‘You don’t have to. I don’t really mind if you do or not, I’m just telling you what I know. When I saw Kirk in that chair, full of flies and stinking the place out, I knew she’d done it. She’s deranged beyond anything you’ll ever see, detective. She’s lost to us all. He got what he deserved, though I was cheated.’

‘You wanted to die?’

‘No. I deserved to die. I could have protected her and I didn’t. I knew what Kirk was doing to her, and letting others do to her. But I was too scared to do anything about it.’

‘Why were you all so scared of him?’

‘Because we know what he was capable of. I’ve seen him conjure demons, detective. Believe me or not, it matters nothing to me.’

The word demons jarred Kelly and she thought about Mary’s diary. There are demons among us and they look like people.

‘I find it impossible to believe that she killed Mary. I’ve seen her afraid and cowering. I held her hand. She thanked me…’

‘Beware then. If you’ve touched skin then she’s halfway to owning you already.’

‘Oh, for God’s sake, Jock! Stop it, please.’ Her emphasis was lost inside the four walls of the hospital room and it fell hollow on the floor. She swallowed. Jock stared at her.

Kelly remembered where she was and what her job was, and sprang into action, batting away any entertainment of what Jock was implying. Ghouls and ghosts, or whatever they believed in, had no place in her world. But she couldn’t think straight. She had to get out of the room. She backed away and tried to remember which room Daphne was in.

The uniform outside the room moved aside for her and she told him not to let the man inside out of the room under any circumstances. He nodded.

She went to call Johnny but decided not to. Instead she called Rob Shawcross and briefly garbled what she’d just been told.

‘Guv, we’ve had more from the sterile lab examining the laptop from Great Raven Farm. It’s been used seven times since the estimated time of death of Kirk Junker and his wife. So unless somebody else was in the farmhouse, and there’s no evidence of that so far, Daphne was the one making contact with Broadmoor. I’ve been in touch with them already – I knew you’d ask – and they’ve confiscated all electronic equipment from the cell of Amy Richmond. They found an iPad that shouldn’t have been there.’

‘How quickly can you get to the hospital? I’m calling a squad car in too. What about armed response?’