It came as a surprise to be invited to Amber’s today. It’s given me an unexpected opportunity. I wait for five minutes after she leaves – to make sure she’s properly gone – and then take Carl’s diary from my canvas shopping bag. I’ve written down everything of value. I don’t need it anymore. I was going to go to the estate agent’s this morning to slip it back, but that plan was scuppered when I was summoned here to wait for the locksmith. There was always the risk I could’ve been caught replacing it at Move Horizon, too, but now I’m here I can pop it somewhere relatively hidden, but not somewhere it’ll never be found, all without fear of detection. Perfect.

‘Now, where would be a good place?’ I gaze around the kitchen, then the lounge. If Carl had put it down during a visit here, where might be a suitable place that’s also not obvious? I can’t have Amber immediately suspect it’s me, which she would if she found it just after I’ve been here. I reach the hallway and the messy area under the stairs where she allows the boys to abandon their shoes haphazardly. There’s all sorts under there. I might be able to get away with sliding it beneath some shoes, or bags, or a coat. She’s very untidy. The under-stairs wasn’t like this when Nick was here.

I duck down, then have to get onto my knees to keep my balance while I find a good spot. A loud bang startles me. I slam my hand onto my chest: Be still my beating heart. I’m unnerved by the sound, which seems to have come from upstairs. But as I haul myself up from the floor another bang comes and I realise it’s the front door. Silly woman, it’s the locksmith. Being underhand like this has made me jittery. If someone found me putting Carl’s diary under the stairs, I don’t know what I’d say to get myself out of the situation. I must be careful.

I answer the door to the locksmith, a jolly-looking man in his fifties, and offer him a drink as he goes about changing the lock.

It takes him less than twenty minutes, then he comes and finds me, leads me to the door, and explains how it works – as if I didn’t know how to put a key in a door – then hands me the two new, shiny silver keys.

I’m fully aware I won’t be given one of these.

And neither will Carl.

So, how will I get inside the house now?

Chapter Thirty

Amber