The Wronged: No parent should ever have to bury their child.... Kimberley Chambers

being cooked,’ Jamie wept. Mark had been his older half-brother and they’d been so very close.

      ‘So you killed Molly to get back at Vinny. Is that what you’re trying to say?’

      ‘How many more times have I got to tell you, Johnny? I didn’t fucking touch Molly. I never even met her, let alone strangled her. The police found not one shred of evidence connecting me to Molly’s body or the area where she was found. I’d never even heard of that place, let alone been there.’

      ‘But you admitted you were sat opposite the club on the day she went missing.’

      ‘Yeah, I was. It would have been Mark’s eighteenth that day. I was upset, which is why I bought some cider and drowned my sorrows. If I had planned to snatch Molly you don’t honestly think I would be sitting opposite the club so the whole world could see me, do you?’

      Johnny shrugged. ‘Well, you was silly enough to do all the other stuff, so why not? Hardly fucking Einstein, are you?’

      ‘No. But I’m no Ian Brady either!’ Jamie banged his fist on the table and all four prison guards instantly took a step forward. He raised his hands in apology, took a couple of deep breaths to bring his temper under control and then continued: ‘Listen, I found out something recently which I want you to tell the Old Bill. They won’t listen to me, but they might you.’

      ‘What?’

      Jamie put his elbows on the table and leaned towards his uncle. ‘There’s a lad from Whitechapel in here. Good pal of mine. Did you know that Little Vinny’s best mate topped himself around the time of Molly’s funeral?’

      Johnny shook his head.

      ‘Don’t you find that odd? Why would a young lad with his whole life in front of him want to hang himself down Hainault forest for no reason, eh? Guilt maybe? Word is, he was a right oddball, into glue-sniffing and all sorts. Perhaps the little weirdo couldn’t live with something bad he’d done? You get my drift?’

      Johnny shrugged. He was feeling more uneasy by the second, truth be told. Jamie certainly did not have the demeanour of a guilty person. Quite the opposite, in fact.

      ‘Do you mind if I tell you what it was like in here at the beginning for me, Johnny?’