The woman who answered the door to the fourth-floor apartment was striking, and certainly not as Jake had pictured her. With bright-blonde hair teased into a Mohawk, piercing, mismatched eyes, and a flowing black and red silk gown, she was also somehow familiar.

‘Matilda?’ he said, offering his hand.

She froze, her ice-blue and dark-brown eyes glazing over, lips parted. Abruptly she shook herself like a dog flicking water off at the beach, then took Jake’s hand and shook it firmly. ‘It’s Lilith now, or Lily for short.’

Matilda—now Lilith—was the epitome of Melbourne artist chic.

‘Of course, my apologies,’ Jake said.

‘Come in, have a seat.’

Lilith led them to an antique green sofa, in front of which was a table with a steaming pot of tea and three cups. She began to pour without asking their preferences.

‘So, my past has finally caught up with me,’ she said, catching Jake’s eye as if to test his reaction.

He nodded, uncertain of what tack to take. She wasn’t what he had expected at all.

‘Your art is … interesting,’ Murphy said, pointing to one of the enormous canvases of silver, pink and red lines that graced the studio walls. He clearly had no idea what to make of it.

Lilith grinned. ‘Take your pain, make it beautiful.’

Another girl like Amelia … Jake had to tread carefully.

Almost as if she had read his mind, Lilith said, ‘You don’t have to tiptoe around anything. I’ve come to terms with my body, learnt to accept it and love it as it is.’

‘You’re very pretty,’ Murphy said.

She hmphed. ‘He doesn’t see, does he?’ she said, looking into Jake’s eyes. ‘But you do.’

‘I don’t see what?’

Murphy’s voice had an edge that Jake was coming to recognise. Jake glared him into silence, then returned his attention to Lilith and pushed straight into the interview.

‘Can we start from the beginning, when you were found at St Kilda?’

Lilith, who was looking askance at Murphy, turned her attention back to Jake. ‘No problem.’

‘Can you tell me how you got there?’

‘I told the truth back then and that hasn’t changed. All I know is I went to bed one night, and the next thing I knew I woke up in a small dark place that was moving and made me nauseous.’

‘Did you recognise anything about the place?’

‘I didn’t then, but these days I think it must have been the boot of a car.’

‘Did you try to get out?’ Murphy asked.

‘I must have passed out again, because the next thing after that I woke up on a beach. It turned out to be St Kilda.’

‘And then?’ Jake prompted her.