‘I’m sorry, Mum,’ Meg managed to whisper before lying back on the pillow and closing her eyes.

One of the other nurses took Mrs Mulligan by the arms and moved her away from her daughter. ‘She has to be examined,’ said the nurse. ‘You’ll see her again soon.’

‘I can’t just wait here,’ she said in a panic.

I stepped forward. ‘Mrs Mulligan,’ I said in the same gentle voice I had used on her daughter, ‘could we go somewhere and talk?’

Mrs Mulligan’s eyes focused on us for the first time. ‘Did you bring her in?’ Her lips trembled.

‘Yes,’ said Wozza. ‘We found her a couple of k’s away on the highway. Brought her straight here.’

‘Thank you.’ She reached out and took Wozza’s hands and squeezed her gratitude.

‘What we really need to do now is have a talk with you,’ I said. ‘Is there somewhere we can sit?’

The efficient nurse who had inserted Meg’s cannula took over. She led Meg’s mother to a small visitors’ room. We followed. There were seats, an urn and a fridge. In moments, we all had cups of tea, and the door to the room had been discreetly closed.

‘What happened to her?’ Mrs Mulligan’s face was contorted with worry.

‘We don’t know,’ I said. ‘It appears that something happened after her birthday drinks last night.’

Mrs Mulligan let out a sob. ‘I told her to be careful. But kids today …’ Her voice trailed off.

‘She didn’t do anything wrong. Someone did this to her.’ My voice was firm. ‘When did you last see Meg, Mrs Mulligan?’

With shaking hands, the distraught woman blew her nose on a tissue she pulled from her sleeve. ‘Please, call me Trish,’ she said, sniffing.

‘When we spoke to her on the way here, Meg said she was out with Rachel, Anna and Jess.’

Trish nodded. ‘Meg and the girls left our place last night about seven thirty. They were going to the pub to celebrate Meg’s birthday, then they were all staying at Rachel’s. I can’t believe …’ Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. ‘They’ve all been friends since primary school. I can’t believe they left her … I can’t believe they didn’t tell me she wasn’t with them …’

‘We don’t know what happened yet,’ said Wozza. ‘We need to talk to the girls.’

‘They should be at school now,’ said Trish with a glance at her watch. She gave us their addresses, just in case they weren’t. I took notes.

‘Does Meg have a boyfriend?’ Wozza asked.

Trish shook her head. ‘She used to date Nathan Forester until …’ Her voice trailed off.

‘They have a fight?’ Wozza prompted.

‘No,’ said Trish. ‘They were just … young.’