‘Jesus, Liberty, we need to get out of here.’ I grab her arm and pull her to the gate. ‘My van … it’s on the drive. Let’s get the hell away from this place and call the police. It’s not safe. You’re not safe.’

Liberty laughs. ‘Have you not worked it out yet, Mum? I can look after myself.’

Lorna

Liberty and I drive through countryside in my workshop van, with all the silicon body parts and masks in the back.

The landscape looks the same as it did that day, when Dee drove me away from Michael’s house with baby Liberty in my arms.

‘So … are you going to tell me how all this happened?’ I ask. ‘I feel like I’m missing at least twenty different things.’

‘I decided to fix things,’ says Liberty. ‘It felt safer doing that than carrying on as things were.’

‘Liberty, I’m not sure you’re thinking straight. Maybe seeing the dog attack someone has affected you… You’re talking like you planned this.’

‘I did plan it. I’ve been planning it for about two years.’

‘What? How? You’ve only just found out who your father—’

‘No. I found out when I was fourteen. I broke into your safe and found your old medical records and your old surname. I worked it all out. That you couldn’t have been my real mother. Then I did newspaper research and found pictures of you and Michael.’

‘But you told me you only just found—’

‘A white lie. Once I got Skywalker trained up, I was ready to visit Michael’s house. I was hoping you might give me your blessing. That was the original plan. Have Skywalker sniff out the remains, show footage to the police, then ask them to dig. But you said no.’

‘Wait a minute. The woods. Skywalker—’

‘I trained Skywalker to find human remains. My science teacher gave me a human placenta to use. And Skywalker found that same scent, you know dead human flesh, in three different sites in Michael’s woods. They’re all marked up, ready for the police. I geotagged everything. And then I got Michael on camera, admitting my real mother is buried in his woods.’

‘How?’

‘On a button camera. And my phone.’

‘You have your phone? You’ve had your phone this whole time?’

‘I told you. I know your safe code, Mum. It’s my birthday. Not all that safe really.’

I shake my head in disbelief. ‘I could have called you this whole time?’

‘I wouldn’t have answered.’

‘So … you believed me about your father? That he was dangerous?’

‘Of course I believed you,’ says Liberty. ‘All the psychological indications suggested you were telling the truth. Michael, on the other hand, was a clear case of words not matching actions. I mean, a so-called environmentalist keeping a collection of polluting classic cars. Talk about a mismatch.’