Clover sighed. ‘Listen, this isn’t exactly planned and I appreciate it may not be my wisest idea ever . . . On the other hand, the housekeeper’s got her day off and they’re all out . . . We might not get another opportunity like this.’

‘But what do you want to do up there?’

‘Nothing. I just want to look.’

‘You mean snoop.’

‘Fine. Snoop, then . . . I want to get a sense of him before we meet. You can tell a lot about someone from their private spaces.’

Johnny smirked.

‘Bedrooms! You know I meant bedrooms!’ she groaned. ‘I’m not going to do anything or take anything. I just want to get a glimpse of how he lives when no one’s watching. He gives practically nothing away in public; he’s like a machine in press interviews. This is just a chance to have a peep behind the curtain.’

‘What about Matty? Why can’t she go?’

‘Because apparently she lives here now and she’s still got the kitchen sink to unpack.’ She pressed her hands together in prayer. ‘Please, Johnny. Don’t make me go on my own.’

‘Ugh,’ he groaned, kicking off the shearling throw. ‘Well, can we at least take the lift?’

‘You’re not five!’ she grinned. ‘And we can’t – it might ping.’

They crept like pantomime burglars, hunched and on tiptoe, up to the living room, and straight up from there to the mezzanine. The décor on the top floor became immediately softer and more sumptuous. Gone were the rough stone walls and antique flagged floors, deployed to withstand higher footfall; instead a thick cream carpet closed over their socked feet. A pale charcoal mural of a mountain scene was etched in pen and ink on the walls and offset by a pair of oxblood linen side chairs. There were only two doors on the whole floor, one on each side of the hall.

They opened the door on the left first, peering in tentatively. It was empty but they still held their breath as they stepped in.

‘Oh yes,’ Clover whispered, pleased by what she saw. The room was large – at least twice the size of her bedroom – with huge windows looking up the valley towards the mountains, the rising cables for the Schmittenhöhebahn ski lift visible; it felt even bigger on account of the vaulted ceiling and exposed timbers. The walls were linen-lined in dark moss, with a buttoned headboard as high as the bed was long.