Sir Ronnie Flanagan moved quickly in an attempt to limit the undoubted damage caused to the RUC by the murder of Rosemary Nelson. But it will take more than the involvement of the FBI or the Kent Chief Constable to reassure nationalists that the investigation will be thorough and impartial.
Rosemary Nelson argued with considerable conviction that in trying to do her work she was subjected to intimidation and harassment from elements of the RUC. As arrangements were made in Lurgan for her funeral tomorrow, police officers combed through the murder scene for clues that might lead to the apprehension of her killers. Nationalists looking on would not have been convinced that the investigation would be successful.
The murder was another human tragedy in the long litany of such acts in Northern Ireland. A wife and mother of three young children had died in terrible circumstances. Her family, friends and many of the nationalists she represented, particularly those along Garvaghy Road in Portadown, are carrying a deep sense of grief today.
This was both a premeditated political murder and an atavistic act of vengeance. Its purpose was to damage the peace process at a most critical stage, and to strike at the heart of the nationalist community in mid-Ulster.
Garvaghy Road residents viewed her murder as a cruel and vindictive act against a successful and tenacious solicitor and also as an attack on the nationalist community in Portadown. Her loyalist killers probably reasoned that if Orangemen could not get down Garvaghy Road then Ms Nelson, the local nationalists' leading advocate, would pay the price. The RUC Chief Constable acted quickly in bringing in his Kent counterpart, David Phillips, to oversee the murder investigation and in asking the FBI for assistance with the inquiry, a new departure for the RUC.
The Northern human rights bodies, the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) and Relatives for Justice were dismissive of the move. They demanded an independent investigation. It was "wholly inadequate" that in effect the RUC would still be investigating itself, they complained.
"It is simply not tenable that the RUC should be responsible for the investigation of her death, albeit under the supervision of a senior outside officer," said the CAJ's director, Mr Martin O'Brien.
The Relatives for Justice spokesman, Mr Martin Finucane, whose solicitor brother, Pat, was killed 10 years ago in a murder that carries parallels with Ms Nelson's killing, was also contemptuous.
"Ronnie Flanagan's involvement of a senior British police officer is both pathetic and inept. It echoes past investigations which went nowhere and remained private," he said. The Chief Constable was well aware that Ms Nelson had "continually expressed her dissatisfaction with and lack of confidence in the RUC", Mr Finucane added.
There are several black marks against the RUC over its dealing with Ms Nelson. There are many claims that a number of officers would not accept that she was doing a professional job in representing her clients, as she was obliged to do, and went out of their way to thwart and humiliate her.
On Friday the Independent Commission for Police Complaints (ICPC) is due to make a more detailed statement on an inquiry it supervised into alleged RUC threats against Ms Nelson. The investigation, carried out by a senior officer from the London Metropolitan Police, has been completed, but it is uncertain whether the ICPC will release details of his findings on Friday.
What is certain is that the ICPC was so unhappy with the original RUC inquiry into the allegations that it felt obliged to call in the London officer to take over. Defendants Ms Nelson represented claimed that during interrogations at RUC holding centres at Castlereagh and Gough barracks officers issued threats against Ms Nelson. She would not have been present during these interviews.
In October 1997 she complained of RUC intimidation to the UN special investigator, Mr Dato Param Cumaraswamy. She spoke of a "systematic and concerted campaign of intimidation and abuse".
"The worst threat is that I am going to be killed. They [RUC interrogators] told one guy: `You're going to die when you get out. And tell Rosemary she's going to die, too'," said Ms Nelson.
She also accused the RUC of assaulting and verbally abusing her while representing Garvaghy Road residents during the Drumcree standoff in 1997. She said officers used foul and insulting language against her.
Mr Cumaraswamy, who took evidence from Ms Nelson while compiling a report on alleged security force harassment - due to be released soon - described her as "a very courageous human rights lawyer" who had been the target of several death threats and harassment.
He said that in his dealings with her she had told him she had no confidence in the RUC.
While he welcomed the decision to bring in the Kent Chief Constable, he feared the impact the death would have on the legal profession in Northern Ireland.
"My only concern is that this particular murder is going to be a further blow to the independence of defence lawyers in Northern Ireland. It will put more fear in some of these lawyers who have taken, very courageously, unpopular cases," he said.
In July 1997 the American Lawyers' Alliance wrote to the British Home Secretary, Mr Jack straw, complaining of RUC threats against Ms Nelson. According to the alliance, this prompted an inadequate response from the RUC, which said the claims had been investigated "as far as practicable".
At the time, the alliance urged the RUC "to provide security to Ms Nelson and protection against reprisal".
Sir Ronnie Flanagan expressed confidence yesterday that the inquiry into Ms Nelson's death would not support allegations of RUC or British army collusion. Such claims detracted from the "total culpability of cowardly terrorists prepared to murder a wife and mother for their depraved political ends", he said.
But he will be hard pressed to persuade mid-Ulster nationalists of the RUC's bona fides in the light of the numerous allegations of police intimidation of Ms Nelson. The challenge is really for Sir Ronnie and his force.
Another challenge for nationalists and republicans in positions of authority is to try to calm local tensions. They will be well aware that any retaliation for Ms Nelson's murder will play into the strategy of her killers, which is to wreck the Belfast Agreement.