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‘I’d like to know the whole truth.’

‘Assumpta knew the truth. She could have told you. But now she’s dead.’

‘So you killed off anyone who could point the finger at you?’

‘Why would I kill the one person who could explain what really happened back then?’

‘To bury the story,’ Imelda said.

‘Shut up, you.’ He waved the knife again and Lottie glared at Imelda, hoping she got the message to keep her mouth shut. Some hope.

‘I won’t be silenced,’ Imelda said.

Brave? Lottie wondered. No, she was reckless.

‘Imelda, leave this to me,’ she warned, infusing her voice with steel.

‘No, I won’t. He says I started all this and I want to hear his side of the story. I’m only raging that I have no phone or anything to record his lies.’

Lottie was certain Imelda still had Ann Wilson’s phone but didn’t mention it.

‘You won’t be around much longer, either of you,’ Robert sneered. ‘I’ve had enough.’ He stood abruptly and thrust the knife towards Imelda. ‘I was doing grand. My life was trundling along nicely. I was on the verge of proposing to Edie, and then you fucked it all up.’

‘I want to hear your side of things,’ the young woman repeated.

Gutsy, Lottie thought. Definitely foolhardy. But Imelda had been through a lot over the last week, so maybe she was entitled to have her say. As long as it didn’t get them both killed. She knew she’d be able to overpower him if he attacked Imelda, but if he went for her first, that would have an unknown result.

‘You think you know it all,’ Robert snarled. ‘But you don’t know the whole truth. Did you find Assumpta’s notebooks?’

‘Notebooks?’ Imelda asked. ‘No.’

‘I’ve searched the house and can’t find them.’ He appeared flustered now.

Lottie said, ‘The guards and SOCOs have searched here. If there was anything to be found, they’d have it. What sort of notebooks are you talking about?’

‘She recorded everything that happened in that place. Kids who were born and kids who died. Mothers who died. She kept records of the whole lot.’

‘Mickey Fox had all those,’ Imelda said. ‘He burned them shortly before he was murdered.’

Lottie looked over at her, but before she could speak, Robert was talking again.

‘No, he probably had the nuns’ official records. I’m talking about Assumpta’s own personal notes.’

‘Personal notes?’ Lottie said. ‘Why would she do that, and how do you know about them?’

‘She was meticulous. Studying to be a nun. A novice. But… me and her, we had a… friendship back then. I would never kill her.’

‘But you killed the child. The little girl.’

‘I didn’t think she’d die, did I? I was forced to do it. I had no choice. I was young and stupid. I thought they’d let her out in time. I meant no harm. It was a prank.’

‘No it wasn’t. She was just a child. Don’t try to cover up the truth,’ Imelda said.

‘I heard an eyewitness account of what happened,’ Lottie said. ‘You were not that young. Early twenties? It was deliberate.’

‘Okay, I admit the action itself was deliberate, but I was forced to do it. The outcome was unintended.’

‘Explain.’