Straightening up, Liv pressed a hand to her throat and walked along the path to the front door. It didn’t seem right to let herself inside, so she knocked and waited. When there was no reply, she pushed the key into the lock.

A long hallway stretched in front of her with several tiles missing from the mosaic floor. Two well-used bicycles were propped against the wall, and takeaway menus were pinned to the wall.

She stared around her, not sure what to do next. A young man wearing oversize camouflage trousers and a yellow beanie jogged down the stairs. “You looking for someone?” he said cheerily.

Liv held up the key to show she hadn’t broken in. “Which door is number 25b?”

“End of the hallway,” the man said. “The mystery thickens.”

She frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

“That flat is privately owned, right? Like, not a student?”

“I don’t know,” Liv said. There didn’t seem much point in covering up the truth. “I’ve been left a key to the place, in a will.”

“Yeah? That’s cool. My uncle just left me his mangy old Labrador.” He laughed. “I once saw a woman scuttle inside. She had black hair, like a helmet. I knocked to see if she wanted a coffee, being neighborly and that. She didn’t answer. Weird, huh?”

“Um, yes.”

“My mate Dave reckons she’s a dominatrix, you know with that hairstyle.”

“Oh...” Liv blushed.

“I just hope you don’t find any bodies in there.”

“Me, too.” Liv smiled too widely. She waited until the man left the building before she approached the peeling green door.

The same key opened this lock and a strange damp smell hit her as she stepped inside, a hint of Fracas underneath. The carpet was a swirly red-and-gold pattern with bare patches along the short hallway. Cheap paintings hung on the walls, as if bought from charity shops.

Liv entered the room closest to her. The sunlight cut through the windows, illuminating specks of dust sparkling in the air. There was a small run of yellowing kitchen units, and a tiny dining table that would struggle to seat two people. A single bed was covered with a knitted patchwork cover. There was a squishy teal velvet chair with a hole in the cushion and an old oak desk with a missing drawer and a flat melted candle in a saucer on top.

Somehow, despite the apartment’s scruffiness, Liv could sense Essie’s presence.

She jumped when a door banged somewhere upstairs, followed by laughter. Dropping her handbag to the floor, Liv looked around her and saw there was a layer of dust over everything.