I find out the reason that the police cleared the guy on the CCTV in the convenience store is because he was interstate on the night Yin was taken.

I find out there was a scandal at Balmoral in the 1980s when one of the teachers married a student three months after she completed Year Twelve.

I find a list of reported sightings of Yin that spans from Tasmania to China.

Piratemajid114 says that aspects of Yin’s kidnapping remind him of a cold case from forty years ago and links to a podcast episode.

I’m torn between thinking the world is one sick place and taking heart from the fact that so many people care about Yin’s case, that they actually care about catching Doctor Calm or finding her alive. Who are these people? How do they have so much time on their hands? Why do they care? Is Petra one of them?

I imagine Chunjuan and Stephen reading this site and feel sick all over again.

Bugs crawl under my skin and my head is weird and empty like I might be getting a cold again and Mum won’t stop trying to make me talk and I have to get out of the house.

I almost make it out unseen but then Mum tries to derail me when I already have one leg out of the side door.

‘Where are you going?’

‘Chloe’s house.’ The lie comes as quick and easy as snapping my fingers. I know I’m not invited to Chloe’s house despite all my gentle hints. I’m still surprised she met up with me on the holidays—she’s so hell-bent on remaining mysterious at all times. Would it hurt her to invite me over?

‘But—I thought we could have lunch together. I was going to suggest we go down to Sushi Nara.’

Sushi Nara is my favourite and very chi-chi and expensive and Mum knows all of these things, so it says a lot about her need to keep me within her sight, but we can’t have everything we want in life, can we mother.

‘I’d love to Mum, but Chloe is spinning out about her project. She desperately needs my creative guidance.’

Mum’s eyes narrow so maybe I overdid that a little bit.

‘But…’ she says and no one can put so much expression into one word and on one face than her, except maybe Liv. ‘I thought we could spend some time together.’

She’s terrible when she works from home, always procrastinating in the most blatant ways. I simply must not enable her and I have to make these bad bugs go away, somehow. ‘I’m sorry, Mum, I’ll try not to be too long. Maybe we can do girls’ night tonight?’

She nods and I try not to seem too much like a bird flying out of the cage and I open the back door and I’m free.