And then I wondered at myself, at what I could possibly be thinking when I said to Leonie, ‘Hey, I don’t suppose – would it be alright if you dropped me back out at Bromley? I actually think I’d really like to stay there.’

‘In that stinky little house? Ambos and police have made a mess of it. Not sure you’re allowed in there yet.’

‘No, in Bromley. The old house. If it’s my last night here, I kind of want to be in the old place – say a bit of a goodbye. No-one’s said we shouldn’t go in there.’

Leonie frowned. ‘I can drop you there, but . . . really? Are you sure? Seems bloody creepy. And we have actual heating at our house, you know.’

I laughed, but I grew surer. ‘Yes. It’ll give me a chance to pack up my stuff properly. Say goodbye to the place. I got strangely attached.’

‘Can I stay with you?’ asked Basil. ‘We could have a camp out!’ He actually looked excited at the prospect. ‘We can make a fire pit outside. Toast marshmallows. Talk.’

‘Marshmallows? Really?’

But relief and happiness also flooded through me at Basil’s suggestion. It would be creepy by myself. And I was going to miss Basil, so I said, ‘Of course you can,’ and Leonie just rolled her eyes and shrugged and said, ‘You two are not quite right.’

After stopping off briefly at Leonie and Basil’s for camping mats and sleeping bags, some cup-a-soup and a loaf of bread, Leonie dropped us off at Bromley Cairn and drove away up the road. And then in the old house, in my study room, we set up the fan heater and our beds and then Basil said, ‘Do you reckon that fireplace still works?’

I got my phone and shone the torch up the chimney. ‘It seems fine,’ I said.

‘It’d be so stupid to light it,’ said Basil. ‘Dangerous, even.’ And then he stood up and rubbed his hands together. ‘Let’s do it anyway.’

And I grinned and giggled and we ran back and forth from the woodshed making a decent pile.

Basil was skilled at lighting fires, it turned out. Soon it was roaring and throwing off adequate heat for us to be comfortable.

‘You’re such a thug,’ I said.

‘You’re so white,’ said Basil. The revelation of Danny’s heroics had changed Basil’s mood. He seemed proud. ‘You’ll have to meet Danny properly,’ he said. ‘He’s a really nice guy, he’d really like you I reckon, and you’d like him.’

‘You think?’

‘Oh yeah. He’s like me, totally charming, so yes, of course you’ll like him.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘You really think you’re something special, don’t you?’

‘Yep.’

Basil picked up a stick and poked at the fire. ‘So . . . what do you think you’re going to do? About . . .?’

‘I don’t know. I really don’t know. The ultrasound Geraldine did . . . it was pretty amazing.’