Summary

In Chapter 1, Eilish Stack studies the garden through the window. Two policemen knock on the door. She is holding the baby, Ben, when she opens it. The policemen want to speak with Eilish’s husband, Larry. They give her their card so Larry can call them when he returns home. After they leave, Eilish senses “something formless . . . skulking alongside her” (3).

Larry Stack does not want to call the Garda National Services Bureau, or GNSB, representatives. He suspects “they are building a case against a teacher” and want to talk to him because he is the teachers’ union secretary (5). Eilish demands to know if he did something illegal. Larry insists he is innocent, but calls the GNSB and reports to their headquarters anyway.

Detective Inspectors Stamp and Burke inform Larry that they have received an allegation against him (9). They refuse to give him any...