25
The police officer who turns up seems friendly enough. She’s a woman in her forties, I estimate. Probably in the police as a second career. She doesn’t have the world-weary look of someone who’s been in the force for twenty years.
‘Is it just the two external doors you have?’ she asks.
‘Yeah. Front and back.’
‘To be honest, I can’t see any signs of forced entry. No damage from crowbars or jemmies or anything.’ She walks around the house checking the windows as she speaks. ‘What about window locks? Do they all lock from the inside?’
‘I think so, yes. I can’t see how anyone would’ve got through one from outside.’
‘And they were definitely all closed when you left the house?’
‘It’s December,’ I say, deciding she probably doesn’t need an in-depth explanation of the local climate at t
