Geraldine spent the next day researching churches in the locality. Starting with the one closest to Jessica’s house, she worked her way through the websites until she found one that ran a weekly mother and baby group. It was within easy walking distance of Jessica’s house. Next she tracked down the organiser, who agreed to meet her at the church that afternoon. There was a sign outside the church: ‘Parent and baby drop-in session with toys and tea in a welcoming, safe environment. Come in and chat to other parents every Tuesday 11am-1pm’.

The organiser of the group was called Mandy. A confident, well turned-out woman in her twenties, she had a shrill voice and a forceful manner. Geraldine noticed she was holding a folder under her arm.

‘Yes, I run the mother and baby group,’ Mandy said. ‘Is there a problem? Only any complaints should strictly speaking come to me in the first instance, and I’m not aware of anything that could require police intervention. We’re all volunteers running the group –’

‘No, no, there’s been no complaint. Nothing like that,’ Geraldine hastened to reassure her. ‘We’re interested in having a word with a woman we believe came to your gathering here, at least once. We’re having difficulty tracing her, and we’re hoping you might be able to point us in the right direction.’

Mandy frowned, but she didn’t remonstrate. ‘Well, come in, and I’ll show you the hall where we hold our meetings. But I’m not sure I can do more than that.’

Once they were inside, Geraldine showed her a photograph of Jessica.

‘Do you recognise her?’

Mandy frowned. ‘Yes, I think I may have seen her here a couple of times, but I never spoke to her. She wasn’t exactly sociable.’

That sounded like Jessica.

‘She was with another oddball – sorry, another mother who didn’t seem to want to talk to anyone. Why would they come here if they didn’t want to join in? We’re a very friendly group of women, and we’re all in the same boat, stuck at home a lot of the time with our babies. Who wouldn’t welcome the chance of a friendly chat?’

Geraldine felt a frisson of excitement, wondering who the other oddball was, and how well she had known Jessica. She kept her expression impassive as she asked for the other mother’s name.

Mandy shook her head. ‘Sorry, I don’t know.’

‘Do you keep a record of the people who come along?’

‘No, only if they are regulars and want to be on our mailing list for notification about dates of meetings, and we have an online second-hand toy exchange. No one makes any money out of it,’ she added quickly. ‘Jessica and her friend didn’t come often enough for me to ask if they wanted to be on the mailing list.’

Geraldine hid her disappointment.