“She’s been in her room since I spoke to her this morning. I’ll call her down when we’re ready.”

Philip Allinson, as he speaks, offers a plate of biscuits. The eyes of his guests, holding their coffee cups are alert, expectant. The person referred to is Philip Allinson’s stepdaughter, Sharon. The guests sit and attempt small talk, but conversation does not come easy in the circumstances. They all know what will very soon occur, presumably in this pleasantly furnished room.

Suddenly she is there, a pretty blonde with a curvaceous figure shown off to good advantage in a tight, short-skirted dress of shocking pink.

“I’ve told you what you’re getting Sharon.”

Yes, he has told her, though not the details. From somewhere Philip has produced a cane. It is the same slim, crook-handled cane that Sharon has had before upstairs in her bedroom, but not down here in front of witnesses…

‘The Witnesses’ features a number of regular Janus players – Philip Allinson, Roger Storing and Ann and Stephen Morley were characters that would appear in the next few issues and beyond as a sort of extended ‘family’.

We hope you enjoy these colour photos from Janus 47. To see more of Sharon’s punishment you can download a digital copy of Janus 47 by clicking on the highlighted link.