‘I can’t believe it,’ she said softly.

What had she done with the thing? Norah knew that she’d been living in permanent chaos since moving to Vienna, but even she hadn’t yet managed to lose her toothbrush. Had she walked around the flat when she brushed her teeth last night, like Alex used to—a habit that had always amused Norah? No, she was being silly. Even if she had been drunk enough to wander around with her toothbrush, she’d have ended up coming back to the basin to spit out and rinse her mouth. Norah looked in all the rooms. The damned thing was nowhere to be found.

The pink pen she’d been looking for the other day still hadn’t turned up either. She really needed to be more organised. Norah cleaned her teeth with a spare toothbrush and went into the kitchen to get some breakfast. As she bent down to peer into the fridge her head began to throb even more. She groaned, then screwed up her nose when she saw what was in the fridge: a mango, yoghurt, butter and a green smoothie. There wasn’t even any coffee left.

Smoothies, fruit and muesli were the last things she felt like. She wanted coffee, bacon and eggs. A quick shower, then she’d go out. Once she’d got some caffeine and food in her, the world would look different.

She’d got as far as getting undressed when she caught sight of her phone next to the bed. Somewhere in the back of her muzzy brain, a vague memory stirred and came into focus.

Oh no.

She picked it up and checked her outgoing calls.

4:01 Alex

4:03 Alex

4:05 Alex

Oh dear. She’d made drunken calls to her ex in the middle of the night. Thank God he hadn’t picked up—who knew what rubbish she’d have spouted. Good thing he always put his phone on silent when he went to bed. He’d probably been fast asleep with Oskar snoring at his feet.

Just then, a text came in and Norah saw with dismay that it was from him. She was annoyed to see that her fingers trembled as she opened it.

No, fuck it. It’s not mine. (And couldn’t it have waited till tomorrow?)

What had she written? Norah scrolled frantically up to the text she’d sent.

4:07 Found a little white cuddly bunny here. Did I pack it by mistake? Is it yours?

That’s right, she’d found that rabbit and been meaning to post it to Alex, but instead—

Norah frowned. It had taken her a moment to process the information The cuddly toy didn’t belong to Alex. Was that true? It must be. Why would Alex lie? Could she remember unpacking the rabbit? No, she couldn’t. It had just suddenly been there. In the same way that her pink pen and her toothbrush had suddenly disappeared. A thought flashed into her mind and she broke out in a cold sweat. Had somebody been in the flat?

Naked, but not caring about being seen through the windows, she hurried back to the kitchen. Her flat might be a complete tip, but she knew exactly where the book was. She hadn’t entrusted it to the removal men, but had kept it next to her on the passenger seat on her night drive through the woods to Vienna. And since she’d got here, it had been lying on the top shelf of one of the kitchen cupboards, waiting to be put somewhere safer, invisible to anyone who didn’t know what they were looking for.