“Only in there. Sixth floor.” As she took out her key card and opened the door, Ruby noticed the white cane, folded and hanging from a belt loop.

Ruby was amazed that the woman, whose name was Sarah, had been managing alone all this time, what with being elderly and visually impaired. There were no friends or family to help, Sarah explained; she had no choice but to manage.

“I’ll help you next time. We can go together.”

“Oh, I couldn’t.”

“It’s no trouble,” said Ruby. “I’ll be going anyway. It’ll be nice to have some company.”

“Well, if you’re sure. Give me your phone number, so I can call, and you can call me.”

“Ah. My phone. I can’t find it.”

“Oh no! When did you see it last?”

“I was talking to the guy who lives upstairs.”

‘Mr. Franks? Have you met him, then?” Sarah sounded surprised at that.

“I bumped into him on a tram. Then today he was outside the block, on his way to the corner shop.”

“Nice man, but he’s so shy and quiet. Very much a lone wolf, these days. Good catch for the right lady. If she can bring him out a bit, you know?”

Yes, thought Ruby, picturing the way Gregor had stumbled over the awkward parts of the conversation. He is shy and quiet. Not really a lone wolf, though—not yet. She was about to say something, when she remembered his words: “Can I trust you?”

“Anyway,” said Sarah, “what’s he got to do with your phone?”

“He might have seen it or seen who picked it up. I can’t find it in the flat, so I thought I might have left it on a bench out there, when I was chatting with him.”

“Oh well, it could have been anyone who took it, then. People will take whatever they like, in my experience. They’ll see a thing they want and just take it, as if it belongs to them already. Especially round here.”

Ruby said goodbye to Sarah and climbed the stairs to the seventh floor. On the landing there was a single doorway, the door painted shiny black, with a silver number seven at the center.

Before she could knock, the door opened.

Music swelled, seeming to fill the hallway. Tears sprang to Ruby’s eyes. Elgar’s Cello Concerto always had that effect on her.

Gregor stood there in an old gray T-shirt with sweat at the armpits, moisture beading on his forehead. At the sight of her, he frowned and smiled at the same time.

“How did you get into the building?”

“How did you know I was here?” Ruby said.

“Slightly embarrassingly, I have motion sensors. On the stairs. They alert me when people are coming up.”

She could barely hear his voice. “Why are you whispering?”

He beckoned for her to step inside, and shut the door behind them.