Fraser Mackenzie was first to arrive at the restaurant. He liked it because the food was great and the tables nicely distanced. They kept the background music low, and the maître d’ always offered a complimentary glass of fizz. He’d been there only five minutes, kept busy with the wine list, when James Pelham approached across the restaurant floor, his usual large strides seeming to eat up the distance. He was chuckling by way of greeting and flung a hand out for Fraser to clasp.

‘How are you doing, pal?’ he enquired, his free hand landing on his old friend’s shoulder.

‘I’m fine, James. Yourself?’

‘Churlish to complain, business-wise.’ He removed his cotton face mask and tucked it into his breast pocket. ‘Lean times as you well know, but rapidly picking up.’ He waited for the waiter to unfurl his napkin and lay it across his lap, opted for sparkling water over still, and rested his elbows on the table, noting that only one place setting remained.

‘Gaby not joining us?’

‘Paws off, James. I know what you’re like.’

‘Red-blooded, the same as you, though if bloody Steph gets her way, I’ll end up gelded.’

‘Hellish about her sister.’

‘Bloody awful. Never liked the guy, if I’m being honest. Typical copper, always made you feel you had something to hide. Rubbed my bloody nose in it when Steph chucked me out. Can’t say I’m disappointed to see him get what’s coming to him.’ He broke off to watch a slender woman in a clinging full-length dress being escorted to a table by her portly male companion.

‘You’re incorrigible,’ Fraser Mackenzie said with a smile.

‘Bit too bony, actually,’ Pelham said, his eyes widening as he looked past Mackenzie’s shoulder. ‘Ah, this is more like it.’ He began to rise to his feet, arms stretched out to smother Elizabeth Mackenzie in an embrace. ‘Not that we’re allowed any form of intimate contact these days,’ he complained, finally releasing her.

Elizabeth had fixed a smile to her face, but it didn’t reach as far as her eyes. She flapped open her own napkin before the waiter could do anything with it and waved away the offer of water.

‘We were just talking about Francis Haggard,’ Fraser told his wife. She raised one eyebrow but said nothing.

‘You know Steph’s erased me from her life?’ Pelham continued. ‘You probably see more of her than I do.’

‘Been a while since we required her services,’ Elizabeth stated.

‘I know it’s difficult for you both. You’re my friends, but you’re her friends too. I really appreciate you not taking sides.’

Elizabeth looked at him. ‘Who says we haven’t?’ Then, to her husband, ‘Is there wine on its way?’