Georgia rolls the central ring around in its channel with her thumb. ‘Or just by wearing it. I’m not one for fancy rings and jewellery really, they just get in the way of whatever I’m doing, but this is . . . well, it’s very kind of you.’

‘Good. That’s settled then. My pendants and things are going to my friend in York, but I wanted you to have the ring.’ She looks down at her flattened chest. ‘You’ve been so helpful with everything. And I thought you would see the value, rather than the price tag.’

Chapter 57

February 2011

On her first morning at 25 Library Terrace, Tess stirs early, before the wintry dawn has lightened the sky. Barely awake, she reaches automatically with her right hand for her phone, realising as she does so that not only is the phone missing but the room smells different from the house in Craiglockhart. Halfway down the bed lies the warm lump that is Baxter. He had started off lying obediently in his new basket, but despite her instructions, he has ended up on the bed beside her. She has no idea what time it is. Her alarm clock, along with her banking, her Instagram feed, endless amounts of fitness data and the weather app, are all gone. She lies quietly; another day without a smartphone stretches ahead of her.

She rolls over carefully, but it’s too late; Baxter’s ears twitch and his head rises from the folds of the duvet and that’s it, the day has begun. They play a game of chicken, each trying to pretend they are still asleep, but eventually he stretches, and nuzzles her arm. Last night she fed him with biscuits, and there’s a handful left in the top pocket of her rucksack, but it has occurred to her that Baxter is not a vegetarian, and the tinned food he usually eats is not likely to be acceptable here. She gets out of bed and pulls a baggy sweater on over her pyjamas before opening the bedroom door.

Baxter sweeps past her, all four paws in the air, racing for the stairs. ‘BAXTER!’ she hisses in a stage whisper, grabbing the bag of biscuits from her rucksack. He stops suddenly on the top step.

‘Sit!’

She holds on tightly to the bag and sees his nose twitch. He sits.

‘Heel,’ she says, and he waits for her to start walking down the stairs, his nose in the air, following the smell from the biscuit bag.

The door between the scullery and the kitchen is locked. Tess walks around the kitchen looking for the key and eventually spots it hanging on a nail next to a narrow wooden staircase. She unlocks the door to the scullery, fills Baxter’s steel bowl with fresh water at the old sink, and opens the back door, surprised to find it unlocked.