I tell him about my encounter with Ben the previous evening, and as my story wears on, Derek’s expression changes to something nearing amusement. When I finish, he gives a little chuckle.

‘I believe the student you are referring to is Ben McCall and that story sums up my experience of him so far. He is in his first year of the film studies course. He is very confident in his abilities, has ideas of grandeur and comes across as very,’ he pauses, ‘passionate.’

I smirk at the label and think back to my school reports when teachers would describe me as energetic when they actually meant I wouldn’t sit in my seat for more than five minutes at a time. I’m guessing by ‘passionate’ he actually means ‘a bit over the top’.

‘Passionate is certainly one way to describe him,’ I reply. ‘I watched his short film this morning on the website; it didn’t seem particularly in keeping with the rest of the films on there.’

The professor considers this. ‘Yes, we did think long and hard about giving it an online platform, but in the end, who are we to censor someone’s vision and creativity?’

‘Don’t you think it’s over the top?’

‘It’s not my cup of tea,’ he says, shrugging his shoulders, ‘but then, if we all enjoyed the same thing, the world would be a boring place.’

‘Has he ever mentioned The Threat books to you?’

He chuckles again. ‘Of course he has, he wrote about them in his personal statement. He complained about how the film adaptation was terrible, and what he would’ve done differently. Before meeting him, I saw it as a young man who had very good critiquing abilities, a very important trait in someone who wishes to make films. Now that I have met him, I’d argue that it could come across as somewhat obsessive.’

The gut feeling I had about Ben is starting to intensify. ‘Have you heard of the actor Anna Symons?’ I ask him, changing my line of questioning.

‘Yes, of course, I am the head of the film studies course after all,’ he says. ‘I was very sad to hear of her passing as I was a huge fan of the television series she was a part of. She made a very convincing detective.’

‘And are you aware how she died?’

He replies in the affirmative. Before I can ask a follow up question, we are interrupted by Liam’s ringing phone. He waves an apologetic hand, before rising from his seat and leaving the room. Derek shifts in his seat, perhaps thinking that Liam’s departure is the opportune time to bring our meeting to a close.

‘Derek, one last question, if I may?’ I say, and he plants himself once more into his seat. ‘Do you know the inspiration behind Ben’s short?’

‘I do,’ he confirms. ‘He came to me to ask if adapting a scene from a book was a copyright issue. I told him that since we weren’t making them for profit, that it was OK to use the book without permission. He was so excited that he pulled the script out of his bag, there and then, and showed it to me. It was gory and, in my opinion, crass. I told him so and suggested he alter it, but it didn’t deter him, I mean, you’ve seen the finished piece.’