‘You’re a psycho. A fucking psycho. You and your whole family. Your parents used to organise sex parties, did you know that? My dad told me about it when she got married to Robert. I suppose your mother stopped all that when she got married again. She wouldn’t have needed the money.’

Kitty remembered cars in the driveway, and the voices drifting from behind the closed door. Robert O’Brien standing in the doorway of the bedroom. Her mother’s face hidden behind the video camera. Lucy’s body illuminated in the car’s headlights. The roar of the engine drowning out the sound of her screams.

‘Fuck it.’ Maeve leaned forward and pulled the flannel out of Kitty’s mouth. ‘But if you make a sound I’ll smash your face in.’ She lifted the bottle and Kitty nodded, letting her know she understood.

She breathed in mouthfuls of beautiful air. Her mouth was unbearably dry, her tongue swollen and thick.

‘Water,’ she croaked. Then, when Maeve didn’t move, ‘Please.’

The dryness was beyond anything she’d ever experienced. She tried to repeat her plea but she couldn’t get another word out.

‘Jesus.’ Maeve stood up. Kitty listened as she went into the bathroom and turned on a tap, the sound of water like a dream.

‘Here.’

Maeve’s hand movements were jerky. The glass clinked painfully against Kitty’s teeth and water ran down her chin and neck, but she didn’t care because she was drinking and she’d never tasted anything this beautiful in her entire life.

‘Thank you,’ she said, when Maeve finally lifted the glass away.

‘I wanted to kill you,’ Maeve said. ‘But now I’ve got the opportunity, I can’t do it.’

Maeve leaned towards her and Kitty shrank back, thinking Maeve was going to try the pillow again. She didn’t have the strength to survive that a second time. Instead, Maeve reached behind Kitty’s back and started playing around with whatever she’d used to tie her wrists together.

‘Cable ties,’ Maeve said. ‘I got them earlier, when I knew I was going to be seeing you. But I forgot to get scissors, so now I can’t untie you.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ Kitty said. ‘If you only knew how sorry I am. I’ve thought about Lucy every day since. I’ve gone over it so many times, wishing I could go back to that night and change what happened.’

‘You should have told the Guards.’

‘I know.’

The guilt of it all weighed on her chest and shoulders. Something she knew she would always carry with her.

‘I should have killed you,’ Maeve said.

‘Part of me wishes you had,’ Kitty said. ‘It’s been unbearable, Maeve. Living with the guilt all these years. I’m so glad you finally know the truth.’