‘No, it’s no good. I can’t remember anything else.’

There was an almost inaudible sigh. Champion sat back in his seat.

‘No problem,’ Connie said. ‘What I’m really curious about is that at some point you looked away. Even though by then you were worried about the fact that there might be a girl in that car. I don’t think I’d have looked away in those circumstances.’

Mrs Chao changed tack in a heartbeat.

‘My daughter can’t help any more. Now you’re pressuring her. She’s told you everything …’

Melanie reached a hand back to her mother, who met it with her own.

‘It’s all right, Mum,’ she said. ‘The lady’s just helping. The man started to turn. I thought he was about to look at me. It was the first time I’d felt scared. Before that I was sort of curious. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing.’ Melanie put her head back and looked at the ceiling. ‘When I came past the tree, he was still shutting the boot, but he had one hand in there until the last second, like he was pushing something down. It made me feel sick, because I remember thinking if he was pushing down, was something trying to push back up? I don’t mean I was thinking that at the time, but now that feels right. Then I noticed how skinny he was, like – what’s the word – gaggly?’

‘Gangly?’ Connie asked.

‘Yes!’ Melanie gave a light slap to the table. ‘Have you seen that film, the one with Santa Claus and the Easter bunny and the Oogie Boogie man?’

It was Connie’s turn to smile. ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas? I love that movie.’

‘That’s it. The man stood at the boot of the car was like Jack Skellington, like all bones so that his head looked too big for his body, but dressed in really crappy denim. It looked a bit dirty, too, kind of yellow.’

‘Good,’ Connie said.

‘When he slammed the boot shut, he looked to his right, then to his left, and his head was turning in my direction and I didn’t want him to see me looking, so I looked away as quick as I could and walked into the library.’

‘Did you see much of his face?’

‘No, I’m sorry. The car was dark, though – either blue or grey – and shite.’

‘We’re going to show Melanie some photos of different cars, to see what we can figure out about the make and model,’ DC Champion said. ‘She didn’t notice the number plate.’

‘Young people usually don’t,’ Connie said. ‘Adult witnesses often miss vital information about an offender or the mechanics of a crime because we’re all so conditioned by TV to get the licence plate. Often, that’s been tampered with or stolen and doesn’t help at all. I think the details Melanie’s been able to recall by not focusing on the licence plate will prove much more useful.’