He’d just started to get his head around a silent intruder climbing over a sleeping woman without waking her, when he got another shout. Another prowler, but in this case someone had died.

He arrived at the location to find two anxious neighbours, still in their nightclothes, waiting at their door. ‘Hello there,’ he called from the gate. ‘Was it you called this in?’

‘Our poor Nan. We just found her, twenty minutes ago. She’s dead. Fell down the stairs.’ The woman clutched at her dressing gown, distraught.

‘Okay. You stay here while I take a look, then I’ll come back and we can talk.’

The door was open, the key still in the lock.

He pushed it gently, and immediately saw the old lady, lying on the hall floor, still and lifeless. He knelt down and felt for a pulse, even though the cold flesh told him it was far too late for that. The old soul had been dead for hours.

Looking about, the whole thing seemed obvious. One slipper was still on her foot, the other remained at the top of the stairs. How old was she? She had to be about ninety, so what was she doing alone in a house with steep stairs and no chairlift? It was all wrong. Where were her kids? Why wasn’t she in a nice, warm, sheltered flat somewhere?

He told himself he should know better than to make assumptions — he knew nothing about her. She might not have kids. She might be one of those stubborn old rural folks. ‘This is my home and the only way I’m leaving it is in a box,’ and all that.

He sighed. Well, you got your way, dear.

He called in his findings, requested a doctor to confirm life extinct and asked for a member of CID to attend, then he closed the door and locked it, taking out the key, and returned to the neighbours to get some details.

Once the basic facts had been established, he asked about the intruder they had mentioned.

‘I keep wondering, blaming myself,’ said Eric Coupland miserably. ‘Could I have disturbed her so she got up to see what was going on and then fell? I’d never live with myself if I thought I was to blame.’

‘I very much doubt that was the case, Mr Coupland,’ said Simon.

Eric related how his young son had seen someone from his bedroom window.

‘And then you went outside and saw them yourself?’ asked Simon.

‘Fleetingly. I heard running footsteps, and then nothing. There was definitely someone there, no question.’

‘So, why did you go in this morning? Did something bother you?’ Simon asked.

‘Our Nan is an early riser,’ said Mrs Coupland, ‘always has been. One of us goes in every morning at around seven — by that time she’s got herself up and washed and dressed — and we make sure she gets down the stairs safely.’

‘So she never came down the stairs without your help?’ asked Simon, feeling suddenly uncomfortable.