A poster questioned whether Jill smoked. There are several photos on her facebook page with her holding cigarettes and cigarette lighters in her hand. Maybe blue hoodie asked her for a cigarette and then tried to keep her attention. Most smokers that I have known will give a cigarette to someone who asks, it seems to be smokers etiquette.
Even just asking for a lighter will get the same reaction. I also wondered whether this was how their conversation started. When they enter the frame on the CCTV footage, it seems they are already walking together. He may have asked for a cigarette or lighter as a ruse, then kept following her up the street.
In saying that, I also think it's possible that he used the "someone's following you" line, as she does look back down the street a few times. This could be because she was nervous and was looking to see if there was anyone else around, but it could also be that she was trying to ascertain whether or not someone was actually following her. I'm taking these stories with a grain of salt, though. I'm not doubting that these other women were assaulted in the same area, but I don't want to assume that this is the same person that knows what happened to Jill.
I'm trying to piece together the phone call to her brother in light of this footage. I believe she calls him from just outside the store front, I think I see her standing at the very left of the frame after it seems she's left. I may be wrong, but I think I see what could be her leg appear in the frame and stay, could this be where she spoke to her brother? The male voices in the background could be people further up or down the street. It would be good to know whether the voices sounded like they were close, or whether it was just background noise.
It's also possible that she kept walking while talking to him, and was ambushed as she turned the corner onto Hope Street (and the voices were a group of people around the corner), but I believe if this were the case she would have said something to her brother. A random guy talking to you on the street is very different than coming around a corner and seeing a group of men standing around, I believe she would have said something to her brother if this were the case. Unless she was ambushed, but then, where did the voices come from? Foot traffic from the main road?
I really want to know what else was on that CCTV footage, whether it is clipped to that time frame because it's the only relevant footage that shows Jill and the MM (and potential witnesses), or whether there is something shown that they are keeping from the public. Although, if something happened in front of that store, the perp would surely realize that the police had seen it and now know exactly what had happened (or at least the start of whatever happened).
I can't shake the fact that the MM walked past the camera in the opposite direction before going back for Jill. It was a few minutes before he headed back again, where did he go? Did he have friends laying in wait around the corner on Hope Street or did it take him a few minutes to decide to go back for her? What is traffic like on Hope Street, if something had happened here, what are the chances of someone noticing?
I have so many questions. I just can't shake this case, so many possibilities. And for it to happen so close to home... this type of thing is very, very rare in Australia. People don't just go missing here.