Thirteen

They seemed harmless enough, the Americans. Their identities had checked out. Two college professors on a weekend to Ireland attracted by word of the Behan manuscript. Irish scholars had been enquiring, but these were the first international visitors to want a peek. Still, it wouldn’t have been suspicious, except for one thing: they had attracted attention.

He walked slowly, watching the woman try to take her husband’s hand and his seeming disinterest in it. Another reason to avoid long-term relationships, he thought. They were lonelier than being alone.

But his main interest wasn’t in watching the pair from Michigan. It was in the others who were watching. Clearly the couple was useful, but to all the wrong people. Perhaps they could be useful to him as well.

As he watched them take holiday snaps, he wondered if they had any idea what would happen when that usefulness was at an end.