‘He’s not answering them when he can hear them,’ the tall man pointed out. ‘All he’s done is blame “the times”, and tell us this isn’t the only library that’s closing. He knows perfectly well he has no reason to close this library, none at all. It’s a shabby policy from an incompetent council, and we need to stop them before they do any more damage to our community.’

The listening audience cheered this statement. A few people stamped their feet. Anne had been nervously watching the tall man who was so strident in his attacks on her husband. She recognised him from other such meetings. With a long, thin nose and sunken cheeks, his eyes burned with a zeal that made him look positively evil, like a villain in a James Bond film.

‘I’m not here to listen to political haranguing,’ David announced. ‘But in any case, I’m afraid that’s all I’ve got time for. Thank you all for coming along today and making your views known. If you’d like to hand your completed questionnaires to the librarian before you leave, she’ll make sure they are delivered to the council offices and I assure you that all of your views will be taken into account when we reach a decision about the future of this library, along with all the other branch libraries currently under threat of closure. Rest assured, we pay close attention to the wishes of each and every one of you, but you must appreciate that the libraries can’t all remain open.’

‘No, we don’t appreciate that,’ the tall man shouted out angrily. ‘And no one here accepts your lies. This whole meeting has been a sham. You didn’t come here to listen to us; you’re just ticking the box so you can say the local community has been “consulted”. This wasn’t a consultation. It was a meeting to announce your decision.’

David picked up his coat and swept out of the room without deigning to respond, while the librarian trotted anxiously at his side, talking breathlessly. Anne hurried after them, buttoning up her coat as she walked.

‘And we really hope you will reconsider,’ she overheard the librarian saying as David left the building. ‘You’ve seen for yourself how strongly the local community feels about the proposed closure.’

Anne caught up with her husband in the car park. As they reached David’s black BMW, the tall man who had been so obstreperous at the meeting charged up to them, a couple of middle-aged women and his younger ginger-haired companion at his heels.