It was 7:06 when she arrived, not that he was paying attention to the clock. Not that he was pacing relentlessly in front of the doorway. His mother had tried to ask him what on earth the problem was, but he’d whirled on her in such an agitated state that she’d disappeared into her bedroom. He’d need to apologise to her later. The heavy knocker clunked against the door at 7:06, and though he was standing right before it, he waited a long moment, as though he were walking over from the opposite side of the house, before opening it.