Anna found the key while looking for an envelope big enough to hold her father’s death certificate. It hung from a faded blue ribbon, folded neatly between two takeaway menus. Her father had labelled every fuse, jar and cable in the house. The key had no label at all.
She asked her brother Tom about it. He recognised the ribbon. Their mother used to tie it around a biscuit tin when she took food to neighbours. Tom thought the key belonged to their old shed. Anna tried the shed, the garage and the cabinet under the stairs. None of the locks turned.
That evening someone slipped a handwritten note through the door. “Would you please ask George whether Thursday is still all right?” It was signed with a name Anna did not know.
