Dim torchlight danced eerily across the walls. The footsteps slowed as they approached the bed. Carefully, silently, the torch was placed on the bedside table. A brilliant flash of metal glinted in the torchlight. The glare of a knife blade … And as the blade flashed downwards, it seemed in the dim light to be winking. Winking. Winking … ‘OF COURSE NOT! To tell the truth, I feel kind of sorry for him. It would’ve been better for him if he’d died …’ At first I thought I was still dreaming, but then I realized that the voice was outside my head – for once – not inside. So I had to be awake. I turned my head in the direction of the woman’s voice and opened my eyes. It was Nurse Holmes. She jumped back and stared at me. She’d obviously thought I was fast asleep. She was ancient – forty-something at least – with brown hair highlighted with streaks of brassy blonde and swept back into such a severe ponytail that it pulled her eyelids out towards her ears. ‘I just came in to make sure you were all right.’ Nurse Holmes’s voice was steady but her lips were a thin slash across her face.
