Jake stared hard at the old man, suppressing any emotion that tried to break through his professional demeanour. ‘Mr Campbell, we have reason to believe that you attacked at least one of them, possibly more.’

‘What do you mean, he attacked one of the girls?’ Max asked.

‘For goodness sake, haven’t you found the numbskull who hit me over the head yet?’ Campbell was his usual pleasant self. ‘Why aren’t you out there looking for them?’

‘We’re working on it,’ Kelly said.

He seemed to have a calming effect on Campbell. ‘What does it matter what some girl says?’

‘It matters a great deal,’ Jake said. ‘Did you attack any of the girls in the home next door?’

‘Dad, did you?’ Max asked urgently.

‘Of course not. I took care of them. I was their first.’

‘Their first what, Mason?’ Kelly said.

‘Their first.’

First … a university lecture on the laws of ancient Britain flashed into Jake’s mind. He stood up and walked to the enormous sideboard in the manor’s foyer and retrieved a bottle. The others were staring at him as he returned to the kitchen.

He held the wine label out to the gathering. ‘Primae.’

‘Huh?’ Max said.

‘First. As in jus primae noctis, the right of first night.’

Mason Campbell cackled madly.

He had told everyone exactly what he was—displayed it in plain sight—but no one had picked up on it. Evelyn had been right the first day they had all met in this godforsaken manor. Campbell had always been a brute.

‘You get it,’ Campbell said.

‘I’m still lost,’ Max said.

Jake cleared his throat. ‘It’s supposedly an old custom from Europe. The lord of a region had the first rights to sex with any girl who lived on his lands.’

It appeared Mason Campbell had thrown himself into the role of ‘lord of the manor’ believing he could keep the girls in the home as chattel—his property in exchange for housing the O’Brien’s racket.

Max glared at his father in horror. ‘Tell me you didn’t rape those girls.’

Campbell shook his head. ‘Not rape. They didn’t put up any fight at all.’

‘That’s because they were drugged unconscious,’ Jake said between gritted teeth.

‘They were showing their gratitude.’

‘What the hell are you talking about?’ Max yelled as he shot to his feet, knocking over his chair in the process.

‘I put a roof over their heads, I paid for their food.’ He shrugged. ‘It’s not as though they were of value to anyone else. They were bastards.’

Max stood with his arms crossed, mouth gaping open. ‘I … You …’

‘To be clear,’ Jake said to Campbell, ‘you conspired with Liam and Ava O’Brien to keep children on your property out of the schooling system and raised them specifically to sexually abuse them.’

‘That stupid cow didn’t know what we were up to!’ Campbell said.