“I doubt it was anything,” she said. “It was probably a different car each time. You’d had a few drinks and you were probably confused.” I knew then it had been a complete waste of time talking to her about it. “I get nervous when I walk home late at night on my own, too.” She spoke with great authority but I couldn’t help wondering when exactly it was that she’d last done that. “It’s when the streets are empty that it gets creepy. And the lightbulbs used in the streetlamps are lower wattage now; I was reading about it the other day. It’ll just be that.”

“I suppose so,” I said doubtfully. “I’m not usually nervous, though.”

“Are you kidding?” She laughed. “What about that time the lift broke down at work? You were only stuck in it for five minutes and you freaked out.”

I winced at the memory. “That was a bit different. I thought it was going to fall down the shaft.”

She laughed again. “I remember Harry explaining it to you very, very slowly.”

I couldn’t help smiling. “Even then I didn’t really get it. I said I did but only because I didn’t want to sound like a complete idiot.”

She ended the call with a promise to be in touch soon. “I’d better get going,” she said. “I’m taking notes at a meeting this morning.”

“On a Saturday?” I hadn’t intended to say that and it came out sharper than usual. When I’d worked there I’d sometimes had to work on a Saturday, but Sarah’s job had never involved that.

She hesitated. “Yes. It’s the board meeting.” Harry always held the board meetings on a Saturday, so that they wouldn’t be disturbed by other staff. There was an awkward pause, then she went on, “I’m Harry’s PA now. There’s been a bit of a reshuffle. Sorry, I thought I’d told you.” I heard her call out to her daughter, telling her not to spill her orange juice, then she said quickly, “I have to go. Speak soon.” And then she was gone, leaving me dumbfounded. Why hadn’t she told me that the night before? Had she spoken to Harry about me? She hadn’t wanted to talk about work and I could understand that, but to not mention she was working directly with Harry now?

As I showered and dressed I thought of the days I’d worked with him, of seeing him through the glass partition as we worked in our separate rooms. Now Sarah would be at my desk with the same view of Harry that I’d had.