I smiled now at the memory. Charlie was going away on a training course in a few days’ time and we had agreed she would move in when she got back from that. I felt excited and a little nervous. I had considered bringing up her jealousy again, to say that if I had to promise not to take her for granted, she needed to promise not to have any more jealous outbursts. But she had made an appointment with a therapist and I had decided to leave it at that, to carry on as normal and deal with if it happened again.

The therapist was a woman called Dr Branson, whose practice was based in Islington, not too far from Moorfields.

‘It’s costing a fucking fortune,’ Charlie said when she told me about making the first appointment.

‘I’ll contribute.’

‘No. You haven’t got any money. And it’s my problem, isn’t it? I still think it’s unnecessary, but I love you so I’ll do it.’

I was buzzed into Victor’s building and took the lift up. The offices were quiet, most of the staff sitting with headphones on, gazing at their screens. Among them was Amber. I approached her desk.

‘Oh, hi,’ she said. ‘No crutch? ’

‘No, I’m all better. Do you know if Emma is around?’ I asked.

She sighed heavily. ‘I think she’s at a meeting, trying to persuade the client that just because the head honcho has been accused of being a paedophile, it doesn’t mean they should cancel their contract.’

‘Not Wowcom?’

‘I don’t think so. Though they’ve been in, going on about their brand image.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘They’re all bastards. What happened to innocent till proven guilty, eh?’

‘Do you know what’s going on with Victor?’

‘You haven’t heard anything from him? He’s been released on police bail but he’s hiding out at home. He said he can’t face seeing anyone at the moment. Plus his wife doesn’t want him to leave the house.’

‘You’ve spoken to him?’

‘Yeah. He swears blind that he’s innocent, that this web page is a total fabrication. He said no one ever contacted him making out they were a twelve-year-old girl, that he definitely wouldn’t have responded if they had, and he has no idea how the porn got onto his computer.’

‘Hang on – porn?’

She leaned forward. ‘They found loads of kiddie porn on his work machine, apparently. Really sickening stuff. That’s what they’re doing him for, because the people who set up the website are remaining anonymous and they haven’t provided any proof. Victor is arguing that loads of people could have got onto his computer. The cleaners, anyone who works here. He reckons it might even have been done remotely, though I don’t know if that’s possible.’

She looked at me hopefully.

‘I have no idea.’