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her at all that evening, any time after dusk in the afternoon, that is?’
    ‘I did not summon her.’
    ‘That is not what I said. Did you see her?’
    ‘I did not. My sister and I are not very close and I cannot say that she is a frequent visitor to my house.’
    Capa was frowning at her, and now he interrupted.
    ‘My lords, we have already established that my wife did not send for her sister. I can confirm it.’
    ‘But if Sárait believed that Gobnat had summoned her, she would have made her way directly to your house?’ Finguine asked.
    Gobnat shrugged indifferently.
    ‘Where is your house situated?’ pressed the tanist.
    ‘Everyone knows that,’ the woman replied. ‘It is in the square near the smith’s forge.’
    ‘And to get to the path that leads south to Ferloga’s inn and Rath na Drínne, one would have to pass through the township?’
    ‘Of course, and—’
    ‘And that is where your sister was found slaughtered,’ Bishop Ségdae said softly, a frown crossing his face. It was not a question.
    ‘And are you sure that your sister did not come to your house that evening before passing to the track beyond?’ demanded Brehon Dathal. ‘Is there a chance she might have come there and neither you nor Capa, if he was there at the time, heard her?’
    ‘She did not. Capa and I heard nothing until Conchoille arrived.’
    Capa was frowning.
    ‘I do not understand this questioning of my wife, my lords. Do you doubt the truth of what she and I—’
    It was Brother Eadulf who replied.
    ‘A learned dálaigh once told me that a great legal philosopher, the Brehon Morann, said that thought is a human weapon by which reality is captured. During these last few days we have been endeavouring to find facts and we heard those facts but we did not think about them. We have been manacled by activity, but now our thoughts must set us free to find reality.’
    While the others stared at him as if he were speaking a foreign language, Colgú grimaced ironically.
    ‘I swear, Eadulf, that you are beginning to sound like my sister.’
    Eadulf smiled wanly. ‘That is a great compliment, Colgú, because she is the dálaigh that I am quoting.’
    ‘I still do not understand what you mean, Brother Eadulf,’ Capa said.
    Eadulf leant back, his hands palm downward on the table before him.
    ‘We should be trying to let our thoughts run with the facts we have. By thinking about them, ideas might come. Some we can dismiss, others might lead us to new paths. For example, if Sárait left the fortress, carrying the baby Alchú, in the belief that it was in answer to a summons from her sister, Gobnat, why did she not go to see Gobnat … make her way to Gobnat’s house? Instead, she appears to skirt around the village and head away from her sister’s home.’
    ‘But, as we have been told, Gobnat never sent the message,’ the Brehon Dathal pointed out irritably.
    ‘So what caused Sárait to go in the opposite direction unless she knewthat her sister had not sent the message and she lied to Caol? If so, who was she going to see and why take the child?’
    ‘She could have been forced,’ Capa pointed out.
    ‘At what stage?’ replied Eadulf. ‘The child who had delivered the message had left the palace before her. Caol saw no one forcing her when she went.’
    ‘She could have been forced once she came into the township and before she could reach our house,’ Capa said. ‘That is the simple explanation.’
    ‘True enough,’ agreed Eadulf. ‘Although at that hour, even in the dark, there would still be people about in the main square. The occasional lantern or light would provide illumination. So whoever forced her, if she was so forced, would be taking a risk of being seen.’
    ‘Such risk-taking is not unknown,’ commented Bishop Ségdae.
    ‘I point this out as something we should think about,’ Eadulf replied. ‘We have heard the facts and now, in thinking about them, we should be able to see before us a path of