‘I’ve got this awful problem,’ sniff, ‘there’s this guy, and he’s stalking me and he,’ sniff, ‘even followed me to work and I’m scared and I feel stupid and that’s his stupid car out front and I stuck a note and he stuck a note, then it got worse and now I don’t know what to do…’ I was blathering and I don’t recall even drawing a breath as it all came stumbling out.

‘Hang on, hang on, slow down,’ he said and shut the door behind me. He pushed me in the direction of the kitchen and, when he’d got me ensconced in a chair, put the kettle on. ‘Now, start from the beginning. What’s been happening?’ So for the second time in an hour, I told my sorry story, and despite my initial reservations about telling anyone, I was starting to feel a smidgeon better about it all. Maybe the old adage of a problem shared had credence, after all. Uncle Phil was most taken aback by the situation. He seemed quite offended that anyone would do such a thing.

‘Do you want me to find this person and go have a talk with them?’ It was very gallant of him, but I couldn’t picture Uncle Phil even raising his voice, let alone giving someone a bollocking about stalking his house guest.

‘Thank you, I appreciate your offer, but I’ve got someone, Paul Frost, looking into it for me.’

‘Is that the young man you went out to dinner with the other night?’ he asked.

‘Yes.’ I could tell by the sparkle in his eye he knew the ructions that occurred because of that evening’s events, and we both smiled. ‘He’s a detective too, but from out of town and he said he’d look into it, so I don’t have to feel silly asking my colleagues.’

‘That’s good, because you must take this seriously, Sam. That could be a very sick person and you don’t know where it could lead. Just look at what happened to that young student, Rosie. It’s better to be safe and get this sorted out. I’d feel awful if something dreadful happened to you and I could have stopped it. And worse, I’d hate to have to deal with your mother’s wrath.’

Again, a smile.

‘It’s being taken care of. But thank you for looking after me and for being so sweet.’ Another male to add to my list of protectors.

‘What are you going to do now?’

‘I was thinking of going for a run, actually. I need to clear my head.’

‘But that’s not safe,’ he said, the concerned look back on his face. ‘What if this person’s watching you?’