The last conversation of Jan and Johnny

It was the end of the evening. He had walked her back to his place. They sat in his room drinking milkess tea with sugar,

'I said to you that you don't know me', he said. 'I'm going to give you one question. You can ask anything about me you like and I will tell you the truth.'

Jan thought quite thoroughly. Years of working Saturday nights at St Francis House,(where, as her colleague Barry had put it on the first one 'trust me girl, if something kicks off here, then it all kicks off') had made her reasonably fearless.

Yes - she had the right question.

'Ok then, how many women have you killed in the past?'

Johnny did not reply. Although Jan was able to cope with silence she continued.

'It's a direct question. I don't mean did you drive them to the loony bin or did they OD to get over you. What I mean is how many did you stab to death or strangle to death or pour weedkiller down their throat?'

He still did not reply. Bravely she made herself continue with the difficult bit.

'And you are smart enough to know that if the answer is one or more than one then I must have nothing more to do with you ever again. Because if I accept what you have said then I am saying that is alright for you to...'

That was the end of the conversation. And his defence in court was 'I thought that it was alright to kill her because she was saying that it was.'