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‘Sure.’ She paused. ‘That’s great. Useful to know, next time someone’s chasing me across a field.’

‘I wasn’t chasing you. I only wanted to let you know you were OK.’

Was she OK? She didn’t know any more. She shook her head, and asked the obvious question.

‘Why are you out here at five in the morning?’ she said.

He shrugged. ‘Why are you?’

‘Because I’ – she realized that she did not want to tell him about the notes – ‘because I was having trouble sleeping, so I went for a run. You?’

‘I’m looking for my dog,’ he said. ‘I’m an early riser and I let her out, but it turns out the fence at the back of our new yard is less secure than I thought, and she made a break for freedom.’

He put his hand into the pouch of his hoodie and for a panicked second she thought he was going to pull out a gun, but instead he opened his hand and showed her a palmful of dog treats.

‘So I’m wandering around with these, whistling and calling her name, except I can’t do it too loud in case I wake people up and get arrested for violating a noise ordinance.’

It made some sense, and he did have the look of an early riser, whatever that was.

‘What’s her name?’ Mary had seen the dog in the yard. She had taken it as a good sign; she had always thought that dog owners were good people, but now she wasn’t so sure.

‘Ruby. She’s a labradoodle. Black, which doesn’t help when it comes to spotting her in this light.’

She felt exhausted, her heart now beating at a more normal pace. ‘I’ll look out for her. I need to get home.’

‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Enjoy the weekend.’

From a Kitchen Window

As Mary approached her house she saw that the downstairs lights were on. She opened the mud room door, pulled off her sneakers and walked into the kitchen.

Ryan was sitting at the breakfast table, a coffee steaming in his hands. ‘Want one?’ he said.

She nodded and he got to his feet and poured her a coffee. He handed it to her then sat back at the table.

‘You’re up early,’ she said.

‘You, too,’ he replied. ‘You woke me when you got up, and I couldn’t go back to sleep. I take it you went for a run?’ She nodded.

He reached out and picked up a piece of A4 paper, folded down the centre. Mary recognized it immediately. ‘I found this by the bed.’

‘I know.’

‘So,’ he said. ‘Another one. Where was it?’

‘I found it last night before I went to bed,’ Mary said.

His eyes widened. They were red-rimmed and watery, his face puffy. ‘In the house?’

‘In my bag.’

‘In your bag? Your purse? That bag?’

‘Yes. I had it with me at the library.’

‘I know you did.’ He gestured at the note. ‘I thought it might have been in the mailbox, but it was in your bag ?’ He shook his head. ‘Why didn’t you tell me last night?’

‘I didn’t want to wake you up.’