Page 3

I guess that is there for emergencies.

Leaving the dresser table behind, I open the wardrobes and am immediately confronted with a row of female clothing hanging down in front of me. Dresses and blouses hang on racks, and while it looks fairly neat, some of the clothes have slipped off their hooks and fallen to the bottom of the wardrobe where they are yet to be retrieved. But there’s nothing else of interest in here, nor in the neighbouring wardrobe, which is just full of plain shirts and suits, all like the one I saw the man leave the house in this morning.

A quick check on the pair of small bedside tables yields no results for me either. Just a sleep mask, a few books and a diary that hasn’t been written in for months.

The last entry is a stark one.

Who do I blame for my son’s despair?

It’s time to move on to another room before I read any more.

But will I find what I’m looking for in there?

I’d better hope so, or this hasn’t just been a waste of time.

It could have been my last chance to save a life.

3

I move into another bedroom, one that looks very different to the last one I was in. Instead of a double bed, there is a single one in here, and while the other room was full of clothes in wardrobes and drawers, this one is looking very sparse.

What there is clearly belongs to a teenager.

I see football posters on the wall alongside music ones featuring various indie bands, none of whom I am particularly fond of. I’m too old to recognise most of them, and as for the footballers, I’m too uninterested to ever learn their names. I see a few trophies on a shelf, little golden or silver statuettes depicting a football player kicking a ball in various positions. Then I see a video game console beside a stack of games, although the thin layer of dust that sits on top of it suggests it has been a while since it was played. But I know it’s expensive, so I pick it up, dust it off and then put it in my backpack, making sure to take a few games as well as the controllers and charging cables, of course.

It’s a good start, but I need more, so I look around for anything else that might be of value in here. But other than a few football jerseys, pairs of shorts and some scruffy shoes and socks, I don’t find much else, so I move on.

Into the next room I go, and this one is a home office. There is a desk with a computer on it, as well as a set of drawers with a printer sitting on top. I move over to the drawers and try to open the first one, but it’s locked.

That makes me think it holds something valuable.

Time to find the key.

I look around the fairly plain room. As working environments go, it’s hardly exciting. It also seems unnecessary given that the two workers who live here commute to an office every day. I guess it’s a remnant from the lockdown era when everyone was forced to work from home. Thankfully, the world has gone back to normal now, although maybe we could have done with a new ‘normal’ rather than the old one we had before. But now is not the time for deep thoughts about the state of society. I need to find the key to these locked drawers, and I need to do it fast because the longer I am in here, the worse I feel.

Breaking and entering is only part of the reason for my increasing anxiety. I’m also stressed about the fact that other than the game console, I haven’t found anything of real value. This break-in can’t be wasted. I need to make money, and I need to do whatever it takes to help the person who needs it the most. They are depending on me, and for me to give them my help, I have to leave this house with as many valuable things as possible.

Where could the key be?

At first, I worry that it could be kept on a keyring with several other keys and, if so, it could now be far away from here, in an office and in possession of one of the homeowners. But would they really take the key to these drawers out of the house with them? It seems more likely that they would leave it here somewhere, close to where it needs to be used.

The key has to be in this room somewhere.

I search around as best I can, rummaging through the stack of papers by the printer. Checking behind several items on the small shelf. Running my fingers across the top of the photo frame that hangs on the wall. But nothing.

‘Where is it?’ I ask urgently under my breath as I look towards the window at the early morning sunlight pouring into the room.

There is a golden beam shining across the desk, and as I turn my head, I notice something glinting. Whatever it is that is catching the light is behind the computer, but I step closer to get a better look, and when I do, I see it.

The key resting on the desk, out of sight when I first entered the room, but now perfectly visible thanks to the sunlight giving me a helping hand.

I pick up the key and immediately try it on the locked drawers, and unsurprisingly, it works.

I pull the top drawer open, and the first thing I see is a gold watch. Bingo. I’ll have that. I slip it into my pocket before looking for something else worthy of my attention. Underneath several letters about bills or work business, I find it.

It’s an envelope with the words ‘For the Electrician’ written on it, followed by a date which is in two days’ time. I open the envelope and find a bundle of cash inside, which I quickly count out to be almost £400. Jackpot. The homeowners must have had some electrical work done recently, and this is what they owe for it. Like many tradespeople, they have expressed a preference for cash, and that preference was going to be obliged. Too bad that money is now going to me instead.

I pocket the envelope full of cash and then open the second drawer to see what delights might be waiting for me in there. When I see what there is, I smile again.