‘Shit! I’m sorry!’ said Coops.

Rosie surged forward, her bulky hips swinging, her floral dress catching in a sudden breeze. ‘Give me her diary.’

‘Sir, please give her the diary —’ ‘Have a heart, mate, it’s her daughter’s diary —’

The group pressed closer. One man swiped for the book in Gabriella’s hand.

‘Eliza,’ said Monica, appearing at her side. ‘Let’s go.’ She steered Eliza away from the group and into the car. ‘It looks like it could get ugly.’

They pulled out of the driveway.

‘We should have stayed and helped calm everyone down,’ said Eliza.

‘It’s going to be like this until the girls are found . . .’ began Monica. ‘Look, do you still want to go back up the mountain?’

Reading Georgia’s essay had made her feel sick. And the rhyme was back again:

I won’t walk alone by the mountain trees . . .

‘I’ll need to get changed. Take me back home. I’m going to join the search. But I won’t go alone.’

Or the Hungry Man will come for me.

CHAPTER 15

CON

Con paced the corridor outside the station’s interview room, speaking to Commander Normandy on the phone. Inside the interview room Murphy and his lawyer, Dave, were waiting alone.

He heard the sound of another incoming call and checked the screen briefly. Unknown number. It would have to wait.

In the corridor with him was Detective Melinda Tran, crouched against the wall, scrolling through her phone as she waited for Con to finish his call.

‘Yes, commander,’ said Con, speaking slowly. ‘I reviewed the autopsy report. No obvious signs of a struggle – no skin under her nails, at least . . . No, but her head was too damaged to see if she’d been hit. No sign of her backpack, so we have to assume she wasn’t wearing it or someone took it . . . Yes, I agree that’s most likely . . . They got up on the cliff and confirmed they were her shoes . . . No, he confirmed they had their laces tied up, and he really felt as though they’d been carefully placed there. If you look at the photos you can . . . No, just her DNA so far, but there was a lot of rain overnight.