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JA:I believe so. The Alperton events happened at the end of that year. I’m sorry. I can’t say any more, it’s not my story to tell. [The cheeky mare’s been telling Holly’s story in book after book for years. Anyway, someone else seems to take Ms Adesina away from you at this point. EC]

AB:Ellie, Rowley is spelled ROWLEY and pronounced to rhyme with ‘holy’.

WhatsApp messages between Oliver Menzies and me, 26 July 2021:

Oliver Menzies

So, when rich folk sink into addiction so hopeless they can’t care for their own kids, it’s just ‘eccentric’.

Amanda Bailey

Welcome to the world, baby.

Oliver Menzies

Holly/Rowley isn’t your average teenage runaway. She comes from a rich home and goes to a private girls’ school in Ealing.

Amanda Bailey

Cult leaders target people with wealth. What better mark than a troubled, isolated teenage girl, whose parents are oblivious, and whose status means the authorities turn a blind eye?

Amanda Bailey

Social services aren’t used to educated, articulate teenagers who appear mature. Nothing to do with her being more intelligent or less vulnerable. It’s not even about them being incompetent, but unlike the other kids they work with, she has money to fall back on.

Amanda Bailey

A social worker I spoke to was defensive. Can we blame them for prioritising those youngsters who have literally nothing?

Amanda Bailey

You know how convincing Gabriel is. He got to you in under ten minutes.

Oliver Menzies

He did not. I admit he was intimidating, but I held it together. I sent you my Gabriel interview. Send me your social worker interview.

Oliver Menzies

Please.

Amanda Bailey

That’s hardly quid pro quo, is it? Your Gabriel interview didn’t come out!

Oliver Menzies

Not my fault. His turbulent energy scrambled the airwaves.

Amanda Bailey

You don’t need my social worker interview. You need priests and satanists.

Oliver Menzies

Jo says to look at the case from a conventional standpoint, then gradually present evidence that seems to prove the baby really was the Antichrist. I’ve got to leave it to the reader to decide, while pretending I’m agnostic and on the fence.

Oliver Menzies