The problem was Evelyn. She refused to get in the car.

‘I need to go for a walk to clear my head.’

‘Evelyn,’ Jake said, ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea right now. You’re in shock and your neck is badly bruised. It’s important for the paramedics to look you over.’

‘I’m not getting in that car.’

‘I can’t leave you on your own.’

‘I’ll call … um, Charlotte. She’ll come and keep me company.’

‘Are you sure she’ll come here?’

‘Yes.’

Jake waited for Charlotte to arrive in her tiny hatch­back, explained Evelyn’s condition to her, and ensured they would wait together in Charlotte’s car for the paramedics to arrive.

For Jake, the journey to the station passed in silence. His mind was on fire with questions he wanted to hurl at Kelly, but it had to wait until he could capture it all on tape. He also wanted to scream in fury at the man, but he knew the time for that would never arrive. He’d have to store that up for the top of a lonely cliff.

*

Jake settled into a chair across the table from Kelly in the interview room, a female officer from Hobart next to him. He ensured all three recording devices in the room were switched on. A steady red light on the top of the camera gave him his cue.

‘Please state your name,’ Jake said.

Kelly stared past his ear at the wall behind him.

‘You are Senior Sergeant Aiden Kelly of Dunton. Is that correct?’

The female officer cleared her throat.

‘You have been stationed here for the past thirty-five years, is that correct?’

Kelly hadn’t blinked since they sat down.

‘Mister Kelly …’

He blinked.

Dropping his title annoyed him. Good to know.

‘…You are under arrest for the suspected murder of Ava O’Brien and Liam O’Brien, being an accessory to the murder of multiple children, multiple counts of grievous bodily harm of minors, multiple counts of child abuse and neglect, multiple counts of perverting the course of justice, and the attempted murder of your own daughter.’

Nothing.

Jake flicked his eyes to the officer beside him. She was glaring at Kelly, her eyes burning.

‘Two Thursdays ago, your daughter Evelyn Kelly mentioned to you that one of her clients, Charlotte Murphy, was disturbed by something Ava O’Brien had said to her. It was to do with things that happened to Amelia MacDonald while she was at the girls’ home, and Ava wanting to tell someone what happened. What did you think Ava was referring to?’

Kelly remained silent.

‘Did you panic, thinking that after all these years Ava was going to go public about your torture of the girls?’

Kelly stared solemnly ahead.