“Then say that’s what happened. Why don’t you let me go? If I didn’t know what was going on, if I was innocent, if you say everyone else has already confessed, why do you still need me?”

“You have to confess as well, Stella. A proper confession. Everything you’ve done. You’ve already been here for so many months. If we let you out now with nothing, it will look like we made a mistake. The old man will lose face. Do you think he’ll be happy about that?”

She said nothing.

“It’s your choice. We can apply for another detention order if we need to. We’ll get it. You’re a danger to society, we can hold you for as long as we like. You don’t look rehabilitated to me, Stella, you aren’t being very co-operative today. Do you know how long Chia Thye Poh has been in detention now? Twenty-one years. And we’ll hold him for longer, because he’s stubborn and won’t confess. He says, how can he renounce communism if he’s not a Communist? But only a Communist would be so stubborn. He was young when he came in, now he’s not. Do you want to be like him? It’s up to you, Stella. Everything is up to you.”

•

Her cousin Janet came to see her one weekend. “I brought you biscuits,” she said without preamble, patting a blue tin of butter cookies. “And your dad said you want books. I brought you The Screwtape Letters and this Peter Marshall one. Don’t write in it, it’s Winston’s.”

“Hello, Janet.”

“Why do you look so surprised to see me? Your dad’s not well—don’t worry, it’s just pneumonia—so I said I would come.”

“Pneumonia?”

“He’s fine, they sent him home from hospital. Vanda’s looking after him. I suppose you’d rather see me than her, anyway.”

“Thank you, Janet. It’s very kind.”

“How can I pass you these things through the glass?”

“You’ll have to give them to the guard afterwards. They’ll go through them before I get them.”

“Go through them? What for?”

“Afraid you’ve hidden something in them, I guess. Secret commie messages in the books. A hand grenade in the tin. You shouldn’t have bothered with the biscuits, you know. They’ll eat them in the office.”

Janet half-rose to look for the guard, but he was looking studiously out of the window. Seeing her in silhouette, Stella realised she was pregnant.

“How long—?”

“This? Four months. Four and a half.”

“Congratulations.”

“Have to get started. The government changed their mind and said don’t stop at two, have more if you can afford it. Winston has to lead by example. I don’t mind telling you this one was an accident.”

“Life is never a mistake, Janet.”

“Sorry, I forgot you’re Catholic.”

“You’ll love it when it’s here.”

“Of course I’ll love it, what’s wrong with you?” She stared around the room. “Are you the only one here? I thought prison would be a lot bigger.”

“This isn’t prison.”