The front gate had rattled ominously when she’d come through it moments before. Despite her best efforts, opening it as slowly as possible and only sufficiently wide to squeeze through, it rattled again. She stood still, waiting to see if a curtain twitched. When there was no sign of Allison coming to investigate, Jo stepped carefully across the patch of grass that served as a front garden and slipped around the side of the house.

A high wall separated the side passageway from the one next door. Enough light from the street light filtered through to show her she was out of luck. A sturdy-looking gate stopped her from going further. She swore softly and pressed the handle down, more from irritation than from any belief it would work, her eyes widening in surprise when it opened quietly.

She slipped through, shut it behind her and felt in her pocket for her mobile. Turning on the torch, she kept the beam low and moved it along the ground in front. There was nothing to see ahead apart from three wheelie bins sitting side by side.

Was that all it was? No big mystery. Allison had simply been putting out the rubbish. Jo felt a twinge of disappointment. Unwilling to accept that was all, she walked to the end of the passage and peered around the corner of the house. It was dark, no light filtering through from the kitchen or dining room. She risked a quick sweep of the beam across the garden, but it was lost before it reached the end of what appeared to be a massive space.

Nothing suspicious.

She picked up the lid of the first wheelie bin and shone the torch inside, closing it quickly when the stink of rotting garden waste hit her. More tentatively, she lifted the lid of the next, expecting a worse stink. It wasn’t pleasant, but the smell was less offensive, the rubbish contained in refuse bags. Jo’s curiosity wasn’t strong enough to send her rummaging in each.

She shone the torch over the bags. Why had Allison felt it necessary to bring out rubbish just then? None of the bags were bulging.

The first one certainly wasn’t.

Holding her mobile in her mouth, Jo found the top of the plastic bag and quickly untied it. It wasn’t tightly fastened and was the work of seconds to have it undone. Opening it as wide as she could, she retrieved her phone and aimed the beam of the torch over the tangled contents. There were a couple of books that looked okay. Who threw out books? More stuff lurked underneath. She itched to look through it all. But not there. Tying the bag again, she lifted it out. It wasn’t heavy.