‘No, nothing like that.’ She seems to have taken us for the landlords. That’s not the look I’ve been striving for. Jess jumps in.

‘We’ve been rude. I’m Jess and this is Gil. Henryk is my uncle.’

The neighbour nods. She’s unconvinced, though. Proper Londoners are naïve if they take at face value what a stranger on their doorstep tells them. ‘Dolores,’ she introduces herself. She’s decided we don’t need a surname. ‘Everyone calls me Dolly.’

‘Jess has been worried about Uncle Henryk because we haven’t heard from him for weeks,’ I say. ‘It is odd he moved out. Did you have any reason to think something might be wrong?’

Dolly taps the dividing wall. ‘He kept himself to himself. Mind you, he was never any trouble. Apart from his gardens, shocking mess they are. A jungle of weeds and rats. I asked him to tidy them up and he said he would. But look for yourself.’

‘Sorry. That sounds like uncle. I think he was pretty lonely. Fed up. I’ve been worrying about him.’ Jess is hitting her stride as the anxious niece. I’m impressed. ‘I never understood why he wanted to live in a big house like this on his own. Did he have visitors?’

I can see Dolly’s wariness is melting. Well done, Jess. ‘I never saw anyone but him go in or out of that house, the whole two months he was there. And those hours he kept. Usually out at night and back in the morning, sometimes really early. Quite often he’d wake me at six by slamming the car door. I don’t think he could have known how much noise he was making.’

‘I’m sorry,’ says Jess.

‘It’s not your fault, darling. I’m just saying his habits were not normal. Was he a night watchman or something like that?’

‘He was in security,’ I say.

‘Ha,’ she says. ‘My brother was “in security”. That would explain it.’

Jess picks up Dolly’s hint. ‘Explain what?’ she asks.

‘Them three men, parked outside the house. All night long, just sitting in the car. Something didn’t feel right about them. I almost called the police.’

I share a glance with Jess. ‘When was that?’ I ask.

‘Four nights ago.’

‘You didn’t happen to get the number plate, or anything?’

Dolly gives me a hard stare and purses her lips. Maybe I’ve pushed my luck too far.

‘I think we’ve taken enough of your time,’ says Jess quickly. ‘But thank you so much. Can I give you my number?’ She takes out her notebook and scribbles down her work, mobile and home numbers. She tears out the page and hands it to Dolly. ‘If Henryk comes back, or if you hear anything about him, could you give me a call?’