Gerry Adams cautioned the media not to expect a High Noon scenario. He was right on at least two scores. Sinn Féin's meeting with the Taoiseach was set for 1 p.m. and unlike Gary Cooper - who didn't have Martin McGuinness for company - neither side in this confrontation would have to face the enemy alone.
No, this was more of a Gunfight at the OK Corral scenario. Inside Government Buildings waited the uncompromising lawman, Michael "Wyatt Earp" McDowell, and his friend and ally, Bertie "Doc Holliday" Ahern. No prizes for guessing who would get to play the role of the Clanton brothers, part of a family "Earp" had accused of wide-scale criminality.
The Sinn Féin boys acknowledged that their enemies were quick on the draw. In fact, as Gerry Adams saw it, Bertie and Michael had been a bit too quick when drawing conclusions about the Northern Bank job.
He would be giving them an opportunity to explain "those remarks", and draw again.
With that, the republican brothers strode out into the Government Buildings courtyard, leaving the media in a state of excited anticipation, like the undertakers in Tombstone.
An hour passed, and with it the scheduled end of the meeting, but still the Sinn Féiners did not reappear.
The SDLP delegation arrived for their slot with the Taoiseach, slipping through the cordon quietly - once the leading men, now condemned to be mere extras in the wild-west set. Still, no Gerry and Martin.
At last the Sinn Féiners re-emerged, a smell of cordite in their wake. Despite the earlier attempts to play down the confrontation, it was clear there had been a stand-off.
Gerry Adams used the word "stand" repeatedly. The Taoiseach and Minister for Justice had been unable to "stand up" their claims; Sinn Féin would "stand over" its mandate; and so on. The mood Mr Adams was in, he would have taken a stand at an Ideal Homes exhibition.
His mood was explained an hour later when "Wyatt Earp" came out fighting. At an impromptu press conference, the Minister repeated his claim that the IRA carried out the bank robbery, and that the leadership of the "Provisional movement" sanctioned it.
He had sent the Sinn Féin MPs away "to reflect" on their position.
Maybe it was the early results of that reflection, but earlier, before going away, Martin McGuinness had used a familiar phrase to describe the latest crisis in the peace process. "Much done, more to do," he quipped.
The Government is now looking for the gang that made off with a used Fianna Fáil election slogan, in what everybody agreed was a very slick operation.
