She hastily picked up her bag and followed him to the door. Outside in the hallway Bethany stood clenching her fists. Donna could see the same fear mirrored in Bethany’s face as was on her own.

Georgio lay on the floor of his cell listening to the soft snores of Sadie who had been given an injection by the medic. Chopper sat on the edge of his top bunk, a roll-up in his mouth.

‘I know what that smell was, Chopper,’ Georgio said suddenly. ‘It was tetrachloride! I remember it from when I was first in the building game. It was the only thing we could use to thin out rubber paint. Jesus, how the fuck did they get it in here?’

Chopper shrugged. ‘In a flask - a soup Thermos or a hip-flask, of course. It’s a similar burning to one I witnessed in Durham. That was a child molester though. No one gave a fuck.’

Georgio’s head was reeling with the sights he had witnessed. ‘How was he paralysed though? He was still alive - I saw him moving.’

Chopper smiled slightly. ‘Nah, man, he wasn’t paralysed in that way. He had something pushed down his throat, probably a ping pong ball or an old sock. Then he was trussed up with chicken wire - you just couldn’t see it because of the burning, the smoke and that. Then the rubber mask was pulled over his face and the tolly was poured all over him. After a while they dropped a match on him and that’s when the smoke started. It’s a well-known trick in northern nicks.’

Georgio felt the vomit rising in his stomach and took a deep breath. Chopper laughed louder this time.

‘You make me laugh, Brunos. Anyone can see you’ve never been in a nick before. You think this is bad, you should try some of the others, mate. You have to harden yourself up, get used to it all if you want to survive. That wasn’t as bad as some of the things I’ve witnessed. I’ve seen men have their wedding tackle removed and shoved in their mouth, then their lips sewn together with the thick needles and twine used in the workroom. You have to sort yourself out. I thought you was a hard man?’

Georgio shook his head. ‘I am hard when I need to be, don’t you worry. But only an animal would countenance this. No human could order it.’

‘Well, at least we’re agreed on that one,’ Chopper sniggered. ‘Lewis is behind it as we both know and he is an animal, a subhuman arsehole, and he’ll be back before we know it. That little display today was for the benefit of you, me, everyone. Another way for Lewis to let us know he has a long arm.’

‘I could kill him myself.’