She looked bored. She was a proper no-hoper this one.

He put on his most paternal tone. ‘I want you to know that I genuinely care. I have three teenage daughters of my own and I certainly wouldn’t want them to end up in here.’

They had better not, considering how much their private schooling was costing him. If he hadn’t had to pay for that he could have bought his yacht years ago, but he supposed it would be worth it in the end.

The Governor did believe in the power of rehabilitation, but he also believed, from long experience, that it didn’t work for all inmates. Some were just too far gone, and he was beginning to wonder if this one fitted into that category. And, by the sounds of things, she was mentally unstable.

‘I think that the most productive outcome of this adjudication would be for me to refer you to the prison psychologist,’ he said. ‘So that’s what I’m going to do.’

She rolled her eyes.

‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘I really don’t need to see a shrink.’

‘You don’t have a choice in the matter.’

He closed her file and took a long look at her bruised features.

‘And a word of advice before you go. I’d be careful about the kinds of people you get mixed up with in here. It’s a small world and it can be very unforgiving… as it looks like you’re already finding out.’

Chapter 36

For lunch today, Bailey had been veering between the choice of jacket potato or beef goulash. She’d eventually gone for the beef goulash as it smelt particularly appetising.

She was sitting with the ABC at their corner table in the canteen. They were friendly now that they had accepted her as one of their own, but she was still careful to be wary. With people like this, you could never be quite sure. She knew from past experience that criminals could be the most amiable people one minute but then switch to the complete opposite in the blink of an eye. And when they turned nasty, they were capable of doing very bad things indeed.

One thing she had noticed since joining the gang was the marked difference in how she was treated by the other inmates. Now that they knew she was a member of the ABC, they generally made a point of staying out of her way and she caught a few of them looking at her with something approaching fear in their eyes. She had to admit, it felt kind of good.

Bailey casually scanned the canteen and noticed the skinny carrot-haired inmate who had tripped her up and spat on her not so long ago. She was sitting by herself a few tables away. Bailey fixed her with a piercing stare and soon caught the girl’s eye. The girl appeared to recognise her, and when she saw who Bailey was sitting with, her eyes widened in fear. She went pale, dropped her gaze and suddenly took a very strong interest in the contents of her plate. Bailey allowed herself a little smirk.