Approaching the road where the house was situated from the opposite end to that which the van had arrived and left by the previous night, he parked a few hundred yards back and climbed out. He could see the van’s back bumper sticking out of the gate-less driveway when he crossed over to the pavement on the other side, and he glanced at it out of the corner of his eye as he strolled past. There didn’t seem to be anybody in it, so he switched his gaze to the house. At first glance it appeared to be the same as its neighbours, but then he noticed the steel gate covering its front door, and the metal bars across the upper windows.

A door at the side of the house suddenly opened, spilling light onto the path, and Evan quickened his step when the blond man and his friend appeared. Too far from either end of the block to duck into an alleyway, he crouched down behind a car when he heard the van doors slam shut and its engine fire to life. The beam of its headlights arced across the car’s windows when the van reversed off the driveway, and Evan raised himself up an inch to watch as it drove past.

‘Oi!’ a rough voice barked. ‘What you doin’, ya little cunt?’

Evan jumped to his feet and held out his hands when a huge man in a stained vest ran out from the house behind him, setting off the security light.

‘I said what you doin’?’ the man repeated, marching over and seizing Evan by the collar of his jacket before slamming him up against the car. ‘Tryin’ to nick my fuckin’ motor?’

‘I’m looking for my cat,’ Evan lied, blurting out the first thing that came into his mind. ‘It’s gone missing, and someone told me they saw one get hit by a car round the corner about an hour ago. You haven’t seen it, have you? Big ginger thing.’

‘No, I ain’t,’ the man said, releasing him, but still eyeing him with suspicion. ‘But if it comes in my yard, my Staffies’ll have it, so you’d best hope it don’t come nowhere near.’

Muttering, ‘Cheers,’ Evan went on his way, making a show of looking around and calling out for the fictitious cat as he walked.