Ring, ring.

The hissing whistle filled the room, accompanied by steam pouring from the spout of the kettle, billowing, condensation first forming then falling from the rangehood. Water running down the backboard like rain down a windscreen in drizzling weather.

Ring, ring.

The seamist white marble benchtop upon the island, grey foamed, red phone, an old phone, retro people would say now, historic or antique according to the children of the house, beside it a brown wood-turned bowl, a functional aesthetic mix of fruit, yellow, orange and green. The sink on its far side, stove top damp, wet to the right, the green of the garden, white flowers punctuating the hedge beyond.

Ring, ring.

Cups overturned dry in the dish rack, a single teaspoon accompanying it. The tea towel is pinned hanging over the front of the shut cutlery drawer. Neat, tidy, orderly, even would be the description, people had passed through this space, breakfasted, caffeinated, rinsed dishes and departed, yet the hissing whistle.

Ring, ring.

The room, a space, the unspoken social place of many a house. Conversations had with one filleting a steak while the other sips a red. At the island bench. You can imagine a man, cup in hand, having picked the paper from the stoop, reading the day's news at hand. None of this, though, just a stillness broken only by the rattle of a kettle boiled dry.

Ring, ring.

Wood floors, real wood, not floating, the original floorboards the width of red oak, not something you can buy these days, polished to the point that they shone, not reflected but shone, a honey brown, the natural knots and grain, the eyes of the wood, a renovator's delight.

Ring, ring.

The dark red pool, dull yet reflecting, not flowing but expanding away. She lay there, her white-blond hair a contrast against the burgundy liquid sheen, her white shirt, pristine, a further juxtaposition to the red upon it, running from the middle of her back to the floor. A cold, hard, seamless stainless steel stub of a knife handle protruding, the blade sunk deep.

Ring, ring.