The whole window was about to crash inside, making a noise that would be heard half a street away. Marc gripped one of the slats, but the combined weight of glass and metal was enough to twist his wrist around painfully, until he dropped the knife and steadied the opposite end with his other hand.

It was awkward, but he pulled the entire window out of the surrounding brickwork and ditched it on top of an overgrown shrub with little more than the sound of rustling branches, followed by a metallic clank. It was quite an achievement, and Marc was pleased.

After grabbing the pigskin bag and hooking it over his back, he placed his palms against the brick window ledge and pulled his legs up. With the whole window out there was plenty of room to get through, but he didn’t fancy dropping head first on to the sink, so he had an awkward time swinging his legs in front of his body so that he could lower himself into the sink boots first.

Following a quick jump out of the bowl, he stumbled one step forwards on the tiled floor and came to a halt in the middle of the bathroom. Elated, but still scared, he turned the tap and, after a few coughs from the plumbing, clean water spluttered out, washing away the remains of the spider’s web.

Marc cleaned the grit off his hands and arms, then splashed some water up into his face. He glanced at himself in a circular shaving mirror and was surprised by how filthy he was. It was no wonder that the woman in the café had turned her nose up.

He moved out into the hallway, where he was confronted by a gas boiler and a light switch. The pilot light on the boiler was out, but he’d seen the nuns using a similar system on bath-night at the orphanage and he thought he might be able to figure out how to get it going and get some hot water for a bath. He didn’t expect anything when he flicked the light switch, but was startled when three uplighters projected Vs of light along the hallway walls.

The first doorway led into a kitchen. The cupboards were mostly bare, but a few odd tins remained and Marc noted that the writing on some of them was in English. There was also an English packet containing something called Bird’s Custard and three tall bottles of HP Sauce.