Prologue
It is an ordinary Monday evening just like any other. Down at the police station in a small suburb of Paris, the duty officer Didier Parmentier is flicking through the newspaper. It’s been a quiet evening so far: one complaint about a late-night disturbance, even though it’s not even 10 p.m.; a report of a lost wallet; a fight at a nearby bar. It looks like it’s going to be another long night with only the crackle from the scanner and the periodic comings and goings of colleagues on patrol for company. No matter: Didier has it all planned out. He folds up the newspaper, switches on his iPad, begins a game of solitaire. Just to warm up. Then he’ll get down to business: Tetris, Max Awesome, and Angry Birds Friends. Later he’ll log on to Facebook to check what’s going on, maybe chat with a virtual contact or a real-life friend.
The sound of the phone ringing makes him jump. He looks up from his iPad and picks up.
“You’ve reached the police. How may I help?”
On the other end of the line, he hears a woman speaking very quietly, somewhere between a whisper and a gasp. Her voice is shaking. She sounds petrified.
“Please, you have to come quick! I heard a noise downstairs...” she begins the second Didier has finished his formulaic introduction.
She pauses, wary, as though listening out for something. She sounds genuinely afraid, her voice a whisper, choked with fear. A gulp of terror. It sounds like she’s trying to be as discreet as possible for fear of being heard. Behind the icy timbre of dread, her breathing is ragged and panicky.
Didier can hear the urgency in her voice, how desperate she is to be heard, believed, and reassured.
“I’m right here, madame. I’m listening. What seems to be the problem?”
“You have to come, right away. I can hear a noise downstairs. Someone’s broken in. I’m pretty sure it’s my neighbor...”
“Your neighbor? Have you been having issues?”
“Please, I beg you, don’t leave me here on my own! I think she’s come through the yard. Through the back door. She hates me. She’s threatened me a few times already. I think she might actually want to get rid of me.”
“Try to stay calm, madame, we’ll be there right away. I need your name and address.”
The woman gives him her details, almost succumbing to full-blown panic when Didier asks her to spell out her surname. He tries to be reassuring, urges her to remain calm, promises a patrol car will be there in no time.
“Please, please hurry, I beg you! And if I don’t open the front door, break it down!” she whispers, her voice hoarse with fear.
Didier is about to offer to stay on the line until his colleagues arrive, when the line is suddenly cut. Right away he radios all the necessary information with instructions to get there as quickly as possible.
“What was the reason for the call?” an officer asks over the radio.
“Some kind of neighbor dispute. Sounds serious.”
Chapter 1
Several weeks earlier
For the third time that morning, Tiphaine went into Milo’s room, quietly and without knocking. She planted herself at the foot of his bed and, in an irritated tone of voice, addressed the pillow beneath which the teenager had buried his head.
“It’s almost noon! It really is time to get up now. Fix yourself something to eat, and then get down to work. Your exams start tomorrow.”
The total lack of response that followed this command drew an exasperated sigh from her.
“Now!” she said sharply.
An irritable grunt escaped from the bottom of the bed, beneath the quilt. Puzzled, Tiphaine picked up the pillow and saw, instead of a head, two feet. Rolling her eyes, she turned to address the other end of the bed.
“Can you hear me, Milo?”
“Mmmmh...”
“Listen to me, if you have to repeat the year for a second time...”
“Okay, okay, I’m getting up...”
Somewhat surprised he was giving in so easily, Tiphaine hesitated a moment then perched expectantly on the edge of the desk. After a few seconds, a head finally emerged from beneath the quilt and looked at her blearily.
