Jess

That's interesting.

So there was something unusual from the get-go?

The police did receive some tip-offs.

There was a green Austin car seen parked nearby at a crossroads at 8.25 that morning.

The car's engine was running and a woman was spotted at the wheel, covering her face with her hands.

There was a sighting of a second woman, seen a few minutes later, parked in a different lane not far from the verge.

Two calls came in to the dedicated phone line.

A week later, a parcel of clothes was sent anonymously to the hospital, addressed simply to Baby Heather.

Inside were five dresses and a romper suit.

As the search for the baby's mother continued, the district medical officer was quoted in the press saying, The mother is probably tired, exhausted, he says.

She's at risk of haemorrhage and infection.

At risk of infection?

Tired and exhausted?

Aged eight, my focus had been firmly on the infant.

I couldn't have fathomed the emotional cost of carrying a baby for nine months, feeling it flutter and kick, and then giving birth.

There can't be many lonelier situations.

I hadn't considered what those final moments must have felt like.

Dressing the baby, travelling to the verge, laying it down and walking away.

In 2010, after Jess visits The Verge and gets that tip-off from Jean about the local nannies, she tells me she gets in touch with the police.

One of the detectives agrees to meet her in a supermarket cafe.