"Can I get you girls tea, or hot chocolate maybe?"

Helen and Margaret Reed glanced at each other from where they were seated on the sofa. They were dressed in their school uniforms, a checked black, white, and grey skirt that came below the knee, a white shirt that they had unbuttoned at the top, and they were wearing a black jumper and blazer respectively. They could have been identical twins, with only eleven months between them, their fine, brown hair cut to their shoulders, the same light blue eyes, the same flat cheekbones, the same heart shaped faces. The only difference was that Helen's longish nose was crooked as though it had been broken at some point. And from the lacrosse stick she'd been carrying when she came into the reception, Mr. Abney strongly suspected that was what happened. She also had a couple of grass stains on her knees above her socks, and Mr. Abney noticed that she was wearing blue trainers instead of her sisters black school shoes.

"Could we have some tea, please?" Helen asked softly.

Mr. Abney asked Chris to prepare them some tea, nodding at the girls' parents as they waited outside in the reception area. They appeared tense, barely able to smile in return, but they were putting on a good show for their eight year old daughter, Harriet, who had spent the last hour in the company of two of Mr. Abney's colleagues. They'd stopped speaking as soon as Mr. Abney opened the door, and he vaguely wondered if they regretted what they'd said to him. Mr. Abney noted Nell's lacrosse gear on the chair beside Mrs. Reed.

"Do you go by Helen or Nell?" Mr. Abney asker her, as he sat back down picking up his yellow legal pad.

"Nell," she replied, crossing her legs. She had her head in her hand as she leant on the arm of the sofa, playing with her ear.

"And it's Mae, isn't it?" She only nodded. Her arms and legs were tightly crossed, and she kept glancing around the room. They'd only agreed to be interviewed as long as it could be done together; Mr. Abney would have rathered to get them separately, but he was going to take what he could get. They'd come straight from school, Nell's lacrosse training ending at five, and barely had a moment with their parents before Mr. Abney called them into his office. His recording equipment was already set up.

"Could I get you girls to give your full names and dates of birth, for my records?"

"Helen Reed, third of October 2119."

"Margaret Reed, nineteenth of August 2120."

Nell's voice was a little bit stronger than her sister's, but they both clearly anxious about being here. From what Finlay had told him, Mr. Abney would have expected them to be a little bit more enthusiastic about speaking to him – they were as fed up with Meredith as Finlay was, according to him.

"The date is the seventeenth of November 2136, Richard Abney, social worker, of the Leicester Child Protective Services, conducting the first interview with Helen and Margaret Reed." He smiled kindly at them, trying to put them at ease. "I noticed your kit outside - are you on your school's team?"

Nell nodded. "We have the last match of the year next Saturday. We had a friendly with Rushey, I came straight from there."

"A match? I beg your pardon, I thought you had training." Nell shook her head. "And are you on the team as well?" he asked Mae. He could have sworn their parents said she had training, but it was possible that they misheard.

"No, I went along as a supporter," she said, taking a deep breath to steady herself once she answered.

Mr. Abney smiled kindly. "I'm fond of rugby, myself. Have you played lacrosse long?"

"Since year six."

"And do you play any sport?" Mr. Abney asked Mae. "I think your parents mentioned that you play hockey?" Mae nodded, but didn't say anything else. Mr. Abney chatted with them for a few more minutes, trying to put them at ease; Finlay had just started talking as soon as he came in, though Callum had not relaxed at all. Malcolm kept going hot and cold, depending on what Mr. Abney brought up, but had been all in all very shy and quiet. Granted, he had seemed more comfortable with him during the second interview; Mr. Abney was going to need to schedule more interviews with the boys over the coming weeks and he made a mental note to get Chris on it as soon as he could.

He glanced down at his recorder on the table. "So, I don't know if you've been speaking with your cousins over the last week and a half, but what we need to speak about is not an easy topic." He'd said as much to Finlay. But where it had seemed to spur him on, it made the girls exchange a nervous look between them. "And if you'd like to stop at any point, or have our Legal Aide brought in, we can do that. Now, first thing's first – are you aware of why I'm conducting these interviews with your family?"

The girls exchanged another glance. "You want to take Malcolm into care," Nell said after a beat. "Because of what Meredith's doing to him."

"Well," Mr. Abney said, shifting in his chair. "I am concerned with how, with how Meredith is treating, her, um, her younger brother, but I won't be placing Malcolm with a foster family if I can help it."

"Well you should," Mae blurted out.

"And why's that?"

She looked down to the side for a moment. "Meredith is horrible to him; and their parents don't do anything about it."

"And what do you think their parents need to do?"

"Stop her hurting him!" Mae said. "She pushes him down all the time, there was what she did to his arm, she keeps hiding his inhaler, Edith told me –"

"She told everyone he keeps stealing her dresses and knickers," Nell added.

"Yeah, she told everyone he wears them around the house –"

"And wants to be called 'Matilda' –"

"Why 'Matilda'?" Mae turned to her sister, confused and annoyed by the thought. Nell just shrugged in response. "But it's dangerous in our school anyway, no one would dare admit they're trans."

"So," Mr. Abney held up a hand to stop the flood now coming from the girls. "Meredith spreads rumours about Malcolm?" They nodded. "And is Meredith aware of how dangerous those rumours are to Malcolm?" They nodded. "What else has she said about him?"

"She made an email address," Mae said. "Malcolmgordonreed. At gmail."

"Why?" Mr. Abney queried, taking it down; Claire might be able to get access to it.

"She sent a load of emails to boys in his class – love letters," Nell told him.

"And when was this?"

"April."

"And what was the reaction to the 'love letters' like?"

Mae's mouth was set in a hard line. "They weren't happy."

"Like, at all," Nell added. "A few of them knocked him about over it."

Mr. Abney looked over his notes; there, in April and May, several trips to the school infirmary for fighting. "Do you know if any of the teachers got involved?" They shook their heads. "Do they ever?"

"Jasper's aunt is the headmistress," Nell explained sourly. "He gets to do whatever he wants."

"Do you think she knows the extent of what Jasper and Meredith are doing to Malcolm?" Mae just shrugged.

"The teachers are afraid of her," Nell explained. "She definitely knows what he's up to – she covers for him all the time. Finlay told us she erased CCTV of Jasper beating Malcolm up."

"And how does Finlay know that?"

"His mum tried to get the footage of Meredith and Jasper beating him up last December." Nell scowled. "Ms. Bardsley-Kemp said it had been erased. Likely."

"Do you know if your Aunt Corinne ever complained directly to the school?"

"Finlay said she did," Nell said.

"But I don't think the Head did anything about it," Mae finished.

"Can, um, can you think of any reason that Jasper's aunt would be so willing to cover for him?" Mr. Abney asked them. "For example, do you know if she tries to stop him in anyway?"

The girls exchanged a glance, but didn't say anything. Nell glanced at Mae one more time, before apparently deciding that she wasn't going to say anything, and continued, "Dad says sometimes that the Admiral calls Malcolm a 'Nancy Boy' to his old friends when Uncle Stuart's not about."

"And a poof," Mae added. "Calls him his 'poofter of a grandson'."

Mr. Abney made no visible reaction to that information, just wrote it down, and made a note to bring it up with Stuart and Mary when he eventually saw them. "And, and, and your Dad told you this?"

"Not exactly…" Mae said slowly, shifting awkwardly. "We overheard Mum and Dad talking a few months ago, and then we asked Finlay and he said that he's heard his Dad and the Admiral talking about Malcolm like that, and Meredith is always bullying him for being gay –"

"Even though he's not –" Nell interjected.

"Well, he says he likes girls," Mae continued.

"He's only thirteen though –"

"Yeah, he's young –"

"But we certainly don't give a toss –"

"And neither would Mum and Dad –"

"Mum's best friends in Germany are gay –"

"So," Mr. Abney cut off the onslaught. "So, you believe that your grandfather believes that Malcolm is gay and that affects how he treats him? Am I right in saying that?"

"Absolutely," they said in unison.

"And what does that, does that have to do with the Headmistress?"

"Because if Admiral Gordon Reed wants his Nancy grandson toughened up and taught a lesson, then no one is going to interfere in that," Nell explained, busying herself with her tea. She took a sip. "And Jasper's father was our grandfather's aide before he retired, it's how we know that family so well. Commodore Bardsley-Kemp and his sister are as awful as the Admiral." She made a disgusted face. "We used to have to play with Jasper and his horrid brother during the summer. Dad hates him."

"And Jasper's definitely overheard them talking about Malcolm, there's no way he hasn't," Mae added, picking up her own tea, and cupping it in her hands. "He's said things to us that he couldn't know otherwise. They don't care what's done to Malcolm, because as far as they're concerned he's a homo who needs to be knocked straight and it's all approved by the Admiral."

"Do you have any examples?" Mr. Abney asked, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Of the Admiral allowing Malcolm to come to harm, I mean?"

"About two years ago, Jasper was wrestling with Malcolm," Nell said. "He jumped him because he was drawing some butterflies."

"Where was this?"

"Granny's house, here in Leicester," Nell answered. She took another sip of her tea, causing Mae to jump in.

"The Admiral didn't like that he was drawing something so girly," she told Mr. Abney. "But he was just copying some pictures from the insect house at the zoo, we'd been the day before with school. But Jasper heard him, and started ripping up Malcolm's pictures and when Malcolm tried to stop him, he pushed him to the ground."

Mr. Abney recorded that on his legal pad. "And how did the Admiral react?"

"He laughed and told Malcolm to fight back and not be such a pansy." Mae scowled. Mr. Abney noticed that she and her sister had identical scowls.

"Can I ask if your parents were there?"

They weren't; it was just Malcolm, Meredith, and Jasper. Nell and Mae had gone along as well, seeing as it had been a while since they'd seen their grandparents – but they were quickly reminded why that was. In the end they were happy that they'd stopped Cora and Edith from coming as well. Nell had been messaging Finlay in the group chat, and within thirty minutes Aunt Corinne had turned up, bundled Malcolm into her car and left; she'd barely said a word to her in-laws. Nell and Mae had quickly followed her out and stayed the night at her house; things had been frosty the next morning when they met their grandparents at mass. It was the one thing their parents really insisted on – going to mass every Sunday with their cousins.

The Admiral was also fond of boxing Malcolm's ears if he caught him behaving in a manner he didn't approve – speaking too quietly, reading those ridiculous Jaqueline Wilson novels, watching cartoons he was too old for, not wanting to go run around outside because he was having an asthma attack, and then there was what happened last summer on the dock in Plymouth; when Malcolm was too afraid the get on the boat.

"I thought he was going to throw Malcolm in," Nell said. "He was crying and everything!"

"Is this when Malcolm was left on the dock all day?" Mr. Abney scanned his notes, checking what Finlay and Callum had told him about that incident. The girls nodded. "Who made the decision to leave him there?"

"The Admiral," Nell told him, sounding cross. "Uncle Stuart took him off to the side, to try and calm him down, but the Admiral started yelling at him, saying that this was because he was a piss poor father, and was raising a little bender and it was all his fault."

"He's called him a window licker a couple of times, as well," Mae added. "Because he doesn't talk much anymore, so Malcolm often just stands there and stares at the ground, not saying anything."

"And won't make a move unless Meredith says he can."

"He's terrified of her."

"But he says he's not."

"No, he says he likes the attention."

"Could we get back to the Admiral for a moment, if, if you wouldn't mind?" Mr. Abney interrupted. "I'd like to get back to your cousin in a moment, but I just want to, to focus on, um, your grandfather for the moment. Does he often use offensive language when speaking with Malcolm, or referring to him? Or any of your cousins?"

"He told me that everyone would think I was a dyke if I joined the Navy," Nell harrumphed. "Said the same to Cora."

"And do you still want to join the Navy?"

"I do," Nell insisted. "Most of our family's in it; our family can trace serving in the Royal Navy back to the sixteen hundreds. The Admiral's brother actually died in service saving his crewmates from a mine that hit their submarine; it's our family's legacy and I want to uphold that and make Great-uncle Harvey proud."

"That's very, uh, very honourable, very honourable indeed." Mr. Abney smiled kindly. "Quite the legacy and history you have there." Nell seemed pleased at that, ducking her head and drinking more of her tea.

They spoke a little more about some of the ways the Admiral treated his grandchildren, but Mr. Abney didn't really get any new information - he was sarcastic, demeaning, used offensive language, wouldn't allow them to eat, or just give them plain bread, wouldn't allow any discussion, and sometimes gave them 'fitness tests' to prove that the girls could never survive in the Navy. Nell always did better than her cousins; Malcolm was normally given an asthma attack – and sometimes the Admiral wouldn't give him his inhaler. Nell and Mae hated him as much as Finlay and Callum did.

"And how does he treat Meredith?"

"Like his little minion," Mae muttered. "He has her spy on us, even at school, and then gives her stink if she can't get any good dirt on us."

"And she makes fun of her and Madeleine for having another sister," Nell added. "Meredith is his favourite, she gets away with murder, but the thing is, he does turn on her every now and again."

"She has to be perfect – perfect marks in school, never complain, always know what we're doing," Mae continued. "She's on the tennis team, and the sailing team, and you should hear him when she doesn't do well."

Mr. Abney frowned. "And what kinds of things does he say to her?"

"Calls her a useless cunt, and says she needs to do better."

"And she's a shame and waste of space on the team."

"And a stupid cow who couldn't hit the wide side of a cruise liner with a tennis ball."

"May I ask when the last time you heard this was? Your, um, your parents say that you don't spend much time with your father's side of the family," Mr. Abney asked.

"We see them over the summer," Nell clarified. "And since Aunt Corinne died they've been at Uncle Archie's house all the time to help out, so we always see them on weekends now." She glanced at her sister again, and then said quietly, "Dad's not really happy about that."

"Your Dad doesn't want you spending much time with, with them nowadays?"

They were silent for a long moment, before Nell spoke again, Mae casting a nervous look her way as though she wished she could stop her. "Dad's afraid of him; and Mum hates him. But we can't just not go - Finlay relys on us."

"Why do you think that? That you parents aren't fond of your father's parents?"

"Because he never really speaks when he's around the Admiral," Nell said, looking at the door, where her parents were waiting on the other side. "And he just agrees with whatever he says when he does, even if he says something completely different at home. From weird stuff he and Uncle Stuart have said, it sounds like the Admiral did all that to them as well when they were young."

Mr. Abney took all of this down – the examples the girls gave him, their impressions of how their father and uncles behaved around their grandfather, and then what they thought of their grandmother; she sounded as charming as her husband. Mr. Abney didn't get anything new from either of them, but they did confirm a lot of what he'd already been told by Finlay and Callum, and what DCI Green had gotten from Meredith's friends in school. He also got the information that Meredith and Jasper were being avoided by most of their year and were trying to keep to themselves since this all started – the Commodore was thinking about pulling Jasper and his brother out of school, if the rumours were anything to go by. And the Admiral had apparently had a very strong word with Finlay and Callum last night about talking to Mr. Abney, though Finlay assured the girls that he'd lied about what he'd said and had made sure Callum did as well. Their parents had forbidden all of their daughters from going anywhere near their grandparents as soon as they gotten the call from Mr. Abney to arrange a meeting.

Mr. Abney was going to have to speak with Claire as soon as possible – he was going to have to get her to fast track that barring order.