Every year X demanded something else of hers in exchange for these clues, something she had used: a lock of her hair, her favourite t-shirt, a piece of paper with a lipstick kiss on it, even a dirty sanitary pad. She gave him these things wearily, having been conditioned to obey, thinking with every letter that she would go to the Police, and then telling herself that doing so would jeopardise the only real connection she still had with Bobby.
