Sylvia froze to the spot.
The vibration from the knock echoed through the hallway and carried on up the stairs to where Sylvia was standing.
For a moment her mind rejected the noise as if it had never been made.
Had she imagined it?
She turned around on the stair and crouched down so that she could see the front door.
There were no windows or panes of glass either in the door itself or on either side of the frame, just solid wood panelling. So, there was no way for her to see if anyone was standing outside or not.
There was a crescent shaped glass panel above the door, but it was way too high to be any use as a spy hole.
Sylvia stayed down in her crouched position, watching the inanimate wooden structure as if by some miracle it would suddenly give up its secret.
Then came the seco
