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Authors: Ruth Rendell
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was the firm’s property I was worried about. If they like to risk losing their valuable equipment, that’s their look-out.”
She stopped going back to check the doors—it didn’t prey on her mind much as her own safety wasn’t involved—and three weeks later two men broke in, stole all the electric typewriters, and damaged the computer beyond repair. It proved her right, but she didn’t say so. The threat of the psychiatristhad frightened her so much that she never again aired her burglar obsession at work.
When she got promotion and a salary rise, she decided to get a flat of her own. The landlady was a woman after her own heart. Mrs Swanson liked Della from the first and explained to her, as to a kindred spirit, the security arrangements.
“This is a very nice neighbourhood, Miss Galway, but the crime rate in London is rising all the time, and I always say you can’t be too careful.”
Della said she couldn’t agree more.
“So I always keep this side gate bolted on the inside. The back door into this little yard must also be kept locked and bolted. The bathroom window looks out into the garden, you see, so I like the garden door and the bathroom door to be locked at night too.”
“Very wise,” said Della, noting that the window in the bed-sitting room had screws fixed to its sashes which prevented its being opened more than six inches. “What did you say the rent was?”
“Twenty pounds a week.” Mrs Swanson was a landlady first, and a kindred spirit secondly, so when Della hesitated, she said, “It’s a garden flat, completely self-contained and you’ve got your own phone. I shan’t have any trouble in letting it. I’ve got someone else coming to view it at two.”
Della stopped hesitating. She moved in at the end of the week, having supplied Mrs Swanson with references and assured her she was quiet, prudent as to locks and bolts, and not inclined to have “unauthorised” people to stay overnight. By unauthorised people Mrs Swanson meant men. Since the episode over the car on her nineteenth birthday, Della had entered tentatively upon friendships with men, but no man had ever taken her out more than twice and none had ever got as far as to kiss her. She didn’t know why this was, as she had always been polite and pleasant, insisting on paying her share, careful to carry her own coat, handbag, and parcels so as to give her escort no trouble, ever watchful of his wallet and keys, offering to have the theatre tickets in her own safe-keeping,and anxious not to keep him out too late. That one after another men dropped her worried her very little. No spark of sexual feeling had ever troubled her, and the idea of sharing her orderly, routine-driven life with a man—untidy, feckless, casual creatures as they all, with the exception of her father, seemed to be—was a daunting one. She meant to get to the top on her own. One day perhaps, when she was about thirty-five and with a high-powered lady executive’s salary, then if some like-minded, quiet, and prudent man came along…. In the meantime, Mrs Swanson had no need to worry.
Della was very happy with her flat. It was utterly quiet, a little sanctum tucked at the back of the house. She never heard a sound from her neighbours in the other parts of the house and they, of course, never heard a sound from her. She encountered them occasionally when crossing from her own front door to the front door of the house. They were mouselike people who scuttled off to their holes with no more than a nod and a “good evening.” This was as it should be. The flat, too, was entirely as it should be.
The bed-sitter looked just like a living room by day, for the bed was let down from a curtained recess in the wall only at night. Its window overlooked the yard, which Della never used. She never unbolted the side gate or the back door or, needless to say, attempted to undo the screws and open the window more than six inches.
Every evening, when she had
She stopped going back to check the doors—it didn’t prey on her mind much as her own safety wasn’t involved—and three weeks later two men broke in, stole all the electric typewriters, and damaged the computer beyond repair. It proved her right, but she didn’t say so. The threat of the psychiatristhad frightened her so much that she never again aired her burglar obsession at work.
When she got promotion and a salary rise, she decided to get a flat of her own. The landlady was a woman after her own heart. Mrs Swanson liked Della from the first and explained to her, as to a kindred spirit, the security arrangements.
“This is a very nice neighbourhood, Miss Galway, but the crime rate in London is rising all the time, and I always say you can’t be too careful.”
Della said she couldn’t agree more.
“So I always keep this side gate bolted on the inside. The back door into this little yard must also be kept locked and bolted. The bathroom window looks out into the garden, you see, so I like the garden door and the bathroom door to be locked at night too.”
“Very wise,” said Della, noting that the window in the bed-sitting room had screws fixed to its sashes which prevented its being opened more than six inches. “What did you say the rent was?”
“Twenty pounds a week.” Mrs Swanson was a landlady first, and a kindred spirit secondly, so when Della hesitated, she said, “It’s a garden flat, completely self-contained and you’ve got your own phone. I shan’t have any trouble in letting it. I’ve got someone else coming to view it at two.”
Della stopped hesitating. She moved in at the end of the week, having supplied Mrs Swanson with references and assured her she was quiet, prudent as to locks and bolts, and not inclined to have “unauthorised” people to stay overnight. By unauthorised people Mrs Swanson meant men. Since the episode over the car on her nineteenth birthday, Della had entered tentatively upon friendships with men, but no man had ever taken her out more than twice and none had ever got as far as to kiss her. She didn’t know why this was, as she had always been polite and pleasant, insisting on paying her share, careful to carry her own coat, handbag, and parcels so as to give her escort no trouble, ever watchful of his wallet and keys, offering to have the theatre tickets in her own safe-keeping,and anxious not to keep him out too late. That one after another men dropped her worried her very little. No spark of sexual feeling had ever troubled her, and the idea of sharing her orderly, routine-driven life with a man—untidy, feckless, casual creatures as they all, with the exception of her father, seemed to be—was a daunting one. She meant to get to the top on her own. One day perhaps, when she was about thirty-five and with a high-powered lady executive’s salary, then if some like-minded, quiet, and prudent man came along…. In the meantime, Mrs Swanson had no need to worry.
Della was very happy with her flat. It was utterly quiet, a little sanctum tucked at the back of the house. She never heard a sound from her neighbours in the other parts of the house and they, of course, never heard a sound from her. She encountered them occasionally when crossing from her own front door to the front door of the house. They were mouselike people who scuttled off to their holes with no more than a nod and a “good evening.” This was as it should be. The flat, too, was entirely as it should be.
The bed-sitter looked just like a living room by day, for the bed was let down from a curtained recess in the wall only at night. Its window overlooked the yard, which Della never used. She never unbolted the side gate or the back door or, needless to say, attempted to undo the screws and open the window more than six inches.
Every evening, when she had
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