‘We’d be immensely grateful.’

‘Leave it with me.’

They went back into the garage, opened the door and, armed with broomsticks, began attacking the creatures. Ten minutes later, Jordan rang back.

‘All sorted! Go Pest is on his way to you, and Springs have over eight hundred large prawns in their freezers. They are closed for the Christmas break, but the owner’s said he can meet you there in an hour.’

‘You’re a bloody star!’ Jason said.

‘We’re a full-service agency at Richwards!’ he said. ‘Anything else I can help you with today?’

Jason hesitated. ‘Well, yes, there is something. At the risk of sounding a bit odd, have any of the other residents of Cold Hill Park mentioned any strange – like uncanny – occurrences? By that I mean, something out of the ordinary?’

‘Such as?’ Jordan asked.

‘Ghosts?’

Jordan was silent for just a moment too long. His voice, when he finally answered, was just an octave or two higher. ‘Ghosts? No, absolutely nothing of that kind, I can assure you, Mr Danes. These are all beautiful new homes – I think ghosts prefer creaky old houses, ha ha!’

‘There used to be a creaky old house on this site.’

‘Well, yes, indeed. But if you’re asking me, I can tell you that if I was a ghost, I wouldn’t want to hang around a noisy construction site for very long.’

‘So,’ Jason asked. ‘If you were a ghost in an old house that was being knocked down, what would you do?’

There was another short silence. ‘Well, I don’t think I’d go and haunt a new-build, that’s for sure!’

There was something strained and unnatural about the estate agent’s voice. But at this moment, Jason did not rise to it. He thanked him, took down the name and address of where to collect the prawns and ended the call.

A short while later the Go Pest man arrived, in full protective clothing, to fumigate the garage and clear the roaches from there, and any that had entered the house.

Jason helped Emily move all the glass bowls into the kitchen in the house, then shut the garage door and left the exterminator to it.

‘What a nightmare,’ she said, gloomily.

‘I’ll come with you to get the prawns,’ he said.

‘No, it’s OK, you need to get on with your work,’ she said.

‘I’m coming with you. Just give me five minutes to seal up all the paints I’ve left open, OK?’

‘OK.’

He hurried back up to his studio. But as he entered the room, he felt hazy, distracted, his mind all over the place. His eyes were blurry. Everything was in soft focus. His head felt hot, as if it was burning. Instead of sealing his paints, he looked around again for the card from PC Neil Lang.

Down below he heard the sound of an engine starting. He peered out of the window and to his surprise saw Emily reversing her van out of the driveway.