Roth spat a laugh, and took a defensive step backwards.

‘Oh, no. No. You’re not using your magical love powers on me. Eight of your friends were murdered by these hands. You of all people should know I’m unreachable.’

‘Nobody’s unreachable,’ McCormick answered. ‘You wouldn’t believe the kind of people I’ve had the honour of turning round. The world is full of young people who think their futures are already decided – that they’re supposed to be this kind of screw-up or that kind of failure, just because they’ve been told to believe it by the people around them. But once they’ve had someone tell them the truth, the realisation can be literally life-changing.’

‘And what is that truth?’

‘That even though we don’t get to decide what happens to us, we do get to choose how we respond. And even if people tell you your future is predestined, you have more control over your personality than you think.’

McCormick was expecting Oliver Roth to laugh. He wouldn’t even have minded: he was sure to go through worse that night. But instead, the teenager gave a curious nod. Perhaps his prisoner was offering him conversation that Grant, Marshall and Pearce could never hope to provide.

‘Is that what you’ve been telling your retard army?’ asked Roth. ‘Was it you who turned Ewan West from a school-hopping violent-minded moron to the sweet little do-gooder who thinks he killed me?’

‘Hey, you leave Ewan alone. He’s a good lad.’

Roth gave a confused face, as if wondering whether to laugh or fall silent. McCormick smirked, aware that he’d just tried to break up the war’s bitterest rivalry with a fatherly voice of reason, as if it were a playground argument between two young children.

‘Whatever,’ said Roth, ‘let’s be honest here. You don’t seriously believe people like me – the kind of guy you pray your kids don’t turn into – can be turned by anything you say? Do you honestly believe bad people can turn good?’

‘Why not? It’s as easy as good people turning bad.’

Roth smiled: a reaction McCormick did not expect.

‘It’s far easier for someone to turn bad than turn good,’ said Roth. ‘It’s human nature. We’re all crap people deep down.’

‘That’s just your own experience with corrupted people.’

‘No, it’s my experience with humans. Nobody’s truly good. If you don’t believe me, spend half an hour in rush hour traffic and watch how people act. Or even better, put a million of them in a giant walled prison and see what they’re like a year later.’

McCormick looked to the floor, unable and unwilling to hide the sadness in his face. It was difficult to argue against Oliver Roth, even taking his own helplessness out of the equation.