The prison officer was called Maggie Cooper. She was a big, lumbering woman. Solid, sensible and honest. Boring, in a nutshell. If people were books to read, Maggie would be the equivalent of the telephone directory.

The inmate, by contrast, looked like she had potential.

Sharon immediately sat up, like a hungry animal sniffing out the possibility of new food. She was pleased to have a new cellmate, to have someone to talk to, to find out about.

Maggie cleared her throat before speaking. ‘Sharon, this is your new cellmate. Her name’s Bailey Pike.’

Sharon’s first impression was that the inmate was shy and wary, half hiding behind the fringe of hair which hung down over one side of her face. Mind you, a little apprehension was to be expected on her first day in prison.

With that brief introduction, Maggie left the cell. Sharon lay there and openly watched Bailey as she began to settle in. She took in her details. Brown hair. Some freckles scattered across the nose. Fairly slim. Looked like she kept herself in shape. Nothing out of the ordinary. Sharon had almost formed the opinion that Bailey was quite pretty, but then she noticed the scar.

As Bailey was placing her stuff on the bunk, her fringe fell back as she lifted her head, revealing a nasty jagged white scar which ran down the side of her face and neck. It definitely marred her looks.

Sharon realised then that Bailey’s reticent demeanour wasn’t so much due to shyness as a desire to conceal the scar behind the lock of hair which she evidently wore loose for that very reason. She obviously felt self-conscious about it.

Sharon was instantly intrigued. Her enquiring mind began to whir like clockwork as she wondered how Bailey had acquired the scar. Had it been an accident? Had she been the victim of some form of violence?

‘So why are you in here then?’ Sharon asked by way of greeting. After all, in her mind it was one of the most important questions you could ask in here.

‘Fraud.’

‘What? Like stealing money?’

‘Yeah. I embezzled some money.’

She seemed a bit cagey. Sharon wondered if she still felt guilty about her wrongdoing even though she’d already been caught for it.

‘A lot of money?’

Bailey paused unpacking her items and looked down at Sharon. Sharon found herself staring into an intense pair of grey eyes.

‘Enough to put me away for four years.’

‘Four years huh?’ Sharon nodded, impressed. ‘Must have been a decent wad. Who’d you nick it from?’

‘I’m…’ Bailey checked herself. ‘I was an accountant. I stole the money from my employers.’

Fiddling the books. A fairly dull crime, thought Sharon. But she was a little puzzled nonetheless. The girl didn’t quite look how Sharon imagined accountants to be. She didn’t look boring enough. And she was certain that she could detect a seam of hardness just beneath the surface, a steel which she wouldn’t have expected in a mere accountant. Or maybe she was imagining it.