I slipped on my trainers and headed back to the library. At the café I treated myself to a coffee and a flapjack as there had been no time for lunch at home. Most of the computers were free when I arrived this time. The whole library was quieter. Armed with my refreshments, I slid into the chair in the corner unnoticed. When the search engine opened, I typed in Nuthatch House. The computer whirred for a few seconds, the small circle spinning endlessly in the centre of the screen. Then a message, ‘Firefox is not responding’. God these were ancient, the yellowing plastic and boxy monitors were relics. The library could do with an injection of funding to update its equipment. Finally, a long list of results loaded. At the top were two from national newspapers. I clicked on the first link, drumming my fingers on the desk. It was slow to load, and I bit into my flapjack. The sweet oats clogging my dry mouth until I washed them down with coffee. Wincing as the molten liquid burnt my tongue.

‘Nuthatch House of Horrors’ in bold black letters filled the screen, followed by the tagline ‘Care Home from Hell’. I read quickly, devouring the words and scrolling down as fast as the prehistoric machine would allow. At least Susie had computers from this decade. I consumed the information in parts as the page loaded. There had been an investigation into the methods used by the staff. Their lack of training questioned after a patient died of dehydration. Further down the page there were reports of patients being left in their beds, soiled, for days. In later findings it was concluded that residents were only being given one meal a day. When journalists infiltrated the care home to record these incidences undercover, they found an elderly Alzheimer sufferer chained to her bed as she was prone to wandering.

It was horrific reading and I couldn’t believe the level of cruelty inflicted on these vulnerable people. How could Ian allow his father to be homed there? Surely, he must have read these reports? Investigated, before charging them with his father’s care? I would have. Ian was heinous, that was certain, but what did his father do to him?

I clicked on the second link and it was much the same as the first. Infected bed sores, and physical punishments handed out when patients did not do as they were told. I sat back and stared, open mouthed, at the screen, unable to believe what I was reading. The news reports were from only two years ago. How long had David been there? Was Ian from Oxford originally? Why was he housed so far away?