‘Right now, I can’t answer that, but I promise you we will find out who and why,’ Jane said reassuringly.

‘Could it have been an accident?’

‘I’m afraid the injuries she received rule that possibility out. Can you remember the date when you thought Missy ran away?’ Jane asked.

Julie closed her eyes and thought about it. ‘I think it was in August 1962. Shortly after her birthday.’

‘Was that before or after the fire?’

Julie closed her eyes again. ‘I’m not sure now . . . but I think it was before the fire.’

‘What do you remember about the fire?’

‘I was asleep in bed when I was woken by Sister Maria shouting that the outbuildings were on fire. I could see the flames as I ran through the gardens. When I got there, the bakery and schoolhouse next to it were ablaze and the flames were spreading rapidly to the other buildings. Mother Superior and some of the nuns were throwing water from the well on it. The heat got so intense they couldn’t get close enough with the water and had to stop trying to put it out. By the time the fire brigade got there, all the outbuildings were on fire.’

‘I was told the fire started in the bakery. Do you know if that’s correct?’ Jane asked.

Julie nodded. ‘That’s what Mother Superior thought. She was convinced one of us had failed to make sure the baking oven fire was extinguished at the end of the day. She thought a cinder must have started it. After the fire Mother Superior became an emotional wreck and started drinking even more. I think she knew in her heart the buildings wouldn’t be rebuilt and the convent would close . . . which of course it did.’

‘Do you know the Mother Superior’s full name and Sister Margaret’s surname?’

‘Adele Delaney was Mother Superior.’

‘Do you know where she is now?’

‘She died some years ago.’

‘How do you know?’

‘Sister Suzanne Lincoln told me. We were at the convent together and still keep in touch. She works at St Joseph’s Hospice in Mare Street, Hackney. She went there after the convent closed.’

‘Do you know where she lives?’ Boon asked.

‘The convent is situated in the midst of the hospice buildings. Mother Superior was in palliative care there, suffering with hepatocellular carcinoma.’

‘What’s that?’ Boon asked.

‘A form of liver cancer that occurs in people with alcoholic cirrhosis.’

‘The demon drink got the better of her in the end,’ Boon remarked.

Jane thought his remark inappropriate and glared at him before Julie continued.

‘Sister Margaret’s surname was Wilde. Which we all thought rather apt due to her fierce temper.’

‘Do you know where she is now?’ Jane asked.

‘I haven’t a clue. Suzanne might know.’

‘Does the name Father Bob mean anything to you?’