Now it was Alan’s turn to blush and put his hands over his ears. ‘And I’ve got two daughters and I don’t think I want to hear this.’
Hannah’s face turned even redder, which shouldn’t technically have been possible but apparently was. It seemed her tongue had stuck to the roof of her mouth and she wasn’t able to deny or confirm anything. Izzy and Meredith were grinning at her but with that ‘give it up’ expression which she knew meant the Spanish Inquisition if she didn’t volunteer something.
Alan sighed. ‘I think I’ll get a beer too.’ He rose to his feet and set off to the bar, but not before Hannah saw him giving Meredith a none too surreptitious wink.
‘Come on,’ said Izzy, turning to Meredith. ‘I told you there was something going on. You only have to see the way he looks at Hannah when he thinks no one is looking at him and you,’ she turned to Hannah, ‘can’t take your eyes off him either. We’ve all had bets as to what’s going on in that little cottage of yours.’
Hannah tried to keep her face bland. Their timing was terrible and all she could do was be honest. ‘I really don’t want to talk about it,’ she said stiffly.
Meredith smiled, oblivious to the fractured pain in her voice. ‘Don’t worry, dear. Izzy is teasing you. Jason and Fliss are oblivious, although I think Adrienne has her suspicions.’ Hannah closed her eyes. Of course Adrienne did. She seemed to have the sight or something.
Izzy, however, had noticed Hannah’s discomfort and said brightly. ‘Oh, look, isn’t that sweet. They’ve tied balloons to Niamh’s chair. It’s her birthday tomorrow.’
Grateful for the change in direction of the conversation, Hannah looked along the table at the metallic golden balloons bobbing around the chair. All the family were gathered around the girl, including Conor. Hannah slid her eyes away quickly before he spotted her, instead focusing on the growing pile of presents in front of Niamh as various guests detoured to visit her. The excitement was evident in her bobbing up and down and beaming at everyone as she earnestly thanked them all.
‘Isn’t that lovely,’ said Meredith. ‘She’s such a happy, helpful little soul. I can’t wait to have grandchildren. Such a little poppet and so grown-up for her age.’
‘She’s going to be twelve,’ observed Alan. ‘If she’s anything like my girls, twelve going on eighteen already.’
‘Really?’ said Izzy. ‘Gosh I thought she was younger than that because she’s so small. Twelve.’
Twelve. Why did that number niggle at Hannah’s brain? Niamh was small because she’d had difficult start in life. Conor had said so, she remembered it quite clearly. Something to do with Murphy’s fence. Hannah felt as if she were swimming towards something hidden in the mist. Her brain insisted there was something there but she couldn’t quite grasp it. Murphy had put the fence up when Niamh was born.
Twelve years ago.
Throughout the meal she was distracted and then, just as coffee was being served with the most delicious hand-made chocolates, it popped into place. The last piece of the jigsaw. Hannah dropped her chocolate as she narrowed her eyes and then unearthed her phone from her bag.
Aidan picked up on the first ring.
‘Hannah what can I do for you? Please don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind.’
‘What’s the law on squatters’ rights and landownership in Ireland?’ she asked, straight to business. ‘In England if you annexe a piece of land and the landowner does nothing about it, you can claim it after twelve years. Is it the same here?’
Aidan took his cue from her serious tone and it was just like they were back at work together. ‘Yes it is. Why do you—’
‘Thanks Aidan.’ She clicked off her phone and realised that everyone around the table was looking at her. ‘Houston, I think we have a problem.’ She caught her lip between her teeth. Of course, Murphy’s fence made perfect sense now if he was trying to annexe that piece of land but why would he do that? What did he have to gain? It seemed a perfectly innocuous piece of land. Not big enough for a geological find. Too small to mine. What was special about it?
‘What?’ asked Fliss, for once looking intrigued rather than disinterested.
‘Something that’s been bothering me for ages. But I need to check something.’ She looked at her watch. ‘In law if someone takes over a piece of land by fencing it in or appropriating it in some way, if the landowner doesn’t object or do anything about it, you can claim the land as your own after twelve years. I think that’s what Adrienne’s neighbour, Murphy, is trying to do.’ There wasn’t much time if Niamh’s birthday was today. It meant the twelve years was up at midnight.
‘Right,’ said Alan, his eyes sharpening. ‘But what would this Murphy gain from that?’
‘I’m not sure.’ Hannah thought for a minute and glanced down the table where Adrienne and the rest of the family were gathered around Niamh, who was starting to open her presents. She could hardly interrupt them with a vague half-cocked idea. ‘But there’s something and I’m just not seeing it properly.’ What was it about that parcel of land that was important to Murphy. Why go to the trouble of refencing it so recently? She tried to picture the land and where it was. She really needed to see that boundary map. ‘I need to get into Adrienne’s office asap but I don’t want to disturb them until I know I’m not making something out of nothing.
‘Why Adrienne’s office?’ asked Fliss.
‘Because there’s a boundary map on the wall in there, which might explain something. The office is probably all locked but I really need to see it.’
Jason rose. ‘I can get you in there.’ He wiggled his fingers. ‘Lock-picking skills.’ There was silence round the table and he rolled his eyes. ‘If it’s an emergency.’
‘Oh, it’s an emergency all right,’ said Hannah. She looked at her watch again. Ten to nine. There really was no time to waste.
‘Fine, I’ll get you in.’
‘But, Jason,’ wailed Fliss. ‘You said yourself you could go to prison.’
‘I didn’t know you cared,’ he said with a cocky smirk.
