Freddie grinned and draped his arm around my shoulder. In an effort to put the kiss out of my mind I let him buy me drink after drink. After a while I felt light-headed and benevolent towards everyone, especially Freddie; I could hardly remember why I’d been angry with him before. At some point, the two of us climbed on a table and sang the rest of the bar a Scottish duet. I took the man’s part; Freddie did a good impression of a woman. We were singing different words, but nobody seemed to mind. At the end of the song, I grabbed his hand.

‘Look – we’re like the natives,’ I said.

‘I’m afraid we smell far too clean to fool anyone,’ Freddie said.

‘We could pretend.’

‘You, my boy, need another drink.’

Later, I saw Carberry in the corner of the bar, sneering at us, and I stared him out.

The night ended when one of the gentlemen started swinging from the chandeliers in the ballroom, several of the bar staff hovering below, ready to catch him in case he fell.

The next morning, I woke early with a thick tongue. The first glimpse of daylight through the blinds sent a flash of pain through my eyeballs.

Scotty jumped onto my bed and licked my face.

‘Alright,’ I told him. ‘I’ll take you for a walk.’

I threw on trousers and a jumper and we left the hotel, walking aimlessly through the streets, nodding to people I recognised from the club, who looked as peaky as I felt.

We turned onto 6th Avenue and I headed towards the post office to buy some stamps. I tied Scotty up on the shaded porch and pushed open the door. Scotty started to bark.

‘I won’t be long,’ I said.

There was already a queue inside. I took my place at the back, trying to ignore Scotty. My stomach gurgled unpleasantly.

Flies buzzed around in the heat of the room. I wiped away the sweat that was forming on my upper lip. Ahead of me, an elderly lady was arguing with the clerk; I rubbed my temples.

Carberry came into the post office and stood behind me. I pointedly turned my face away. He didn’t seem to mind, and started whistling nonchalantly. The clerk behind the grille looked half-asleep as he counted out the change for the elderly lady. After a while, I realised what Carberry was whistling – Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone.

I couldn’t hear Scotty barking any more.

‘Scotty?’ I called. Nothing.

I started to walk towards the door.

‘You’ll lose your place,’ Carberry called after me.

Outside, there was no Scotty.

‘Scotty,’ I called. Still nothing.

I turned on my heel and ran back to Carberry.

‘Where’s my dog?’

‘Damned if I know,’ he drawled. ‘You should tie him up if you don’t want him to go missing.’