like schoolboys caught in a prank. One of them was swaying slightly. Someone stifled a belch. The Inspector let his eyes linger on the one who appeared most drunk. Then he checked his notes by asking one of the men the same questions about what he had been drinking. He eyed Lar, their erstwhile leader. They weren’t planning to drive home, were they? Christ, no-no way! Lar was very emphatic. His cohorts shook their heads a lot and murmured. Minogue checked their addresses and telephone numbers again. He eyed them again and let them go. He watched the lights playing on the surface of the water.

Minogue had walked the canal banks some weeks ago with his daughter, Iseult. It had been after a lunch when she had asked him some very odd questions about when he and Kathleen were courting. He had watched insects humming in the green light over the water while his daughter talked about her work. Lulled into a dreamy state by the lunch and the summer heat, he had fancied the stately passage of a barge as it glided by Pale towns and pastures of two hundred years ago. Over the low roar of traffic he even heard the ladies murmuring to one another under their parasols, the horse’s soft clop on the tow-path, the occasional calls of the bargee.

Minogue yawned and began to cast around for a ranking uniformed Guard. He caught sight of a sergeant. Callinan had a brother in HQ in the Park. He headed down the bank toward him and shook hands. Callinan, Donal Callinan, tugged at his ear and shifted his weight. His gaze stayed on the banks while he listened to the Inspector.

“Leave us a few lads to secure the site if you please, Donal. Might as well start the others up along the banks now. We’ll have the lights on proper in a few minutes, now.”