‘It shut behind me,’ I said. ‘It … slammed shut …’

‘Who closed it, then?’ Clive asked.

‘Maren must have been down there,’ Tom said, pacing and running his hands through his hair. I couldn’t quite work out why he was so furious. ‘Maren! Come down here, please!’

‘It doesn’t matter who shut the bloody door,’ Derry shouted. ‘The wind probably caught it. Let’s get poor Sophie to bed.’

She rubbed my back again. ‘Thanks,’ I managed to say as I rose to my feet, glad of the opportunity to head to my room and hide under the covers. Nothing they had said or done had diminished what I knew had happened – something was in that basement.

Maren was suddenly there, her hair damp and askew and her cardigan inside out as though she’d emerged from the shower and hastily thrown on whatever clothes came to hand. She looked from me to Tom, who remained furious.

‘Why were you in the basement?’ he roared at her. ‘I’ve said it a hundred times. Nobody goes in the basement!’

Maren took this in without answering. Her eyes fell on me and widened in horror. ‘Are you all right?’ she asked me. I nodded and gave a thumbs up, grateful that she cared enough to ask.

‘Answer me!’ Tom thundered. ‘Why were you down there?’

Maren looked too shocked to speak. Her eyes trailed across our faces, embarrassed. Tom was giving her a complete dressing-down for no good reason. He continued ranting.

‘… and when you blatantly disregard these simple rules it makes me feel like I just can’t trust you, do you understand? I’ve trusted you with my house, my business …’

‘Mate,’ Clive said, putting his hand on Tom’s shoulder. ‘We get the point. Can we drop it now?’

Tom shoved off Clive’s hand. I saw Derry stiffen, as though braced for a fight, and at the same time Clive lifted both hands in surrender.

Maren straightened, having found her voice at last. ‘I can well understand why you’re upset, Tom,’ she said. ‘And I’m not sure why the basement was opened. I was in the bath at the time it appears that Sophie accessed it.’ She swivelled her eyes towards me, and my cheeks burned. I shouldn’t have gone inside. She had warned me. But I had thought Gaia was down there. I had heard a noise.

Tom had his hands on his hips, his head lowered. I was beginning to stop shaking, my breath slowing, and I saw Clive give Derry an unreadable look. Maren shifted from foot to foot, visibly wondering if this was the right time to leave, but Tom wasn’t done with whatever axe he had to grind.