The most likely scenario was that Ava had drugged Lilith then allowed her to be raped by someone—but could something else have occurred?

‘Did she tell you or imply to you in any way who the father might be?’ Jake asked.

‘I honestly thought I’d somehow angered God and he’d made me pregnant as punishment. After the baby was born she kept telling me the pain was penance for my sin, so until my parents explained reproduction to me I thought that’s what had happened. I know it sounds ridiculous now, but you have to understand—we were isolated and she had complete control over us. She brainwashed us. It was like a cult.’

It occurred to Jake that there was a possibility Ava had acted alone—that she had gotten hold of semen and inseminated Lilith while unconscious. Given the suspicious behaviour of both Liam O’Brien and Mason Campbell in the hospital though, Jake was more inclined to think those two may have worked with Ava to … what? Traffic the girls? Pimp them to a paedophile ring?

‘I’m very sorry to hear what happened to you,’ Murphy said, showing some compassion for once. Jake hoped it was a sign of things to come.

Lilith touched the gold locket around her neck again, ignoring Murphy. ‘Even through all that I kept a tiny part of my baby so I would always have it with me though.’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Jake.

‘After Ms O’Brien cut the cord and took the baby away, she left the scissors where I could reach them. I still had the afterbirth next to me. I could feel my heartbeat pounding through my whole body and I really thought I was about to die. I wanted to be buried with part of my baby, so I cut some of the cord off and tucked it under my armpit.

‘And you kept it to this day?’

‘When I didn’t die I decided to keep the piece of cord—dried it out so it wouldn’t decay—so I’d always have a piece of my baby with me.’

‘What happened to your baby according to Ava?’

‘She said they’d died before they came out of me, but that wasn’t true. I heard them crying. She definitely lied—my baby lived.’

‘Thinking back, Lilith, who do you think was the most likely person to have been, uh, the father?’

‘You mean, do I know who raped me?’

Jake tried not to look away. ‘Yes.’

‘Once I understood what had happened, I assumed it was Mr O’Brien, her brother. No other men ever came to the house.’

‘Not ever?’

‘Only once that I can remember. When I was really, really little, a man with a gun came to the house to bring Sam back.’

‘Who was Sam?’ Murphy asked.

‘She was a lot older than me—eight birthdays ahead, I think.’