Annette sat motionless, her lips trembling as she recalled the event. ‘We were in the dining room having breakfast when we were made to stand in a line. Mother Superior said she was going to show us what happens to girls and boys who misbehave. The door opened and four girls, not much older than me, were marched in by Sister Margaret who whacked them across the back of the legs with a bamboo cane if they walked too slow. At first, I thought it strange as they were all wearing white headscarves and carrying silver bowls. They were then made to stand in front of us and remove their headscarves. All their hair had been shaved off and it was in the silver bowls they held in front of them. Mother Superior produced a big wooden ladle from up her sleeve then proceeded to walk behind the girls and whack each of them hard on the head. I could see they were terrified, but they didn’t dare cry in case they got hit again.’

Becky gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. ‘What did she do to the boys?’ she asked.

Annette licked her dry lips and clasped her hands together. ‘Sister Margaret marched the boys in and paraded them round the room. All of them were wrapped in bedsheets.’ She paused and took a deep breath.

‘Why on earth where they made to wear bedsheets?’ Boon asked.

‘Because they had wet themselves during the night. It wasn’t until they were made to pull the sheets from their heads that I saw David was one of the boys. He started to cry when he saw me. I took a step forward, then one of the elder girls tugged me back. She whispered I’d make it worse for him if I did anything.’ Annette’s sadness was turning to anger. ‘Mother Superior then gave them a whack with the ladle as well.’

Boon shook his head in disgust. ‘In my few years as a police officer, I’ve seen some terrible things but the thought that anyone, especially nuns, could do that to children . . .’

‘Having all your hair cut off or being made to wear a wet sheet was nothing compared with being made to sit in the chapel crypt in the dark, on your own. Mother Superior would say it was so we could “reflect on our sins in the presence of the Lord”.’

‘Were there dead bodies down there?’ Becky asked, wide-eyed.