Her instinct was to say nothing. Not a word. Although how long would she be allowed to get away with that? The Time Police did not recognise the right to remain silent.

She was marched through the building. Every corridor was lined with a sea of faces. She suddenly realised she didn’t have a single friend in this place. Or even the whole world. There was no one alive who would care what became of her. No one to protest on her behalf. She was willing to bet that in a month’s time, no one would even remember she’d passed this way.

They took her downstairs to the detention area. She closed her eyes, expecting the worst.

To her surprise, the initial questioning was quite mild. The Time Police were very good at this sort of thing. And they knew her. They knew her weaknesses. They would try the gentle approach first.

A female security officer sat opposite her, inviting her to give her side of the story.

‘There must be some explanation, Jane,’ she kept saying. ‘We know it wasn’t you, Jane. Tell me what happened so I can help. I want to help you, Jane.’

Standard procedure. Use the suspect’s name in every sentence. She’d never been sure whether it was an attempt to strike up a relationship or drive the prisoner screamingly insane.

For what seemed like hour after hour, the tiny room was filled with sympathetic people who only wanted to help. Jane continued to say nothing.

Without warning – almost in mid-sentence – the security officer left the room. They left her alone for an hour. No one came near her. She sat as still as she could, knowing they would be watching her every move. Looking for signs of fear, or distress, or guilt. Something that would give them a way in.

Without warning, the door slammed back against the wall. Here was an officer she’d never seen before. He didn’t bother to sit down, informing her harshly that if she didn’t immediately give a statement or explain her actions then her next interrogator would be nowhere near as pleasant as the last one. He slammed back out and once again, she was alone.

And terrified. And shaking with cold and shock. And still completely silent. The effort of staying quiet gave her something on which to focus. She remembered reading an article once which said every person has all the strength they need to survive buried inside themselves. They have only to dig deep and find it. And then use it. She tried to use the long periods of solitude to disappear down herself. To find herself somewhere safe and quiet and far away from the nightmare she could hardly believe was happening to her.