‘Yup.’

‘Have you noticed anything missing, either of you?’ the male officer asked.

Both shook their heads. ‘Not so far, anyway,’ Emily replied.

‘Do either of you have any enemies? Anyone you might have upset?’

Emily shook her head.

‘None that I’m aware of,’ Jason said.

‘No rivals?’ the male officer asked. ‘You’re a very successful local artist. Could there be someone jealous of you?’

Jason shrugged. ‘Possibly.’

‘There’s no sign of a break-in at all,’ his colleague said. ‘This is what’s strange. Did you have the front door locked, and the safety chain on?’ she asked.

‘Yes, always.’

The male officer pulled out a card and wrote a number on it. ‘I’ve put on my mobile number – if you think of anything that might be relevant, call me, any time. I’m PC Neil Lang. My colleague, PC Christina Davies, and I will be on until six thirty a.m. If you’re worried, call either 999 or my number and we’ll get someone straight back here.’

Both Jason and Emily thanked them, and escorted them to the front door.

Neil Lang nodded at the blazing Christmas lights of the Penze-Weedells. ‘They’ve got the Christmas spirit, all right.’

‘If they keep those going, you’ll end up with coach parties trundling by to see them!’ PC Davies said.

‘Just what we need,’ Jason said. ‘Like Christmas, do you?’

‘I’ve drawn the short straw this year – we both have,’ she said. ‘Lates, four till midnight. The busiest evening of the year for domestic disputes. Relatives who’ve not seen each other all year, getting pissed and then realizing why they’ve not seen each other.’

Jason and Emily waited until they had driven off, then secured the front door and went, very shaken, back up to the bedroom. He shut and locked that window, too.

Finally, he reset the alarm for an hour later than he had planned, to 7.30 a.m.

But neither of them slept much for the rest of the night.

54

Wednesday 19 December

Sometime around dawn, Jason lapsed into a fitful doze, only to be woken by the alarm after what seemed like a few seconds. Instantly, his mind went into overdrive. Thinking back over the events of the night.

All of the windows, except for their bedroom, had been securely shut, with locks in place.

Yet, somehow, someone had got in.

In order to walk up and down his studio floor?

Emily was awake beside him. He could hear the soft crushing of her eyelashes as she lay, blinking. He rolled towards her and kissed her. ‘You OK?’ he asked.

‘Not really, no. You?’

‘I don’t think it was creaking floorboards.’

‘What did you see here, in our room?’ she asked.

‘It looked like someone moving across the floor.’

‘In high heels or hobnail boots?’

‘I just thought – thought I saw the shape of someone in the darkness.’ He shrugged. ‘Did you see the glance those coppers exchanged? They clearly thought we were nutters.’

‘I don’t think so.’ She kissed him. ‘I think what they thought was, here’s a couple just moved into a new place and are spooked out by unfamiliar noises in the night.’