‘No problem,’ the sergeant said. He unclipped the cell key from his belt and handed it to her. ‘I just gave him a copy of the Sun. There’s an article in it about Becky Rogers’ disappearance and a photo of her. I thought the evil bastard might like to read it.’

*

Holland was sitting in his cell looking sorry for himself. The newspaper had been screwed up and thrown on the floor.

‘Becky Rogers’ post-mortem has been completed. Are you still happy to be interviewed without a solicitor?’

‘I asked to speak to one earlier. He said I wasn’t to speak to you.’

‘That’s fine by me. Just so you know, Becky drowned. She was still alive when you put her in the lake.’

Lee looked stunned. ‘No . . . no . . . you’re lying. She was dead . . . she wasn’t moving.’

‘She was in a coma. There’s part of me that thinks you knew that, and having pushed her down the stairs you needed to finish her off by dumping her in the lake.’

Lee shook his head. ‘I honestly thought she was dead.’

‘If you’d bothered to check for a pulse, you’d have found one. Becky had a chance of surviving if you’d bothered to call an ambulance, but you didn’t. Your actions ultimately led to her death.’ Jane slammed the door shut as she left the cell. As she passed an empty interview room, she went in, sat at the desk, and opened Father Chris’s letter.

My dearest Jane,

I know you will keep what you are about to read to yourself. However, for reasons that will become obvious, please destroy this letter once you have read it.

As you know, Bishop Robert Meade asked me to take his confession on Tuesday afternoon. I want you to know, as God is my witness, I believe everything he told me to be the truth.

Robert and Sister Melissa fell in love and had a brief sexual relationship. He knew what they were doing was against their vows and feared, if caught, they would be excommunicated. He also thought the Mother Superior had become suspicious of them. For both their sakes, he decided to end the relationship and arranged to meet Melissa at midnight by the outbuildings tunnel to tell her.