His eyes narrowed. ‘You never listen. Why won’t you listen? Sometimes I wish I’d not bothered with this, but then I remember. This is my duty. This is my burden.’ His voice rose. ‘I have to save at least one. I watch the girls. They start so innocent, so perfect, and then they change. They are corrupted. By boys and alcohol and cigarettes. And I couldn’t let that happen to you. I tried with your mum, but I let her slip away. She was so beautiful, so perfect, and I was sure that she felt the same way about me, but no. The world took her from me. I realized then that I would never get what I wanted. What I needed. People like me didn’t get such perfect prizes, so I decided I would have to take it. It was too late, though. Your mum was gone.’ He smiled, a lopsided, clownish smile. ‘But then I got the chance with you. And I was not going to miss it.’

‘You haven’t saved me,’ Maggie said. ‘You say I would have been corrupted, but you’ve done worse. You’ve ruined me. Raped me. Dirtied me. You’ve destroyed my life.’

At the sound of his mum’s raised voice, Max looked up from his sausages. Maggie smiled. ‘It’s OK,’ she said. ‘We’re only talking.’

‘OK, Mummy,’ Max said.

The man was staring at her, his face flushed. She could see he was upset. Good. Maybe she could provoke him into an argument and he’d have a heart attack right now.

He shook his head. ‘You’re getting it wrong,’ he said. ‘I’ve not destroyed your life. I’ve perfected you. I’ve kept you pure.’ He raised his hand. ‘It doesn’t matter what you say. You don’t know. You were a girl when I rescued you. You have no idea what happens out there. If you did, you’d be grateful. I know that, so whatever you say, it won’t bother me. Look at your mum. Look at what she became. And your brother.’ He shook his head. ‘He’s wasting his life.’

Maggie stared at him. ‘How do you know what my brother’s doing? Or my mum?’

‘I see them from time to time.’ He smiled, although his eyes were hard. ‘We’re friends.’

It took her a while – she wasn’t sure how long – to respond. ‘Friends. You’re friends?’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘We have been for a while. Ever since you disappeared. I tutored James in maths.’ He pointed above his head. ‘Up there. He did well. Went to Warwick University.’

This, she realized, was punishment. She’d hurt him and he wanted his retaliation.

‘You’re lying. You’re only saying this to hurt me.’

‘Why would I lie?’

‘Because you didn’t like what I said to you. So now you’re making this up to hurt me.’