when niall lynch had died - been killed , not died , beaten to death with a tire iron that was still lying beside him when ronan had found him , a weapon still coated in his blood and his brains and the better part of his face , a face that had been alive maybe only an hour before , two hours before , while ronan was dreaming only yards away , a full night 's sleep , a feat never again to be performed - a lawyer had explained the details of their father 's will to them .