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Visiting Hour

Hanna looked around the visitors' room, trying to find the person she had come to see. The room was large - much bigger than she had expected it to be; but she had never been in a prison before. There were over a dozen 'picnic tables' in the room: circular tables with built-in seats, each one big enough for up to six people. Over half the tables in the visitors' room were occupied by prisoners and their families. Guards stood in each corner of the room, their blue uniforms obvious against the institutional grey of the walls.

There was only one table with a lone occupant. His grey overalls marked him out as a prisoner, rather than one of the guards. This, Hanna decided, had to be the one she was after. She walked across the room.

"You are Dominic?" she asked.

The man at the table nodded his shaven head. "And you are Hanna? Sit down."

Hanna sat, balancing herself on the disc of plastic that served as a seat. She went to put her handbag on the floor beside her, but the closest guard shook his head and called out, "Hands above the table at all times!" Hanna did as she was told. The guard nodded, then went back to scanning the room.

Dominic smiled at his visitor. It was a vicious smile, full of teeth and hate. "If you've come to gloat, it won't work. I have no remorse for what I did. You will not make me feel guilty."

Hanna wanted to scream abuse at him, but she checked herself. She knew that she would be made to leave if she became abusive. Instead, she spoke quietly and calmly. "No. I've come to see if I'm right about you."

Dominic's eyes widened in surprise. "Right about me? How?"

"Since you poisoned my child - all those children - I've wanted to know what would drive anyone to do something like that. I've wanted to know why anyone would give poisoned sweets to children. I've wanted to know why someone would want to have innocents die so painfully."

Dominic smiled again. "What can I say? I'm a psychopath. I did it because I could and I wanted to." He made to stand up. "Is that it?"

Hanna put her hand on his arm to stop him leaving. The guard caught her eye. "No physical contact!"

Again, Hanna obeyed the guard, withdrawing her arm. "No," she said to Dominic. "I have spent months - years, even - trying to understand you. I studied books and reports, but it wasn't enough. So, I looked into myself and, deep within me, I found the answer. I know why you did it."

"I don't need your forgiveness," Dominic sneered. "I don't want it."

Hanna shook her head. "No. I came here to tell you that I understand you, to tell you that I know why you did it."

"And?" Dominic looked suspiciously at his visitor.

"And that's it. Well, almost."

Dominic was silent. He watched as Hanna reached into her handbag and pulled out a paper bag full of clear, marble-sized objects. "Would you like a sweet?" she asked. "I made them myself."