"Rash? He’s been abusing inmates!"

"These are merely allegations, unfounded I’m sure" Simon waved her away.

"Always so confident in him, aren’t you? Do you really find it so hard to believe that your precious Jim would put a foot wrong?"

"When the only suggestion that he has stepped out of line comes from convicted criminals Helen, then yes, I have full confidence in Jim"

"And what about my word?" Helen asked angrily.

"Helen…" Simon started.

"Simon, if I could just say something?" Jim interrupted.

"Go ahead Jim"

"Helen, I apologise if your opinion of me has in any way been lessened by these women. I understand how manipulative they can be and don’t blame you for falling for it" a fakely sympathetic smile spread across Jim’s face.

"I don’t think my opinion of you could get any lower, Jim" Helen said witheringly.

"Helen, that’s a little uncalled for" Simon scolded her.

"Is it? These are very serious allegations Simon"

"Allegations for which I see no basis" Simon leant back in his chair and folded his arms.

"We’ve been here before Simon"

"Yes, we have. And every time the allegations against Jim have been unfounded and he has been able to return to duty" Simon glared at Helen.

"They have not been unfounded. You’ve simply maintained your practise of sweeping things under the carpet without bothering to look into it" Helen pointed out.

"There’s been nothing to look into" retorted Simon.

"There has, you just chose to ignore it. But not this time" Helen moved round her desk.

"Helen don’t you think we’ve wasted enough time going over this? These poor people…" Simon indicated the Union rep and the policeman "have better things to be doing?"

"Maybe you should listen to this before you decide who’s wasting time?" Helen raised an eyebrow and pulled a cassette recorder from her desk drawer.

"What the hell is this?" Jim spat.

Helen stared at him "Proof, Jim"

She pressed play on the recorder and there was a moment of fuzziness before Jim and Alice’s voices filled the room, loud and clear.