Anna chimed in with a voice slightly distorted by her braces. ‘Then Nathan turned up at the pub. Meg isn’t really over him.’

‘Did they go off together?’ I kept my voice even.

Jess looked at me, brow furrowing as the pieces slid into place. ‘Did Nathan do something to her?’

Wozza answered. ‘We don’t know what happened to Meg. She doesn’t remember.’

‘Why didn’t she go home with you?’ I asked.

Again, they looked at each other; uncomfortable. Anna spoke: ‘We thought she must’ve left with Nathan … you know … to celebrate.’

I understood. Meg would celebrate her eighteenth by going off with Nathan, and her friends would cover for her. ‘Didn’t you think it was odd that she didn’t turn up for school today?’

A flood of colour rose in Rachel’s cheeks. ‘Nathan’s not here either,’ she said. ‘We thought maybe they … got a room or something.’

I made a note in my notebook. Where is Nathan?

Wozza said, ‘Meg told us about some men at the pub who were buying you drinks. Do you know who they were?’

‘First, it was some guys from the footy club,’ said Jess, flicking a tendril of hair from her face.

Wozza asked if the girls knew who the guys were.

‘I’ve seen them around before,’ said Anna. ‘Some are friends of my brother’s.’

‘Then there was that other guy,’ said Rachel. ‘Said his name was Jack. He looked like that guy who works at the school holiday program.’

‘The cute one?’ said Anna.

Rachel nodded.

‘Did you notice anything about him?’ asked Wozza, his voice casual.

I wanted to add, Like two huge black eyes? but stopped myself.

The girls described Jack as being tall and kind of nice-looking ‘for an older dude’.

‘Any distinguishing features? Any … marks on his face?’ said Wozza.

The girls shook their heads.

Wrong Jack.

They hadn’t noticed anyone else hanging around them, and they had left when they realised Meg was gone. They thought she left with Nathan.

‘I messaged her, but she didn’t answer,’ said Rachel. ‘I just assumed she was too busy to check her phone.’ She suddenly looked horrified when she realised there was a more sinister reason for Meg’s silence.

‘How long did Jack stay after Meg left?’ I asked.

The girls looked at each other.

‘I don’t remember seeing him after she left,’ said Jess.

‘Yeah,’ said Rachel. ‘He bought us one round of drinks after an old guy pestered us and then …’ She looked upwards in thought.

‘Then we got talking to those guys from the footy club,’ finished Anna.

‘And after that,’ said Jess, frowning, ‘no Jack, no Meg.’

‘I was sure she went off with Nathan …’ Rachel stopped, and she put her hand over her mouth. A sob escaped her. ‘What have we done?’