‘Did Melissa ever write about wanting to leave the Sisterhood or anything that was troubling her?’

‘No. She’d tell us about the work she did in the convent, the orphaned children and how much she loved them. She often said she missed us and hoped if ever we were visiting the UK we could come to the convent and see her. Regrettably we never got the opportunity,’ he added, his voice tinged with sadness.

‘Can you recall when Melissa last wrote to you?’

He took a deep breath before continuing. ‘The fifth of August 1962. The day of her twenty-seventh birthday. She said Julie was baking a cake for her.’ His voice started to tremble. ‘We became concerned when we hadn’t heard from Melissa for nearly six months. I asked the advice of a Canadian detective I knew here in Kingston. He contacted Bromley police on our behalf about our concerns.’

‘Do you know the name of the officer he spoke to?’

‘Detective Jim Harris. I spoke with him a couple of times myself.’

‘Did he carry out an investigation?’

‘He told me he visited the convent and spoke with the Mother Superior who informed him Melissa had left in August as she no longer wished to be a sister. He also said the bishop had granted her a dispensation, allowing her to leave.’

‘Do you know if Detective Harris recorded Melissa as a missing person?’ Jane asked.

‘He said he would, and he’d also make some local inquiries, but beyond that there wasn’t a lot more he could do. At the time I thought Melissa might have been embarrassed about telling us she’d left the sisterhood. I thought she would eventually make contact with us . . . but now I know why she didn’t.’

‘Did you have any further contact with Detective Harris?’

‘I called him a couple of times, but he told us there were no further developments. A year later I travelled to London and went to Bromley police station. I spoke with a sergeant who told me Detective Harris had retired. He checked the station missing persons records and told me Melissa’s file was still there, but there was no update on her whereabouts.’

It was clear to Jane that DC Harris had accepted Mother Adele and Bishop Malone’s word as gospel and let her missing person file gather dust in a filing cabinet. Worse still, he hadn’t even bothered to notify the Missing Persons Bureau at Scotland Yard.

‘Did you make any other inquiries while you were in London, Mr Bailey?’ Jane asked.

‘I went to the convent, but it was closed down. I spoke with a priest at the local Catholic church. He told me there had been a fire at the convent and it was going to be sold.’

‘Can you remember the priest’s name?’ Jane asked.

‘I’m sorry. It escapes me now.’

‘Do you remember exactly where the church was?’