The man moved a little closer, inching himself forward, sitting on the very edge of his chair and looking back with an intense, fevered stare. ‘Don’t you remember me, priest? You should do. I remember you. You were a friend of my father. He was as depraved as you are.’

The priest raised a clammy hand to his chest, making the sign of the cross. ‘Henry? Is that you?’

‘Ah, so you do remember me. It’s Martin these days, Martin Heath to be precise, but, yes, I was known as Henry in my youth.’

The priest looked up, asking God for strength as the hairs rose on his arms, pressing against his shirtsleeves. ‘You sat in that same seat all those years ago and told me that you’d killed your baby sister. You’d drowned her in the bath. Murder, you actually used the word. You held that poor child’s head under the water until she breathed her last breath. Everyone believed it was an accident, but you told me different. You shared that awful burden with me at the age of only twelve years old and said you felt no remorse. You rocked me to my very core that terrible day. That’s a hard thing for a man like me to forget.’

Heath giggled to himself, taking pleasure in the older man’s obvious discomfort. ‘Ah, yes, little baby Pamela, I still think of her sometimes when the mood takes me. I can picture the terror in her eyes as she looked up at me through the bathwater. There was the light of life in those eyes, and then it faded away to nothing as if she became a doll. She’d have been nineteen by now, had I allowed her to live. She’d be all grown up and doing who knows what. Oh, dear, how very sad! Do you think the wee small thing realised she was about to die as I pushed her under? I like to think she did.’

The priest retreated slightly in his seat as damp patches formed under both his arms. ‘You committed a truly awful crime, an evil offence, an abomination in the sight of God. And at such a young age. Do you not realise that? Do you not appreciate the heinous nature of your wrongdoing?’

The giggling continued.

‘What is there to laugh about? One day you’ll face God’s righteous judgement. Ask Him for mercy. You need to pray for your soul.’

Heath cocked his head at a slight angle. ‘Do you really think so?’

‘You took a life, an innocent life with all the promise that held. For God’s sake, man, consider what you’ve done. Take responsibility for your actions before it’s too late to save your soul.’