“I brought you a cake.” The hand holding the knife trembles as she points towards a small Victoria sponge on my Welsh dresser. “Sheila told me you weren’t well, so I nipped to the cake shop. Sheila said you like sponge.”

“You didn’t knock.”

“I did, but you didn’t answer. I could hear the TV through the letterbox and assumed you couldn’t hear me, so I let myself in; the door was on the latch. Sorry.” The colour returns to her cheeks and she flushes red. “I can tell by the look on your face that I shouldn’t have, but I didn’t want to leave the cake outside in case it rained.” She sees me looking at the knife and places it on the counter next to the kettle. “I just boiled the kettle. I was going to bring a cup of tea and a slice of cake up to you.”

The door was on the latch? I did go outside earlier to bring in the washing, but I could have sworn I kicked the door shut after I carried the basket inside. It can’t have closed properly.

“Right.” I glance back towards the TV, which is still blaring in the living room. Something about her story doesn’t make sense. If I’d walked into someone’s house with some cake and the TV was on and they weren’t about, I’d assume they’d gone to the loo. Unless she knew I was up in my bedroom – but how on earth would she know that? I run a hand over my face as I walk back into the living room and turn off the TV. I’m tired after a bad night’s sleep, and disturbed by what happened yesterday. I left the front door open and Angharad took it as a sign it was fine to come in. People round here leave their doors open all the time, I guess; it’s that kind of community. She hasn’t done anything wrong. She was just trying to be nice.

“Sorry I made you jump.” I force a smile as I step into the kitchen. “I wasn’t expecting company and I’m still not really used to the whole ‘leave your door open and friends let themselves in’ thing. That’s not something we did in Leicester.”

“You’re from Leicester?” Her face brightens and I kick myself for not being more careful. “My ex-boyfriend was from Leicester. We used to go to Kick Up the 90s at Fan Club. Have you been?”

I shake my head. “It’s been a while since I’ve been clubbing.”

“Right. Well, it’s not exactly rocking with them here, is it?”

“No.”