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with the exception that William seldom raised his voice at home and Eileen never did. It was a family of ‘not knowing’. Eileen didn’t know much about what William and Cedric did when they left 18 Elmwood Terrace every day. Peter didn’t know that behind the screen of running a taxi business, William and Cedric were murderers. Although William had murdered on his own before Cedric joined him, with Cedric at his side the experience of murder created a bond between them which deepened their relationship. Secrecy gave security and meaning within a world which threatened to tear them apart. They were more like ‘blood brothers’ than father and son. Peter, living on the periphery of their lives, was increasingly a threat to this security. If he found out what was happening, he could squeal to the police. They had no concerns about Eileen interfering with what they did – she was too much taken up with life within the walls of 18 Elmwood Terrace, her art and the daily routine of takingcare of Peter, Cedric and William. Peter was different; he had a dangerous curiosity about life.
    In December 1971 Cedric encouraged William to get Peter involved in the planned murders. It had become difficult to ignore the fact that not only had Peter curiosity about life, but had a heart. In listening to the Ten o’clock News or reading the headlines in the daily paper, Peter commented on the horror behind the killings. He talked with Eileen about the impact of murder on the family left behind. He commented on the pain, the confusion, the desperation, the fear that rippled through the extended family. William and Cedric stared at each other in silence across the table with a sense of irritation, discomfort and increasing annoyance at each word falling from Peter’s mouth. Without knowing it Peter held up a mirror to William and Cedric. Although they looked away, they still registered what they saw in the mirror. A person with a heart like Peter on the other hand was free. A sensitive heart within a free person was dangerous. It made the person difficult to control.
    William and Cedric entrapped Peter by using the oldest trick in the world. They told him a lie. They asked Peter to come for a drive with them on Sunday 2nd January to look at a new house for Eileen. It was on the Woodvale Road with beautiful gardens to the front and back. If Peter thought that the house was something Eileen could be interested in, they would put their house on Elmwood Terrace on the market and they could be moved in before the end of the summer. They had no intention of showing Peter any house. Peter thought that it was odd that they wanted him to look at it on a Sunday when the estate agents were closed.
    “If we speak to the owners directly they can skip out the estate agent and save ourselves a fortune.” Cedric rubbed his hands together and nodded knowingly to William.
    Peter shifted in his seat and tugged his left ear lobe.
    “But the estate agent has already probably put a lot of effort into the sale. He’s been out the cost of advertising and you wouldn’t even know that the house was for sale if there wasn’t a board outside.”
    “You have a lot to learn about life,” Cedric replied.
    “Isn’t the Woodvale Road unsafe?”
    Peter knew that there was no sign of The Troubles coming to an end. How would Eileen be able to do her weeding and seeding plants with the daily riots in North Belfast?
    “You can’t have everything for the prices we can afford. The houses are cheaper where there is a little bit of ‘Trouble’. You can’t deny that the Woodvale Road could almost be called residential?”
    Cedric leaned forward and patted Peter on the shoulder.
    Peter shrugged Cedric’s hand free.
    “Won’t Eileen miss the cherry tree?”
    Cedric and William laughed at one another, slapped each other on the shoulder and then slapped Peter on the back saying,
    “It’s a dream house. She will love it. She can plant another cherry tree and a bloody