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When she was standing up there, she took a look around, and found the world looked pretty on this bright November morning.

Her room was to the right, Jerome’s to the left, so she shuffled to the right and leaned against the slope of the roof and saw there were three tiles missing.

“Have you seen spare tiles anywhere?” she called down to Jerome. “I need three.”

“No. Not here at the house, anyway. There’s a lot of houses like this, though, that are being renovated. Maybe you can find some spares if you look around.” Jerome leaned out a bit further.

Gabriella carefully shuffled back to the ladder, climbed down, and then scrambled back through the window.

“I think I can sort of wriggle across the roof and cover the hole with some tiles. And I don’t care if they match the roof or not. I just want the leak to stop.” She had realized as she climbed back down that she didn’t have to be precious about the color, as long as the size was more or less correct, she’d use whatever she could find.

“Well, then keep your eye open when you pass a skip bin, and see what they’ve got inside,” Jerome said. “There’s a couple of places around here that are being renovated.”

“Yes.” Gabriella nodded. “Maybe I’ll go for a walk later and see what I can find.”

She ended up pottering around her flat, cleaning it up, and then went grocery shopping.

She’d hoped to see James today, but he’d told her last night that he would have to work.

When she was walking back from the shops, she realized Dominique was walking in front of her.

“Hey, you!” She was delighted to see her friend so soon after last night.

“I was coming to offer to help you with a shop.” Dominique took a bag. “I didn’t like how stiff you looked last night.”

“I’m feeling a lot better today. I had a lazy morning.” She gave Dominique a one-arm hug as they walked. “Let’s drop these off and do something.”

They ended up in Camden Markets, browsing the stalls, and then having scones and tea at a small cafe halfway between Notting Hill and Earl’s Court, where Dominique lived.

“Your James is not visiting today?” Dominique asked as they walked together to the nearest bus stop.

“He’s on a big case at the moment, that’s why he couldn’t really join us last night.” She glanced around as they approached the bus stop, looking for anyone who might push her into traffic.

There wasn’t a suspicious soul in sight.

“Well, I liked him, which is a big relief,” Dominique said.

Gabriella nudged her. “To me, too. I wanted you all to like him.”

They got the same bus, and Dominique got off first. Gabriella planned to take it all the way to Notting Hill, but as the bus turned into Kensington, she recalled the skip on the road where she’d last seen Jerry, and she wondered if they had any roof tiles in it that she could use.

She clambered off at the closest corner and walked up the street, hunching a little into her coat as the wind cut into her. It was so reminiscent of the same day she’d seen Jerry, she didn’t know if the sudden shiver down her spine was from the cold or déjà vu.

As she got close to the house in question, she noticed Mrs. McKenzie was clipping her hedge in her garden.

“Good afternoon.” She gave the old lady a wave.

“Good afternoon.” Mrs. McKenzie looked delighted to see her. “You’re not on duty today, are you?”

“No, just on my way home after a day out with a friend, but I’m looking for a few roof tiles to plug a leak in my roof, and I thought I’d come past and see if that house across the street has any spare in their skip bin.” She turned and looked at it.

It wasn’t on the street, unfortunately, it was more inside the property, so she didn’t really think she could help herself to anything inside it without asking first. It looked exactly the same as it had on Monday, which was almost a full week ago.

“No roof tiles in there,” Mrs. McKenzie said. “They started gutting their middle floor, but I don’t think they’ve done a thing for about a month now.”

“Oh.” It was a long shot, she reminded herself. “I’ll just have to keep an eye out for tiles on my rounds.”

“I’ve got a pile behind my shed,” Mrs. McKenzie said. “I replaced a whole section of my roof five or so years ago, and we put the old ones aside in case we needed them for damage to the main part that we didn’t replace. I’m happy for you to take some.”