Jasmine

Did you speak to her friend? The one she was on the train with? They got on together at Waterloo but she got off at Clapham Junction. No I didn’t hear her name. I didn’t know your missing girl was called Jasmine until I saw the poster. I don’t know why I said “was” sorry, her name just reminds me of the past. My mother grew up in Australia. She always used to say that the thing she missed the most when they moved here was the smell of jasmine. Their garden was full of it apparently. Dad always used to buy her perfume that smelt of jasmine but she said it wasn’t the same.

Sorry...yes.. the friend. She talked about being a dancer but she looked too big to be a dancer. Big, you know... a big girl. Fat. They talked quite loudly the whole journey, I think they had been to a party. Apparently the friend had introduced Jasmine to a dancer friend called Juan but she wasn’t interested in him.

What else did they talk about? Some other people at the party, I don’t remember any other names. Just talked about their night really. Looked at photos on their phones. Jasmine seemed drunk but her friend didn’t. She was wearing tinsel in her hair, which I thought was strange for April. They were only on the train together for ten minutes so there wasn’t time to talk about much else. I was on my own and I’d just finished my book so I had nothing to do but listen to them. Like I said, they were quite loud. Where had I been? To the theatre. Wicked. Have you seen it? Oh you should, it’s fabulous. My friend and I meet up once a month. Both huge fans of musicals. No she lives in Tooting so she got the Northern Line from Waterloo.

Yes her friend got off at Clapham, are you sure you haven’t spoken to her? Strange, she must have been one of the last people to see her. The poster says she went missing that day. It was the date that rang a bell with me. I still had my theatre ticket in my jacket pocket. You should check CCTV at Clapham. She would have been getting off about ten-thirty, the train left Waterloo a few minutes late. Sorry I didn’t mean to tell you how to do your job. You saw her getting off at Norbiton then? If you check again, you’ll see me right behind her. We both walked down Coombe Road. Now I know there’s no CCTV down there. How do I know? A colleague of mine lives on that road and he had his car broken into last month. He moaned about it for days at work. “CCTV” everywhere but not when you really need it.”

Sign of the times I suppose. Cars getting broken into, girls going missing.

Oh yes I suppose you’re right, I was probably one of the last people to see her.

Such a shame. She seemed so happy. Singing along to whatever she was listening to. Totally oblivious of what was to come.

What makes you think I’m lying?

Do you really want to know the truth?

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