The interruption had given her a new burst of energy that just a few minutes before she couldn’t imagine ever having again. With a fresh purpose, she heaved herself out of the paddling pool, grabbed one of the kids’ frayed hooded towels and put it over her head so that the edge of the towel barely skimmed her backside. She hurried self-consciously into the house, wondering if anyone was watching her from a window next door. Once she was back in the sanctuary of the kitchen, she typed out a text message to Alan, her husband.

Breaking news! The new people have just moved in next door!

His reply came a few minutes later.

Go on then Detective Brennan. What have you found out?

She grinned and replied.

They’ve only been there a few minutes. Will investigate and report back.

He quickly responded.

Let’s debrief over a curry tonight.

She smiled with anticipation, checked there was a bottle of white wine in the fridge for later and then padded upstairs to the bathroom for a shower. Fifteen minutes later she was washed, dressed and just as sweaty as she’d been before.

‘Sod it,’ she said to herself, looking in the mirror. There was no point attempting foundation in this heat. Instead, she dabbed on some tinted moisturiser, half-heartedly ran a mascara wand through her eyelashes and grabbed her phone. She still had ages to go before her two children, Tom and Katie, finished school but when the weather was nice some of the mums often gathered earlier in the park. She’d take her chances and hope there was someone there to chat to. Perhaps she’d get an iced coffee on the way. The prospect made her mouth water.

She glanced guiltily at her laptop on the way out but even that wasn’t enough to dampen the Friday feeling that had overcome her. ‘Sorry,’ she said to it as she passed. ‘I promise you’ll get some action on Monday. But it’s Friday afternoon and I’ve got places to go and people to see.’

She closed the front door behind her and made her way down the steps, glancing curiously at the house next door as she passed. There was a large SUV in the driveway and as she peered into it, she spotted some child car seats. She looked up and saw that all the windows of the house had been thrown open, presumably to get some air circulating. It had been empty for months after the previous owners, an elderly couple, had moved into sheltered accommodation. It had only been on the market for a few days before the sold sign went up outside. That was the way in this area now – fixer-uppers were like gold dust and were quickly snapped up, usually by families looking to upsize. She and Alan had been lucky to get theirs ten years ago before the area became so popular. There was no way they’d be able to afford a property here now.