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“Was there anything out of the ordinary? At the house, I mean?”

Alice opened her mouth to speak, but George got there first.

“Something’s happened to Bernard, hasn’t it?”

Alice gave a solemn nod. “I think so, George, I’m sorry. There was a message on your answering machine. It didn’t sound positive. Your brother-in-law was trying to get hold of you.”

George closed his eyes, his eyelids creased like elephant skin. “I know it isn’t good news.”

Alice unzipped the holdall and rifled around for the charger. “You should call.”

George groaned as he stood up from the chair and went to the bedside locker. From the top drawer, he pulled out his old phone and plugged it in. Within a few seconds, it chimed into life. George put on his reading glasses and peered at the small green screen as messages started to ping through.

“Yes, there are a lot of messages from Juan.”

Alice looked on as foreboding shadowed George’s face. She felt the urge to wrap him in a hug to shield him from the news somehow, but Ash’s voice held her back.

“We’ll leave you alone to make the call, George.” She placed a gentle, guiding hand on Alice’s lower back. “We’ll bring you a cuppa, okay?”

George silently nodded, distracted by the flurry of messages still pinging through.

Ash nodded to the door and mouthed, “Let’s go.”

“Poor George,” said Alice, out in the corridor.

“Best to leave him to make the call, then we can support him once he knows for sure.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Alice sighed.

Ash pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes for a moment, as if battling with a tough decision. Drawing in a breath, she said, “Come with me. I want to show you something.”

* * *

Alice followedAsh along the corridor and into a stairwell which seemed to wind upwards forever. After four flights of stairs, Alice had to catch her breath.

“Where are you taking me?”

Ash looked over her shoulder. Realising Alice had stopped, she jogged back down to her. “Trust me, it’s worth the hike.”

“Look at you, you’re not even out of breath.” Alice panted. “I’m clearly not as fit and I’ve got a broken bone.” She held up her arm.

Ash laughed. “I don’t think that’s making any difference. There are only a couple more flights to go. Come on.”

“You’re indefatigable,” Alice puffed and marched on.

“You should’ve saved your breath on that big word,” Ash called after her, laughter bouncing in her voice.

At the top of the stairwell, they came to a fire exit. Ash pushed the bar, and the doors clattered open, flooding the stairwell with fresh air and sunlight.

“No one really comes out here. I think people assume it’s alarmed.” Ash wedged the door open with a brick, seemingly left close by for just that purpose.

Beyond the doors was a small terrace, with a waist-high industrial railing. Weeds poked through the cracks between the paving slabs, but there was little reason to look down. Beyond the squat brutalist buildings, fields of rapeseed bathed in brilliant sunshine rolled into the distance.

“It’s lovely,” said Alice, lifting her face to the sun.

“It’s a good place to take a breather.”

“You need it after all those stairs.”