As he takes another step towards Reuben, Jay stands up and manoeuvres himself between the two men. The audience still haven’t made a single sound, though every unblinking eye is fixed on the action.

‘I think it’s time to head off now, pal,’ says Jay in his American drawl, patting Rory on the chest.

Rory pulls away from him, seemingly disgusted.

‘Don’t you fucking touch me!’ he bellows, pushing his forehead into Jay’s. ‘You’re as much to blame for her death as him!’

Tom shuffles in his seat in anticipation of having to intervene, but two of the suited men who were sitting in the row behind Jay have jumped to their feet and are attempting to separate Rory and Jay before things take an even more violent turn.

They lead a flailing Rory down the aisle and out of view, though his loud protestations can still be heard for a few more minutes before gradually fading. Jay stares in the direction of the stairs and looks like he is about to follow, but instead sinks into his seat.

‘Shall we take five?’ Julia asks meekly.

12

Following a hastily arranged coffee break, Reuben, Ed and Julia have been back on stage for about half an hour and have been trying to continue with the show, despite the slightly distracted atmosphere in the room.

Julia is trying to keep the energy up but I can tell she has been rattled by the events of the evening so far. Reuben seems downcast and keeps his involvement to a minimum, relying on Ed to carry the show, which he is attempting to do gallantly.

‘And now,’ he says, taking on a more sombre tone. ‘We really did put a lot of thought into whether or not to do these events in light of what happened to poor Anna. We didn’t want to seem insensitive, but in the end, we decided that we didn’t want to let you down. Before we continue with the evening, we would like to ask you to observe a minute’s silence in her memory.’

A mournful silence is impeccably observed by everyone in the room, aside from someone near the front who suffers an unfortunately timed coughing fit.

I close my eyes and think of her body, the exposed skin frozen to the ice and the lifeless eyes, the untold violence she was subjected to in her final minutes. Ed speaks to signify the end of the minute and when I look at him, I can see that his eyes have filled with tears.

‘Death is such a cruel mistress,’ he says, and I can’t tell if he is being genuine or whether he is trying to sound dramatic for the sake of the podcast.

‘Now,’ he says with renewed vigour. ‘The whole purpose of this joint tour is that we each have an announcement to make.’ He looks over at Reuben. ‘Shall I go first?

Reuben gives a slight nod of his head and Ed turns back to look at the crowd, playing the ringmaster.