‘No!’ Elspeth cried, standing up and holding her hands uselessly up towards the light as if she could push it back into the ceiling through sheer force of will. ‘No, no, no. We have to put it back, Meggy. He’ll go crazy. This is bad. It’s really bad.’

She started to climb onto the chair, when Meggy grabbed the leg of her trousers.

‘Wait,’ she said. ‘Let me see what’s there.’

Pretending not to feel terrified would have to do as a substitute for actually remaining calm, Meggy decided. It was a mess. The screws that had been holding the plate in the plasterboard had fallen away, and there was no chance of tucking it all back up neatly again. All they could do now was attempt to get out of the flat before he came in.

Scrambling for the light fitting with Elspeth holding her again, Meggy felt for anything she could remove. She came away with two screws and a thin sheet of metal that acted as a base for the fitting against the ceiling.

‘Yes!’ she shouted. ‘I knew it. Come on.’ She grabbed Elspeth’s hand. ‘You bring the lamp.’ Jumping off the armchair, she ran for the front door.

Pausing, waiting for Elspeth to catch up with her, she forced herself to take a calming breath. Her pulse was so loud in her ears that the sound was warped, a special effect in a sci-fi movie. Rushing would be useless. Calm and careful. Last chance, she reminded herself. They had to be out of time now. Soon, Fergus would be there to role play or fantasise, or however his delusions worked. She wasn’t planning on being there, waiting.

Stepping forward, she cleaned the sliver of metal on her leggings and willed her hands to stop shaking. Then Elspeth was there, her arms around Meggy’s shoulders. Neither of them dared breathe.

Inserting the metal adjacent to the lock, Meggy pushed to the right, bending the inserted part between the door and the latch bolt, applying gentle but firm pressure. There was a noise like an envelope sliding through a letter box followed by a miniature but satisfying clunk.

Elspeth gasped and Meggy cried out. It had been a dream. A stupid thing to occupy herself with. It was never going to work out. Reality wasn’t so kind. She whirled round and threw herself into Meggy’s arms, both of them crying already.

‘Ready to go?’ Elspeth whispered. ‘We’ll have to be careful. He could be anywhere out there.’

‘I’m ready,’ Meggy said. ‘But if we see him, we have to fight. Agreed?’

‘Agreed.’ She squeezed Meggy’s hands. ‘Come on. Nearly there.’

Meggy put her hand on the door handle, Elspeth put hers over the top. Together they pulled.