Matt stood looking back at her, his skin hot and prickly, not knowing what to say.

‘I’m sorry, I—’

‘You what? Got the wrong room, did you?’

Matt’s heart was hammering somewhere up in his neck. He forced himself to take a breath. ‘No, I went into Tim’s room but I couldn’t find the DVDs. I thought they might be in here, so I thought I’d pop in quickly before I came back down. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have, I know it…’

Matt trailed off, thinking. Had she seen him reading her notepad? Anne continued to watch him, her face a blank. Matt took another breath, and made a huge effort to keep his voice steady when he next spoke.

‘I’m really sorry, I should have shouted for you when I couldn’t find them, I know this looks like I’m snooping.’ He forced himself to grin. ‘I didn’t want to drag you upstairs and cause more of a fuss, though, especially after you’ve been so friendly, so I thought I’d just pop my head around this door on my way down. You know, in case they were here.’

‘There’s nothing of Tim’s in here,’ said Anne. Her eyes flicked past Matt to the desk, then back again. ‘The rain’s slowed down a bit. Maybe you’d better make a break for it now, before it picks up again.’

She turned and stepped from the room back into the hallway. Without waiting to see if she’d glance back at him Matt spun on the spot and gathered the three notepads into a hasty pile, returning them to their stack on the left of the desk.

Then he left the room and joined Anne in the hallway.

They didn’t speak as they descended the stairs. Anne waited for Matt to go in front and he could feel her behind him as he walked, her eyes on the back of his head.

When they were in the downstairs hall and back by the front door, he turned to her. He’d been building up to say something casual, possibly to thank her for the tea, but she cut across him before he had the chance.

‘You know, when you knocked at the door earlier I thought you might be someone else.’

Matt opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again. Anne was looking past him, over his shoulder. Her eyes were distant and unfocused.

Matt thought of the notepads upstairs, and what he’d read in them. He wanted to ask her about them, but he couldn’t.

‘Did you think I was Tim?’ he said eventually.

Anne blinked and looked back at him, as if only just remembering he was there. ‘No. I told you, Tim’s in Edinburgh.’