Jennifer breathed deeply through her nose. Lindsay felt six years old, as uncomfortable and inadequate as her primary schoolteacher had always made her feel.

“Okay,” Jennifer said, the strain starting to edge into her voice. “What happened next?”

“I walked to Maclintock, pressed the button for the lift, waited for the lift and ascended to the tenth floor. And no, I didn’t see anyone close enough to identify them, so I doubt they could do that much for me. When I got out of the lift, I was aware of somebody disappearing round the corner of the corridor to my left, but I couldn’t really see who it was, since the main lights had gone off and it was just those dim blue emergency night-lights that were on. I’ve got this feeling at the back of my mind that there was something else I noticed, but the more I try to pin it down, the more elusive it gets. I’m sorry, Ms. Okido, I’m not giving you much to go on, am I?”

From somewhere, Jennifer pulled a smile that demonstrated a lot more conviction than she felt. “Don’t worry,” she said automatically. “I’ve heard worse. Carry on, Ms. Gordon. I know this is the hard bit, but once we get to the end, we’ll be a long way towards getting you out of here.”

Lindsay nodded. “Maybe I will have that other cigarette,” she said, half to herself as she reached for the packet. “As I got closer, I could see my door wasn’t quite closed. The tongue of the catch was sitting on the edge of the hole, if you see what I mean. I pushed it open, half-expecting to find I’d been burgled. The first thing I noticed was that the breeze was blowing in my face. I felt a bit muddled, because I was sure I hadn’t left the window open when I went out. I switched the light on and realized that there was a bloody great jagged hole where the window should have been. It took me a moment to register that there was no glass on the inside of the room, so whatever had broken the window had gone from the inside out.”