Page 115 of 36 Hours

He didn’t want to make a drink, and she didn’t want one, but he obviously also didn’t want to be in the room while Melissa retold her experience.

‘Coffee, black no sugar,’ she said.

Melissa breathed a sigh of relief that he’d left the room. ‘Crazy, isn’t it? I actually want to apologise that the thought of it makes him uncomfortable.’

‘He cares about you,’ Kim offered.

‘I know. That’s why he’s home from work. I have a dentist appointment later this afternoon. I can’t go on my own. I don’t go anywhere on my own.’

Kim nodded her understanding.

‘It’s because he’s still out there. He could be anyone. He could be anywhere. He could be watching me or waiting to get me again, and I wouldn’t know it.’

And that was the problem for cases that went unsolved. There was no full stop. No new paragraph or chapter. No point at which you could start a new sentence.

‘I really appreciate you talking to me, Melissa. Would it be easier for me to ask questions or…?’

‘I’ll tell you what I remember in the order I remember it.’ She took a breath. ‘We’d found the first clue, and Charlotte was full of beans. She was excited to find the next because she thought there might be treasure in it. We were walking across a field to a small wooded area. We’ve been there before. It’s only about fifty metres square and then you’re back on the road. We were maybe a few metres in when I heard a sound behind me. Before I had a chance to turn, a bag had been put over my head. One of those hessian shopping bags with handles that tie.’

She took another few breaths before continuing.

‘It happened so fast. Suddenly, I was on the ground and the breath had been forced from my body. I don’t know if he hit me in the chest or if he had his knee on top of me, but all I can remember is Charlotte screaming and me shushing her. I was frightened that if she didn’t shut up, he would kill her.

‘He got my trousers down and was inside me. All I could think was to stay as quiet as I could. I didn’t cry and I didn’t scream. Not with my daughter there. She was terrified enough.’

Kim’s heart ached for the bravery of this woman.

Even then she’d been trying to ensure her child wasn’t scarred forever.

‘It’s strange how your priorities change,’ she continued. ‘Don’t hurt me. Okay, hurt me but don’t rape me. Okay, rape me but don’t kill me. Do anything you want but just don’t hurt my child.’

‘You did everything you could to protect her.’

‘I’m not sure it made a difference. Little sweetheart won’t leave my side when she gets home from school. I think she’s trying to protect me.’

‘Or heal you,’ Kim offered.

A devastated expression flitted over Melissa’s features. As though she knew the effect her failure to engage was having on her family.

Kim could see that Melissa was drifting away from the memory and that it might be better to ask questions.

‘Did he speak at all?’

‘Not one word,’ Melissa said, shaking her head.

‘Not even once he’d finished?’

‘No. He just got up and ran away. I heard his footsteps on the twigs. I ripped the bag off my head, but he was gone. I grabbed Charlotte and soothed her, and then as soon as I could speak, I called Dave. He contacted the police, and they all arrived at around the same time.’

‘Did you feel his skin at all?’

‘It was smooth,’ Melissa said with a look of surprise. As though she hadn’t realised that before. ‘No one asked me that, but his hands were definitely smooth.’

‘Any idea of weight, build?’

‘I couldn’t say for certain. In my mind, for some reason he’s tall and slim, but I don’t have any idea of age. The only thing is that smell.’

‘Smell?’