You see, soldiers – soldiers in uniform – don’t have this problem. They don’t have to conceal the bodies of their victims. Quite the reverse in fact. They lay ’em out in rows, count ’em, take snapshots of ’em, like shooting parties used to do with pheasant. Only difference is they don’t eat ’em. They shove ’em in a big hole and bury ’em and that’s that. No problem. Everyone knows they’re there, nobody cares. But if you’re out of uniform, like me – if you’re what they call a murderer – you’ve got to get rid of the body, and that’s a real worry because, believe it or not, it’s far and away the hardest bit of the whole job.

Killing’s easy. Dead easy. Especially if you’ve been trained to it, though of course anyone can do it if they put their mind to it, but more murderers have come unstuck because they made a mess of disposing of the body than through any other cause. It’s a fact.

Everything’s been tried. Acid baths. Dismemberment. Cement boots and a deep river. Everything. And more often than not it’s no use – the body (or parts of it) turns up sooner or later and the killer is caught.

I won’t be. No. Because unlike most so-called murderers. I’ve planned in advance. My flat’s on the ground floor, and there’s a handy little space – quite a big space, actually – under the floorboards. It’s beautifully ventilated – stick your hand down there and you feel the draught – so it’ll stay cool, even on the warmest day. That’s important. l won’t go into why because it’s not a pleasant subject – let’s just say bodies in a warm place have a way of betraying their presence after a day or two. So – I’ve got this place – I like to think of it as my built-in refrigerator – and that’s where our little friend of last night now lies. As I have said, he doesn’t feel the cold, nor is he cluttering up anyone’s doorway. The whole thing’s so much tidier, don’t you think?

I found a doorway. A good deep one, so deep that light from street-lamps and shopfronts didn’t reach the door itself and you could sit with your back against it and not be seen by passers-by.