In Her Skin

The minute you give birth,

you're gripped by an inexplicable fear,

the fear of loss.

You start the journey in fear

and spend every day

trying to keep that unknown threat at bay.

But in my heart of hearts,

I knew danger had caught up.

I was off guard, asleep on duty.

? What you wanna say? ?

? I'll wait till you get home ?

? I'm sick of communicating ?

? Over the telephone ?

? But tell me how you feel ?

? For I am lonely too ?

? Need you to know ?

? I'm just as cold and numb ?

? as you ?

? Ah, ah, ah, ah ?

? Ah, ah, ah, ah ?

You don't have to wait.

You girls go watch-- watch TV.

Hello?

Rachel never got off the tram.

Has she called you?

No, do you think she got off

at the Campbell stop instead?

I don't think so.

We arranged that I'd pick her up here

an hour ago.

Something's happened. I'm gonna call the police.

Liz, maybe you should wait.

She's never late. Never.

No, I know, but why don't you call Manni first?

And I'll wait here, and I'll call you back in a bit.

Done everything right, did Michael Gardner.

He sprinted back to the vacant goal square.

Emmanuel...

Emmanuel!

Hey, babe.

Is Rachel with you?

Oh, hi, Elizabeth.

Isn't she home?

No, she didn't come home.

Manni, do you know where she is?

I thought she'd be home.

The last time I saw her,

she was getting on the tram to meet Mike.

She didn't meet Mike, Manni.

She didn't get off the tram.

Hey, Elizabeth, look.

I'm sure she'll be fine.

Manni, do you have any idea where she could be?

No, sorry.

Box Hill Police Station.

Hello.

I want to report a missing person.

My daughter, she's missing.

Yep, okay.

Can I just get your name and details, please, ma'am?

Elizabeth Barber.

My daughter's name is Rachel Barber.

She's 15 years old.

She was supposed to get off the tram.

My husband was meant to pick her up,

but she didn't.

Something's happened. I know it.

She hates the dark, and she hasn't rung.

Okay, and how long has she been missing for, Mrs. Barber?

About an hour and a quarter.

You don't understand. My daughter is never late.

She never disappears.

So I'm not-- I'm not overreacting.

The last time I saw her

was with Manni at the end of classes.

Zoe, if anyone has seen or heard from her,

can you call?

Hold on.

Absolutely.

Let me know if there's anything I can do.

Yes, I will. I will.

Rachel.

Elizabeth?

There's something I didn't tell you before.

What?

Rachel had a job tonight.

A job? What job?

I don't know.

She didn't say.

Where? With who?

I don't know.

You guys share the same diary.

You talk to each other ten times a night.

I don't understand, Manni.

I'm calling the police.

I'm calling everyone I can think of,

and you lie to me.

What's wrong with you?

I'm sorry.

Where did she go? What job?

What did she say to you?

She said she was gonna make a lot of money

and not to worry,

'cause it was with an old friend.

What friend?

I've rung everyone I can think of.

No one's seen her.

Doesn't make sense, does it?

She's in trouble, Mike.

Enough, Liz.

She's okay.

You know Rachel.

She probably just got off at the wrong tram stop,

and she's wandering the street as we speak, lost.

You two didn't have a fight, did you?

Right.

Well, let's not jump to any conclusions just yet, okay?

We'll find her,

most likely hungry and pissed off.

Look, I'll--I'll go and look down Burwood Highway.

She could have got off up there.

That's great, Drew. Thanks, mate.

Do you think maybe we should go

and look around the dance school?

Rachel?

Rachel?

Rachel?

Rachel?

You have to go back to Box Hill.

We went to Box Hill this morning.

They've got primacy of the investigation.

Give them a chance to do something.

Please, Rachel's very naive.

We think she may have been...

Well, Mike, you tell him.

Go on.

Oh, well, there's a brothel called Number 27,

and this woman in a clothes shop just said to me

that the brothel tries to get people in

by giving them money and--

We think she may have been kidnapped by this brothel.

You see, Rachel did tell her boyfriend

that she was going to make a lot of money,

that she had a job with an older woman, so...

Number 27's a legal brothel,

one of the more reputable ones.

Go back to Box Hill.

Well, we have a poster that we've made up.

Could you please put one up?

There's a $70 fine for putting up posters illegally.

Get permission first.

They just don't believe us.

They think she's run off with friends.

Bob downstairs has got a mate in missing persons.

I'll get him to call him.

Oh, that would be great,

wouldn't it, Mike?

Rachel?

I thought you wouldn't look.

Don't do that.

If someone's taken her,

they probably dumped her bag in one of these things,

haven't they?

Mike, I'm sorry.

I thought if you knew, you'd wait,

and I thought we'd lose time,

and I know that we have to find her.

She's in trouble.

I know.

What did Manni say to you?

He told me that she was going to meet an older woman,

a friend, that she'd offered her money for a job.

What older women does she know?

I went through her phone book. I can't think of anyone.

She's bloody done something stupid.

She's not dead. I don't feel it.

I'd know. We'd know.

We'd know.

I barely spoke to her yesterday.

We'll find her.

We'll find her.

This is Detective Patterson here from missing persons.

I received a call.

Yes, well, young girls of this age

tend to go missing all the time, Mrs. Barber.

I'm sure it's quite unusual,

but you're gonna have to trust me on--

You're going to have to trust me on this one,

Mrs. Barber.

The statistics will back me up on this.

She's only been gone a--

Mrs. Barber, she's only been gone a--

Okay, Mrs. Barber.

Yes, I'm hearing you, yep. Okay.

Mr. and Mrs. Barber?

Mrs. Barber?

Yes, can we wait?

My husband's just gone to the car.

We've left the mobile phone in the car.

He can follow us up.