The laugh again and some more oxygen. ‘Yes, it worked perfectly! I was 350 kg and I didn’t think that was enough to do what I had to do to that wicked man, so I stepped up my intake and added more than 150 kg in the final two weeks before his release. My peak weight was eighty-seven stone, or 1,200 pounds. If I was so minded I could get a place in the Guinness Book of Records, at least for the UK.’

‘May I look at you?’ Leticia asked.

‘I wouldn’t recommend it. I don’t look my best in the mornings. Takes me three hours to get ready for my fans.’ A great gasping sigh escaped her. ‘And of course, I have yet to decide what we’re actually going to do with you. When Vee let me know what had happened, and I decided to talk to you, I was hoping that you would volunteer that Rollason was one of the most evil men who ever lived. I hoped you would agree that he deserved to die, and that what I had done was a service to the great British public. We need to be sure you would keep our secret. But now I’m not so sure.’

Leticia was terrified, but principle stuck uncomfortably in her throat. She couldn’t just swallow it. ‘Just because somebody might deserve to die doesn’t mean to say it’s our job to do it. Or your job to do it.’

‘How wonderful to be so moral. You know I could sit on you and you would agree to anything. Rollason took three minutes eight seconds to die, once I’d got my full weight on him. Oh, how he begged. Wept, and in the final moments called for his mother. There’s nothing like not being able to get air. You’re young, so you might last another half a minute. Or maybe not.’

Leticia felt a wave of fear but steadied her voice: ‘I can tell from talking to you that you are not that kind of person. You felt the loss of your son. You’re not a psychopath.’

‘Don’t be so sure. I killed a stranger for money, just a few weeks ago.’

‘No!’

‘I did. It was easier than I thought, but then he wanted it.’

‘You’ve no need to kill me. It won’t help you.’ Leticia knew she was sliding into desperation. Soon to be begging for her life, just like Rollason.