She recognised the Canadian voice. ‘Hi, Inspector Tremblay, it’s Jane speaking.’

‘I’m with Melissa’s parents, Lawrence and Fiona Bailey. They showed me her birth certificate and letters she wrote home when she was at the convent. I’ve told them about your investigation and the likelihood the victim is Melissa. Mr Bailey would like to speak to you,’ Tremblay said.

‘Of course,’ she replied.

These were the conversations Jane dreaded. It was never easy talking to a parent who had lost a child, and even harder when they had been murdered. Jane knew the Baileys must have suffered years of torment wondering what had happened to Melissa. Their last physical contact would have been the day they lovingly embraced her, aged eighteen, as she left home to devote her life to God. Then, nine years later, she would go silent and they would never hear from their daughter again. Not knowing where Melissa was, or how she was being treated, must have driven them to the depths of despair. All they would have wanted was to know Melissa was alive, safe and well, but now their worst fears had become a reality.

‘Thank you for finding us, detective. My wife and I have always dreaded this day would come. I have to ask, but are you sure it’s Melissa?’ Lawrence asked.

‘I’m sorry, but all the evidence points towards Melissa being our victim. We recovered a cross engraved with her initials and the date she took her vows. Sister Julie Dorton, a good friend of Melissa’s who was also at the convent, has identified it as being hers.’

‘Melissa often spoke about her in her letters. She said Julie always cheered her up when she felt homesick.’

‘How often did Melissa write to you?’ Jane asked.

‘Once a month, which was what she was allowed under the convent rules. There were a couple of times we didn’t hear from her for two or three months, but it didn’t worry us at the time.’

‘May I ask why not?’

‘She did say in a letter that one punishment for breaking the rules was the withdrawal of writing privileges, so we assumed that was why there were sometimes gaps between her letters. Melissa could be a bit hot-headed and impulsive. She often got in trouble at junior high school for speaking her mind. In fact, I think she spent more time in detention than she did in the classroom. Then when she was seventeen and decided she wanted to be a nun she calmed down.’

Jane recalled Julie Dorton mentioning the sister’s letters were checked and edited by the Mother Superior, thus making it impossible to write anything negative about the convent or life there to family or friends. Although Jane thought she knew what Lawrence’s answer was going to be, she still had to ask her next question.