She thought about heading outside, but her own wariness got the better of her. What if the person who’d left that note was still upstairs even? Feeling more vulnerable than she cared to admit, Dani quickly moved back up to her apartment, remaining on high alert as she went.

Back in the safety of her home, after a thorough search inside to check she was alone, and with the door locked and bolted, Dani went and sat on the sofa and stared at the handwritten note, unfolded on the coffee table in front of her.

For minutes she simply stared at the writing. Should she call the police? But who would she call? Easton? Jason? McNair? None of those options was appealing, for different reasons.

The more she considered the note, the more spooked she felt. But as Dani worked the swirling thoughts in her head over and over, she finally determined a plan.

There was, of course, the distinct possibility that the note was nothing more than a wind-up, someone goading Dani after seeing her in the press conference, and then reading about Dean Harland’s death. She’d received plenty of such taunting mail over the last couple of years. There really were some sick weirdos out there. Most of them were harmless.

Most, but not all of them…

Dani went into the desk in the spare bedroom and pulled out a plastic wallet from the drawer. She put the note inside. Yes she’d handled it already, but she hadn’t had any inkling what it was when she’d first picked it up. Her fingerprints on the note were easily explainable, but she had to do her best to preserve the note properly now. There could still be trace evidence on the paper that could prove vital in identifying who wrote it.

If she showed it to the police. The police. Like she wasn’t one of them anymore.

Dani heard a clank at the lounge window and jumped in shock. She stared over at the glass. The blackness outside was interspersed with the yellow and orange glow from apartments across the canal. There was nothing else she could see, nothing to hear. Was it a small bird flying into her window? A giant moth, lured by the lights in her apartment?

Dani moved over to the window and pressed her face up against the glass so she could see onto the balcony. She realised her heart was thudding in her chest.

What would she actually do if there was a person standing out there, staring right back at her?

She had no idea. Luckily, it was a moot point. There was nothing and no one outside.

Then Dani jumped again when she heard faint footsteps behind her. She whipped around and held her breath…

Nothing.

Perhaps the sound had come from outside the apartment?