Kirsty, Heather and the vampire came into the room, along with Brian’s wife, Linda, and they and everyone else crowded round the front window, looking out as two fire engines pulled up to the kerb. Half-a-dozen fire fighters jumped out and Jamie noticed the looks of puzzlement on their faces. They looked up and down the road. Where was the fire?

Someone said, ‘Maybe there’s a cat stuck up a tree,’ causing a ripple of laughter.

Then Cleopatra said, ‘They’re heading this way.’

Jamie and Kirsty looked at each other, and backed out of the crowd. Paul, who had been out the front, smoking a spliff, hurried into the room and staggered up to Jamie.

‘They want to see you,’ he said.

‘Me?’

Jamie made his way outside, followed by Kirsty, Paul, Heather, Brian, Linda and anyone else who could cram into the hallway. A pair of disgruntled-looking firemen stood on the doorstep. Looking around at the mock policemen and fake doctors, Jamie could have believed the firemen were also party-goers: a couple of unfortunates who had turned up in the same outfit.

‘Are you Jamie Knight?’ said the older fireman, who was clearly in charge.

‘Yes. That’s me.’

‘You phoned to report a fire. Where is it?’

‘What?’

The fireman sighed. ‘We don’t have all day, Mr Knight. Is there a fire? Is it out?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about…’

‘You phoned 999.’

‘I didn’t. I haven’t phoned anyone all evening. I–’

‘It’s an offence to make a hoax phone call to the emergency services, Mr Knight. Maybe you thought it would be funny. You’re certainly wearing the right outfit for it.’

Jamie looked down at his devil’s outfit and felt his mouth go dry. ‘But I didn’t do it.’

The fireman stared at him. It was a long, hard stare that made Jamie feel like a schoolboy who’d been brought up in front of the headmaster. When the scrutiny was over, the fireman said, ‘Maybe it was one of your guests.’

Kirsty stepped forward. ‘Nobody here would have done that. Can’t you trace the call?’

The fireman treated her to the same hard stare. ‘Maybe we will.’ He turned to his colleagues. ‘Come on, we’ve wasted enough time here.’ They marched off down the path.

The party wasn’t quite the same after that, even though it carried on for a couple more hours. Brian and Linda said goodnight and went up to their flat on the top floor. Heather got off with the vampire (and later complained to Kirsty that he had blood-curdling halitosis). Paul got very drunk and threw up in the toilet. Jamie and Kirsty sat and worried about who had called the fire brigade.