‘Erm, no … suppose not.’ Nathan could have kicked himself for acting like an over-eager puppy. He leaned on the bar again, while she slipped her phone into her anorak pocket. ‘Nice meeting you, anyway.’ He offered a hand. ‘I mean, I meet you every day, obviously … but … I’m Nathan.’

‘Janice.’ She shook hands with him, very demurely and platonically, before turning and limping away, struggling a little with her bag. ‘And thanks for your help,’ she called from the doorway, before disappearing outside.

Nathan nodded, sipping his coke again as he watched her go. She clearly could have used a hand with the bag but would have found that embarrassing. Or was it him that she’d have found embarrassing? He scowled to himself as he finished the drink. He shouldn’t have fawned over her, that was for sure. But then again, she’d told him that she didn’t have a boyfriend when there’d actually been no need to. Maybe that had simply been to assert her independence, to reinforce that she was always the one in the driving seat – or then again, perhaps it had been to let him know that he was in with a chance.

Cheered by that thought, Nathan finished his drink and headed outside, his own bag hanging down his brawny back.

Somewhat coincidentally, he himself was feeling untypically stiff tonight, mainly in his neck and shoulders. It was odd. He’d done his usual forty-minute workout before coming on duty, but he hadn’t pushed himself harder than he normally did, and anyway, that had been hours and hours ago. The September night wasn’t especially cold, but it was chillier than it had been, and it struck him harder than he’d expected. He loitered at the top of the steps, fleetingly feeling groggy, wondering if he might be coming down with something.

But Nathan didn’t exactly feel ill. Even if he did, he would fight it. He wasn’t the sort who called in sick easily. That was for layabouts and wusses.

He trotted down the steps and adjusted the bag at his shoulder as he set off across the car park towards his beaten-up second-hand Micra. As he did, he passed the entrance to the footway that led through to the car park at St Barnabas’s – and a pair of flashing headlights caught his attention.

He glanced sideways, and found himself looking directly along the narrow, paved path that connected with the church car park. The shadowy shape of a vehicle was parked at the other side of it. Even as Nathan stared, it flashed its beams again.

He stopped and watched, and very briefly felt light-headed, even dizzy. It occurred to him that this might have been caused by the half-hour he usually spent in the swimming pool at the end of each workout. He’d once been told that water in the ears could cause sensory imbalance.

The car flashed its beams again.