“Mmm. It would have been about two o’clock, give or take a few minutes. I was lying awake. I wanted to go to the toilet, but I was so comfortable and . . . well . . . the baby was quiet. I wasn’t in the least bit sleepy, but I was trying to put off getting up, you know how you do.”

“What happened?”

“Well, it was all very sudden, but I thought I heard a car and some loud music. The music got even louder for a few moments, and I heard a car door slamming, then it all faded into the distance.”

“Could you tell what direction it was traveling in?”

She thought for a moment. “I couldn’t swear to it, but I think it was going south, coming from up Eastvale way. At least, I seem to sort of vaguely remember the sound traveling in that direction, if you know what I mean. But I can’t be certain. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

“Can you describe what you heard in any more detail?”

“As I said, the music was quite loud at first, even when the door wasn’t open, like you get in the city sometimes.” She squeezed her husband’s hand. “Toby always says they must have their stereo speakers on the outside.”

“But sound carries well out here?”

“Oh, yes. Especially with the windows open. It’s so quiet and flat between here and the road, and that’s the direction the bedroom faces.”

“Did the car go by quickly?”

“That’s just the thing. I mean, I could hear the engine, you know, first in the distance, then getting closer. Then I could see the light from the headlamps over the field, and I realized it must be going down the lane, which seemed odd, especially at that time of night, some kids playing loud music.”

“You were watching by then?”

“I was sitting on the edge of the bed. It was just the glow from the lights I could see, not the actual headlamps themselves, and—yes, of course. It must have been traveling south. That was the direction the lights were moving. Silly me. I’d forgotten.”

“You thought it was kids?”

“Well . . . that’s who does it, isn’t it? I don’t mean to sound prejudiced or anything, I don’t even really mind that much, but it’s usually kids who drive around with loud music playing.”

Annie thought of Banks. He liked it loud sometimes. “You mean like rap music, hip-hop?”

“No, no. Nothing like that. That was the strange thing. That’s what you’d expect.” She smiled. “But it wasn’t like that at all. It was that song I’d heard on the radio a year or two ago. I remember it because I liked it. It was on all the time. The two Swedish girls.”

“First Aid Kit?” Gerry suggested.