‘Hmm? Sorry, can’t stay chatting at the moment – I’ve a pan of porridge on the stove. See you later.’

She disappeared back inside. I could have kicked myself for being so reticent. I shuffled back into the house and decided to run a bath. After a nice long soak, I dressed and went out into the garden to see how work on the roof was progressing. Kenny was coming down the ladder.

‘You look a bit brighter now.’ He grinned.

I looked around, but Mrs Barley was obviously indoors. ‘I was kept awake by a racket coming from the attic. I think my neighbour must have been going through all that stuff last night, from the sound of things.’

Kenny looked puzzled. ‘No evidence of any movement that I could see. As far as I can tell, everything’s all neatly stacked up exactly where it was yesterday.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Absolutely. I’d had a good look when I first spotted it all. I s’pose she could’ve just been looking through it for something and then taken whatever it was downstairs, tidied the rest up again.’ He scrubbed at his head with the heel of his hand. I found myself wondering if he actually owned a comb. ‘But to be quite honest, I don’t see how she could’ve got up there in the first place. It’s a poky little hatch for an elderly person to climb through. Not unless she’s one of them contortionists on the sly!’

I was flummoxed. Someone had been up there rooting around. And judging by the length of time they had taken, not to mention the amount of noise, the whole lot ought to have been shifted to the opposite end, or even removed. It made no sense.

I went back into the house and flipped open my laptop, then logged on. I stared at the document for a moment, my mind blank. It was pointless. I lay down on the settee. I felt irritable, queasy from lack of sleep, and knew I needed to get some rest if I was going to do anything at all with my day. I pulled a cushion over my face to shut out the light and the noise from the workers. Eventually, I managed to drift off. I couldn’t have been asleep long, when a sharp tap on the window woke me with a start. I sat up, and was a little startled to see Mrs Barley peering in at me through the French doors. She’d obviously come in through the back gate.

‘Sorry to disturb you – I’ve baked an apple pie. I thought you might like a slice.’

I smiled weakly but felt peeved that she had interrupted my nap. ‘Thank you, but I’m not really hungry at the moment. Just trying to catch up on some sleep – I had a rather disturbed night.’