Once inside, Judith took a moment to enjoy the feeling of peace that came over her. How a stone building many hundreds of years old could feel so light and airy was always a mystery to her, but she couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the high, vaulted ceilings, the elegant stone pillars, and the ancient banners and standards of local regiments hanging from the walls. The Church of England was the perfect metaphor for the country as a whole, she felt: pleasing to the eye, staunchly old-fashioned, and waning very much in popularity.

There were notices on a corkboard by the entrance, and Judith started looking for any kind of reference to choir rehearsals. Or, better yet, a list of everyone who sang in the choir. She couldn’t find anything that helped her, which she found briefly irritating. There must be choir notices somewhere. Where were they?

Judith decided to go and look in the vestry where the choir got changed.

Pushing open the oak door, Judith called out, ‘Hello?’

There was no one about, so she entered. She could see that the choristers’ surplices and ruffs hung from pegs, there was an old cupboard built into the wall that Judith guessed contained the vicar’s vestments, and she also saw a desk with papers and a computer on it, but otherwise the room was empty.

Or was it? Judith felt a prickling sensation, as if someone was watching her. But how could that be possible? There was no one else in the room. Very well, she thought to herself, it was time to find out about the choir’s rehearsals.

Judith searched the desk, but she still felt unsettled. Some sixth sense was telling her she wasn’t alone. But the room was so tiny, there was nowhere to hide. Although, Judith supposed, there was the built-in cupboard. But why would anyone hide inside a cupboard?

Judith saw some choral music on a shelf, so went over to see if she could find a list of choristers there, but she had to stop herself again. She still felt as though someone was looking at her.

To settle her mind more than for any other reason, Judith went over to the cupboard, opened the door and saw that it contained nothing more than the vicar’s robes on hangers. Just as she’d suspected.

Although it also seemed to contain a middle-aged woman who was looking straight at her.

‘Oh,’ Judith said, surprised. ‘Hello.’

‘Yes, sorry, about being in a cupboard,’ the woman said, embarrassment pinking her cheeks. ‘You must think me quite strange.’