Benjamin Black - Christine Falls

“But we have clout too,” Quirke said, nodding toward the jotter.

Hackett gave his belly a happy little squeeze.

“God, Mr. Quirke, but you’re a fierce vindictive man!” he said. “Your own family, as good as. Tell me”-he lowered his voice to a confidential tone-“why are you doing it?”

Quirke considered.

“I don’t know, Inspector,” he said at length. “Maybe because I’ve never really done anything before in my life.”

Hackett nodded, then sniffed.

“There’ll be a lot of dust,” he said, “if these particular pillars of society are brought down. A lot of dust, and bricks, and rubble. A body would want to be standing well out of the way.”

“But you’ll do it, all the same.”

Hackett took his feet from the desk and leaned forward and scrabbled among the litter of papers and found a packet of cigarettes and offered it to Quirke and they lit up.

“I’ll try, Mr. Quirke,” the Inspector said. “I’ll try.”

Thanks to: Jennifer Barth, Peter Beilby, Mary Callery, Joan Egan, Alan Gilsenan, Louise Gough, Roy Heayberd, Robyn Kershaw, Andrew Kidd, Linda Klejus, Sandra Levy, Laura Magahy, Ian Meldon, Jo Pitkin, Maria Rejt, Beatrice von Rezzori, Barry Ruane, John Sterling.

Benjamin Black is the pen name of acclaimed author John Banville, who was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. His novels have won numerous awards, most recently the Man Booker Prize in 2005 for The Sea . He lives in Dublin.