Marina takes the baby awkwardly, holding the fragile body lightly as Selena piles dirty crockery into the sink and wipes the surfaces, quickly and efficiently, taking advantage of her freedom. She puts on the kettle and assembles mugs, teabags and biscuits. Her face looks tired and there are lines around her eyes.

‘Do you like children?’ she asks as she works. ‘Milk, sugar?’

‘Yes, although I don’t have much to do with them to be honest, and yes please, milk and two sugars.’

‘Any nephews or nieces?’ The kettle is boiling. She pours it onto the tea.

Marina shakes her head, breathes in the scent of the baby’s hair. She has fallen asleep in her arms.

In the living room, Selena sets the mugs on the glass coffee table and clears a bundle of clothes from an armchair for Marina to sit. She lowers herself gingerly, but the movement wakes the baby and Selena takes over. They settle, Lottie in her mother’s arms now. She has a slick of black hair and a bald spot on the crown.

‘She was born with a shock of hair,’ says Selena, shaking her own short crop. ‘Now it’s fallen out and she’s like a little monk.’ She gives a laugh. ‘I was the same, according to my mother.’

Marina makes suitable noises, while surreptitiously looking around the room. According to her notes this is Thomas Littleton’s flat. Post-decoration, the room is bright. Modern. There is a sense of calm. Perhaps it’s the tangerine walls, the gauzy yellow curtains, the paintings of poppies on the walls, the light-coloured, angular furniture. She asks if the landlord minds them working on the flat.

‘He’s fine with it,’ says Selena. ‘We did the bathroom last year and had no complaints. Mind you, we don’t spend a lot; no point as we’re renting. It’s only the paint really.’

‘Oh?’

‘My husband has a gardening business. His friend, Pete, is a painter and decorator. They exchange skills.’

‘Sounds like a good arrangement.’

‘Are you thinking of decorating too?’

‘Yes, but I can’t decide on the colour.’

‘It isn’t easy, is it?’

‘How did you decide?’

‘I wanted a contrast. The place was empty for years before we moved in. Dark, no carpet, tatty velvet curtains, peeling wallpaper. It was cheap of course, which is why we took it. The previous tenant died some time before, I believe. Not sure why it wasn’t rented out for so long.’

Marina nods, thinking about this. Thomas Littleton, she supposes, although there could have been a different tenant in between him and the Hamiltons. Yet the story chimes with what Crystal said. The death of the owner, the delay in sorting things out. Should she ask Selena for his name, or would that be strange? She decides against it. ‘How long have you lived here?’ she says instead.