Jane established the time in Ontario was three in the afternoon. She phoned the Kingston police department and spoke with a Detective Inspector Tremblay. Jane told him she was investigating the murder of a woman they believed to be Melissa Bailey, who’d been a Kingston resident until 1953, when she came to the UK to become a novice at a convent in Bickley. The inspector seemed shocked when Jane told him how Melissa had been murdered.

‘I’ll do whatever I can to help,’ Tremblay said.

‘We’re almost certain our victim is Melissa Bailey, but we don’t have a confirmed identification due to the state of her body. I don’t have Christian names for her parents, but I’m led to believe her father is a university lecturer,’ Jane told him.

‘There’s a university here called Queen’s,’ he said.

‘I’d imagine Mr Bailey must be in his fifties or sixties by now, so he may be retired,’ Jane replied.

‘Leave it with me. I’ll get on to Queen’s University right away. If I trace the Baileys, would you like me to inform them their daughter might be dead or ask them to call you?’ Tremblay asked.

‘I’d be grateful if you could tell them in person,’ Jane said. ‘I think it would be better if they know what happened to Melissa before speaking to me hundreds of miles away over the phone. I’ll fax you over a copy of the dental chart our forensic odontologist made. Hopefully, if you trace Melissa’s parents, their family dentist might still have her old records and could do a comparison to give us a positive ID.’

‘If I do get your victim’s dental record, I’ll get our forensic dentist to check it as well. I wish you well in your investigation, Detective Tennison. As soon as I locate the Baileys, I’ll call you.’

After a meal in the canteen, Jane typed up her reports, and it was nearly nine before she got home. She was so tired she went straight to bed but tossed and turned, unable to get to sleep. She couldn’t stop thinking about the last two phone conversations she’d had with Nick, and his coldness towards her. She knew she’d done nothing to upset him, so why did it feel as if he wanted to end their relationship?