He jumped to his feet and glanced fearfully around the room, feeling suddenly cold and vulnerable; trapped in a prison of his own making. The windows were many and occupied much of the wall space. The creeper could have been at any one of them. Alec cupped his hands over his mouth, thinking, trying to understand why so many irregularities had assailed him on a single evening. His thoughts raced through a labyrinth of possibilities and no matter which turn they took the conclusion was always the same – this was no malfunction. Somebody had orchestrated this.

Alec returned to the locked door. He hammered on it, alternating between fists, calling for Lara, his voice becoming faster and louder with every passing second of no response. The control panel for the security system was in the corridor, mere feet from where Alec stood, driving his frail shoulder into a door that ten men would fail to budge.

If only Lara would activate the shutters, then all would be forgiven. He would double her salary. She could choose her own reward.

Alec froze at the sound of smashed glass. The curtain was seen to move; its languor disturbed by whatever had broken through the pane and landed with a thud where particles now tinkled on the floor. He watched in horror as the curtain waved gently inward from the night’s breeze.

‘Who’s there?’ he cried out.

Another window was heard to shatter, and then another. Every pane of glass in Alec’s study – his sanctum from the world – was being deliberately and systematically destroyed. He turned his back on them and clenched his eyes shut.

‘What do you want?’ he asked. ‘I have money. I can give you more than you’ll ever need. Just, please, leave me be.’

Feet crunched on broken glass; a succession of slow, measured steps. Someone had entered through the empty frame. A curtain swished open. Alec couldn’t contain his shriek when he heard it being wrenched down to the floor. The cold was fast to enter. He felt it like a hand caressing his neck, primed to strangle. The next curtain was torn from the wall. One by one, every broken window was exposed, and Alec stood trembling, visualising the horror behind him – the night in all its moonlit glory, unseen for so many years.

‘Please,’ Alec repeated. ‘I’ll give you whatever you want.’