Once inside I switched on the light and hunted about for my phone charger. It wasn’t in the usual socket at reception, so I ran upstairs to my office to see if I’d left it there, turning on the light by the door and scanning my eyes around the room, relieved to spot it on the floor by the standard lamp. I crossed the room, picked it up and shoved it in the pocket of my coat, switching off the light again. But when I went back downstairs, I felt a sudden shiver. I knew I must be imagining it, but I began to feel that I was not alone. What was wrong with me? I’d never felt jumpy in the office before – it was my space. Had someone been in there? The only people who had keys were Leah and Marina, which caused me to have a sudden thought – had Marina given back her key? Unease crept across my scalp.

My mobile was completely dead and suddenly I didn’t want to leave the office alone without a working phone, so I plugged it in and waited for the beep to show the connection was back. Time slowed to nothing while I waited so I checked the bathroom again. The ceiling was still dripping although not so badly – the basin was half full so I picked it up and turned to empty it into the handbasin.

A noise outside made me stop pouring for a second. A thunk, like something falling. It was coming from the little yard out the back where we kept the bin and the oil tank. I stopped breathing and listened. Had I imagined it? I started pouring again, my ears straining to hear. But there was nothing. I placed the empty basin back under the drip, turned off the light and stood there quietly. I realized how pointless this was; if there was someone out there, they had already seen the light on, but I didn’t want them to see my face. I pushed aside the little curtain at the window over the handbasin and peered out. But there was nothing I could see. The lights from the town dimly illuminated the yard, enough for me to see the oil tank but nothing else.

Damn it. I was on my own and I sure as hell wasn’t going out into that tiny yard to tackle whatever or whoever was out there. And I wasn’t going to bother Molloy or McFadden with what would probably turn out to be a fallen bag of recycling either. Whatever it was could wait till the morning along with everything else.