Vanda said nothing, but turned the car in that direction. Stella stared in fascination at the busy pavements, even on a weekday morning. The overhead gantries were festooned with giant snowflakes and pink-faced Santa Clauses. She’d have to come back at night, to see them all lit up.

When they passed the red cube of MacDonald House, she didn’t feel the usual sadness, thinking of her mother’s death, but only resignation. It comes to everyone, she thought, the bolt from nowhere that shatters your life. If Mollie had lived—

“We should go home,” said Vanda. “Your father will be waiting.”

It was remarkably easy to slip back into normalcy. The flat was smaller than she remembered it, her bedroom tiny. Was it actually the same size as her cell? The school was, unsurprisingly, reluctant to have her back. She didn’t search for another teaching position—something told her there would be none available for her. Church was out of the question too—she was too afraid of running into the other people who’d been taken. She started staying in her room most of the day, re-reading novels or staring at the ceiling. When her father mentioned at dinner that she hadn’t left the flat for weeks, she nodded but didn’t see what she could do about that.

A few months later, one of the others phoned—they were planning a press conference to tell their side of the story. They’d been mistreated, and wanted the world to know. People thought their confessions had been voluntary, that they were all meek and repentant now. Had she been slapped, kicked, deprived of sleep? The officers weren’t supposed to do that. Would she stand with them? She said she’d think about it, and whenever they called after that, she got Vanda to say she wasn’t in.

In the end, only nine of them put their names to the statement. As Stella had feared, they were rounded up and put back in detention almost right away, along with their lawyer. The government said their actions proved they hadn’t really been rehabilitated, that the Malayan Communist Party, the Ma Gong, were trying once more to gain a foothold amongst the English-educated intelligentsia. The newspapers were agog. Another plot to overthrow the government, so soon after the last one?

Stella and the rest were summoned to Phoenix Park, and ordered to sign a declaration refuting the allegations. Devin was there, grim-faced. He was glad to see them looking so well, he said. “We hope you’ll co-operate with us. We don’t want people to misunderstand. Weren’t you all treated nicely? Free meals from the government! I think some of you even put on weight.”