‘After I escaped I started looking for my birth parents. It became an obsession. Who would I have been if they hadn’t thrown me away? Family was what I always craved – that was what had drawn me to Tom Fresnade. I never traced my father. Not even a vague lead to him. I found my mother though. She’d been unmarried and had me in St Thomas’s, a hospital for the homeless. It’s been pulled down now. She’d died giving birth to me. Not during the rigours of childbirth. A woman in similar circumstances walked into her room and stabbed her with a carving knife. She’d lost her baby years before and had been driven mad by the grief. It was a random attack. My mother, Edina Young, tried to fight her off. Maternal instincts can be so powerful. But she died. Liz Sangster, the woman who murdered her, hung herself in her prison cell less than a year later. I survived…’ He trailed off, then touched his split nose thoughtfully. ‘A blessing for me. Or for these people anyway.’ Babysitter glanced around at the mutilated bodies. ‘But I’m building a new family now. The babies that are taken into care when they lose their mothers in the same way I did, when they’re old enough, I’ll reach out to them and tell them how our butchered childhoods connect us.’

Holly’s body locked tight. Whatever warped sense his plan made to him the purpose was clear: he wanted Abigail for himself. And she wasn’t ever going to allow that.

‘Let us go, Pauly.’ Maggie’s voice was level. ‘If anything happens to Holly or me there’s a recording going straight to the police…’

‘We’ll come to that when we’re done here. But it’s likely you won’t be part of that conversation, Maggie. Not if you’re the committed mother I think you are.’ He picked up the scalpel from the tray. ‘It’s fortunate we have the privacy of this place. It used to be the underground icehouse, when this was a groceries depository in the thirties. Fresnade senior thought Howie had it bricked up. Don’t know how many drifters and vagrants ended up down here, but with those and the casual student labour the packing plant relied on, Howie always had a fresh supply of subjects for his movies. Now, which one of you wants to have their ropes cut?’ He turned to Holly.

Holly regarded the blade in his hand and immediately knew what he intended.

‘I can only release one of you. But I’m happy for you to have a discussion between yourselves and decide who it’ll be. Although I think we all already know.’ He took a step back, as if it would afford them more space to talk.

Maggie lurched and readjusted her footing. ‘Cut us both down. We’ve told you we’ll guarantee our silence.’

‘If I let Abigail and Penny live?’

‘Yes.’

‘I found your sister’s place, Maggie. Know how much she likes to look after Penny. I could be there in no time.’

‘You son of a bitch. I did what you asked of me,’ Maggie spat.

‘And I returned Penny.’

Holly closed her eyes. Even though she wanted to believe Maggie had been lying to Howie she couldn’t now.

‘And if neither of us wants to be freed?’ Maggie asked before Holly could.

‘Then…’ he sighed. ‘You’ll have to forfeit both your children, and I’ll find two more women who will make better mothers than you. I can lock you in here and leave you to rot with these three.’

‘Just untie us, Pauly. Let us help you.’ Holly softened her tone. ‘We know you’ve suffered…’ her voice faltered. ‘You have the power to end this.’

Babysitter ignored her. ‘Your time is short, Maggie. I know about your visits to the oncologist. You must see that your sacrifice is the answer to this situation. If I let Holly go and she kills you, Penny only loses a mother for months less than she would have anyway.’

Maggie’s expression radiated hatred.

‘And you could even give Holly here your blessing to look after Penny. Can’t you see how this could work out for your daughter? And isn’t she all that’s important?’

Holly knew they had to keep him talking and stall the moment he’d designed for them. ‘So your chain remains unbroken, and the cops keep looking for the East County Slayer.’

Babysitter opened his arms. ‘That elusive male figure, isn’t he significant to all of us?’

‘And someone for you to hide behind while you ruin the lives of innocent children,’ Maggie said with disdain. ‘And when do you kill Holly?’

‘Why would I need to do that? If she turns herself in to the police after murdering you she may never see her child again, never make good on her promise to care for Penny and make your death meaningful, Maggie.’

Holly’s fists clenched tight in her bonds. ‘Liar. You’re not going to stop. If you were, you would have after the first child you orphaned. You’ll get somebody else to silence me.’

He swivelled slowly to her. ‘You are at least considering it then?’

‘We’ll both be silent. We promise. Right, Maggie?’

Maggie nodded.

‘Too complicated.’

‘But, like you say, it won’t be for long.’ Maggie tried to meet his eye.

But his attention was on Holly. ‘You should have killed Maggie in the house. You’d have Abigail back by now. But now you have to take the life of your new friend. You’ll be guaranteeing her child a stable future as well as yours though. Use that. Maggie did it for her child. You’ll only be doing what any mother would.’

Would she be dead soon after Maggie? But what would he do with Abigail? Did he really expect her to be mother to her and Penny until whatever time he decided to become part of the children’s lives? Or would he seal both their bodies in the icehouse with those of his tormentors and take the children whenever he wanted?

‘OK. We’ve debated this enough. You’ve got ten seconds and then I’m closing this place up. You’ll have nothing to do down here but wonder what’s happened to your children while you slowly starve to death. Holly, Abigail’s back home but she’ll need feeding soon. Are you both going to make the right decision?’