Something untoward has happened in our block of flats. Up on the sixth floor a door has been staved in. It has been made safe with a pair of new padlocks and much of the splintered wood has been covered with corrugated iron. The reason could be as simple as a malfunctioning lock, or as sad as the woman who lives there not answering calls. It can't have been a break-in. The noticeboard downstairs that keeps us up to date with such things - the drug dealers who seem to have been using our bin store, the occasional intrusion of a burglar - would have given details and told us, once again, to check that the front door is shut properly at all times and not to let in strangers.

LRB 19 June 2008 | PDF Download