‘Meredith, I know what happened to you; the abduction. I found the details on our system. I’m sorry – that must have been unspeakably traumatic. I know they never found the perpetrator. Which is what makes me concerned that these murders of your friends are new warnings to you. I know it seems unlikely, since so much time has passed – but we can’t rule it out. Perhaps your attacker has been out of the country, or has only just tracked you down…’

Meredith felt the room tip and sway. She sank back against the sofa cushions and waited for the nausea to pass.

‘Surely this has occurred to you as well?’

They knew. It was real; she couldn’t keep denying it any longer. All she could do was nod, her eyes closed.

‘Please help me,’ she said.

Gemma came and sat beside her, and even though the girl was half her age, Meredith had an urge to collapse into her arms.

‘I will. I promise,’ Gemma said. ‘But you have to help us too. I’m reopening your case. We’re going to look again at all the evidence you gave last time, see if we can make any sort of connection. And…’ She hesitated.

‘What?’ Meredith braced herself, but Gemma’s next words, when they came, were a relief.

‘…I’ve asked my boss if I could base myself here with you for a few days, in my role as Family Liaison Officer. We wouldn’t normally stay overnight, but given how remote you are out here, I think it’s a good idea. Partly for your own safety, and partly so we can have a proper chance to talk. Just you and me. Anything you can tell me, about Ralph or Andrea as well as about you, could help catch this guy, Meredith.’

Meredith could tell that Gemma was expecting her to refuse immediately, and under any other circumstances, the idea of someone other than Pete staying in her cottage was anathema, but all she could do was nod again.

‘OK.’

30

1984
Meredith

Eighteen years old was far too young to be living in a crumbling derelict apartment block in Willesden Green, sleeping on a stained mattress like a tramp, condensation running down the walls and no heating apart from a brazier we all huddled round in the bare upstairs bedroom we’d made into our living room, since the ground floor rooms were too unspeakable, even for us.