a fence post at the far end, surveying his domain, blinking slowly at me in the weak autumn sunshine. On a clear morning it’s the one place that always catches the sun as it rises between the trees.
A minute later, the phone vibrates in my hand.
‘Hello again.’ Gilbourne seems to have got his breath back. ‘What’s on your mind, Ellen?’
‘Sorry to wake you, inspector.’
He grunts with something like amusement.
‘I’m a long way from my bed, don’t worry about it.’
‘I need to ask you something first.’ I take a sip of coffee. ‘Am I still a suspect?’
‘The investigation is ongoing.’
‘But do you think I was lying in the interview on Tuesday night?’
There is a brief silence at his end of the line, an exhalation of breath or maybe cigarette smoke.
‘Officially or unofficially?’
‘Whichever is nearer the truth.’
‘Unofficially, no I don’t think you were lying. But we have to shake every tree to see what falls out of the branches, if you know what I mean.’ His voice lowers a little. ‘Apologies if Nathan came across as a little bit . . . over-zealous. He’s quite new to the team and he’s still trying to make his mark.’
I’m momentarily thrown by his honesty. I’d expected some kind of mealy-mouthed official line about keeping all options open; not that he would actually answer my question.
‘Thanks, Detective Inspector. I appreciate your candour.’
‘One of the upsides of being in your last few months in the job – your boss doesn’t bother to haul you over the coals anymore when you bend a few rules,’ he says, a smile in his voice. ‘Was there something you wanted to tell me, Ellen?’
I tell him about the previous night, the noises in my house and finding the kitchen door unlocked. My feeling that someone had been creeping around downstairs while I slept.
‘Are you sure you’re OK? Did you see anyone?’
‘I thought I might have seen someone through the kitchen window when I came down. A face.’
‘Can you describe them?’
I think for a moment, summoning the memory. In the early morning sunlight, it barely seems real. Had it been real?
‘I don’t know, it was fully dark outside, I had all the house lights on and I was a bit dazzled. A bit freaked out too, if I’m honest.’
‘Do you think it was a man or a woman?’
‘Man, I think. I don’t know. It was so fast, then they were gone. Sorry, I’m not being very helpful, am I?’
‘Don’t worry about it. Any CCTV on your house that might have caught him?’
‘No.’
‘Did he take anything?’
‘Don’t think so.’
‘Anything at all? Are you sure?’
‘My iPad was right there on the kitchen side, charging overnight. But they left it, they left everything.’
‘Anything in your house that might identify them? Anything they might have dropped on their way out?’
‘No.’
‘They didn’t force entry? You’re able to secure the property, are you?’
‘I think they must have picked the lock on the back door. There’s no damage, I’m going to buy some deadbolts to put on it today.’
His voice takes on a slightly brisker tone.
‘OK, Ellen, you should call 101 and make a formal report, I can give a nudge to a couple of the lads on the burglary team to make sure they follow up with you. They can give you a crime number for the insurance claim if you discover anything has been damaged or stolen.’
‘I don’t want to make a claim, it’s not about that.’ I pause, not sure how to proceed. ‘That wasn’t why I was ringing.’
He clears his throat. ‘So what’s on your mind, Ellen?’
‘This is . . . it’s going to sound a bit mad.’
Instantly, his voice takes on a reassuring neutral tone again.
‘Why don’t you let me be the judge of that, Ellen.’
‘I just feel like – sorry if this sounds crazy, but I’ve been going over and over it in my mind for the last few hours. I think whoever came into my house was looking for Mia.’
There is another pause on the other end of the line.
‘OK. What makes you say that?’
‘It can’t be a coincidence.’
‘Go on.’
‘What I mean is, I’m forty-one years old and I’ve never had my house broken into. Not once. Not in this house, not in our flat in Highbury, not in my place before that. Not in service accommodation in the navy, not even in three years at university when I lived in some quite dodgy areas.’
‘You’ve been lucky.’ On his end of the line I can hear the sound of his footfalls, distant