She pressed her face to the glass and scanned the entire space. No one was there.

Then she looked up towards the hotel.

She felt sure that a head bobbed back inside from one of the dark hotel windows.

Now she wished that she had curtains to draw but it had never occurred to her to get any as no one could see inside, unless they were standing in the courtyard and the only door to that was from her flat.

Slinging her dressing gown round her shoulders, Theresa got out of bed and tiptoed to the back door.

She peered up through the glass panels.

A few windows in the hotel were lit up, but what was strange about that? It was a hotel. Some rooms were occupied by people coming back from a night out, or sleepless with jetlag or excitement; others were empty or occupied by people sleeping.

She stood perfectly still, letting her eyes focus on the shadowy space, waiting for something to move, be it a cat or a rat …

But nothing moved.

As she turned away she heard it again.

Theresa!

She wondered momentarily if she was hallucinating.

Or perhaps might ghosts be real?

This was getting ridiculous. It had been a long day. Actually it had been a very stressful number of days. No wonder her head was playing silly tricks.

Grabbing her blankets, she dragged them from the bed and through into the front room, where she curled up on the sofa.

Tomorrow she would get a roller blind or something put on both the bedroom window and the back door.

When finally she drifted off to sleep it was coming up to 5 a.m. But she was woken almost immediately by feet running down the stairs from the upstairs flat. Then the sound of a car door slamming, and pulling away with an expensive hum.

Theresa rolled over, cursing the buttons in the back of the sofa pillows.

Part Four

PART FOUR

GNOCCHI NIÇOISE

You could of course save time and effort by simply buying a packet of ready-made gnocchi. That’s what I do! Serves 6.

1kg floury potatoes, peeled

250g plain flour

1–2 egg yolks

1 large tablespoon olive oil

black and white pepper

salt

100g Gruyère cheese, grated

nutmeg, grated

To make the gnocchi, cook the potatoes in boiling water for 35 to 55 minutes, until very loose. Drain and mash. Stir in the flour, egg yolks, olive oil and a good grind of black pepper. Work the dough (as little as possible) until it is well mixed. Divide it up and place it bit by bit on to a floured worktop. Roll the pieces by hand until you get a cylinder 1cm in diameter and continue in the same way for the remainder of the dough until you have used all the mixture. Chop the rolls every 2cm. Roll each piece to form the gnocchi and press with a fork.