Chapter 53

After a placatory police conversation, Ian Ventham leaves the police car feeling calm and confident. Ian assumes the residents will soon forget the graveyard if Ian gives the residents another grievance, and Ian treats the failed digging as only a temporary setback.

Ian’s mood changes when Ian sees Father Matthew Mackie standing at the barricade. Furious that the priest is challenging Ian on what Ian considers his own land, Ian threatens Father Mackie and shoves him. Father Mackie grabs Ian’s T-shirt while trying to keep balance, and both men fall.

Donna, Karen Playfair, Joyce, Ron, Bernard and other residents help separate the two men. Residents restrain Ian while others protect the shaken Father Mackie. Joyce notices the effort and frailty of the older men around her, though Chris Hudson is still strong enough to control Ian.

Chris pulls Ian aside and warns Ian that the shove could be treated as assault, especially with many witnesses present. Chris tells Ian to go home before Chris arrests him, and Ian reluctantly walks away, still convinced that something is wrong.

As Ian heads to his Range Rover, Ian’s thoughts become disjointed. Ian wonders where Bogdan is, thinks of Tony Curran, imagines his father angry about the clamped car, and becomes frightened. Ian searches for change, stumbles backward, reaches for support, and dies before hitting the ground.