I don’t suppose there is any milk in the house, but there is bound to be coffee, and I can cope with drinking it black for once. I decide to get a cup now and think about going shopping and cleaning the house later. I don’t care how long it takes. But I’ll phone a locksmith before I go out. I suddenly feel empowered, as if I have reclaimed my life.

I know I should feel sorry for Ian. How awful for him to have been accused of killing me. How terrible to be held on remand. But I don’t suppose he suffered any more than I did. Both of us believed we were facing a life sentence of one kind or another. I can’t help wondering whether he’s been released yet. I wonder how he reacted to being warned to stay away from me. Not well, at a guess.

I saunter down the stairs, thinking of what I’m going to do with my time. I need to get another job, of course, and now that it seems clear Thea was responsible for the Facebook post, Tim, my ex-boss, will have to admit that I did nothing wrong. I don’t want to go back there, but at least I should get a reference.

I’m about three steps from the bottom of the staircase when I sense that something is wrong. I can neither hear nor smell anything out of the ordinary, and yet there is a sense that the air is thicker, heavier than it should be, as if something is dulling the hollow sound of an empty house.

I stop. The tune I was humming softly comes to an abrupt halt. Every hair on my arms is standing on end, the surface of my skin prickling.

‘Don’t stay out there,’ a voice calls from the living room, a voice I had hoped never to hear again. ‘Come in and say hello.’ There is a false cheerfulness to his voice that chills me.

I don’t know why I thought he wouldn’t come back. I had assumed that not only would the warnings of the police be enough to keep him away, but this house must hold the worst possible memories for him – being handcuffed and led out in front of the staring neighbours, as I am sure was the case. Becky had told me to be vigilant and to bolt the door as soon as I got in, but I had thought of nothing apart from falling into bed. I thought he was still safely locked up and I had plenty of time to change the locks before he was released.

I was wrong. He is here now.