‘Who is this lovely creature you have brought to see me?’ Adebayo smirked, eyeing Jeta, his gaze a little too lingering for Tom’s liking. ‘Does she speak English?’ He carried on staring at her, and Jeta shifted uncomfortably under his penetrating gaze.

‘This is Jeta. Her English isn’t so good; it’s best I translate for her.’

Adebayo nodded. ‘Tell her that this is the man she is going to marry. His name is Sohail Ali and she will be helping him to stay in the UK.’ Adebayo pointed at the man sat in the corner of the room, who jumped to his feet and nodded, his big smile almost hidden by his beard. He looked with interest at Jeta, who seemed a little perplexed.

Tom explained to Jeta in Serbian, ‘Jeta, the man in the pyjamas is called Sohail Ali and you’re to marry him to help him stay in the UK.’

‘How old is he? I hope I don’t have to live with him, he’s ugly.’

‘Jeta is okay with this,’ translated Tom, ‘but she doesn’t want to live with him. I don’t think he’s her type.’

‘She doesn’t have to, unless she wants to. The paperwork will be prepared to show that she is living with him. I have a man who can sort it, so her name will be all over it. We just need to convince the Home Office and registrar that they are together.’

Tom translated this to Jeta, who nodded with relief. Clearly the prospect of living with a fifty-year-old Muslim was not appealing to the young girl.

‘We need a few photographs of the happy couple together, but not in here. Can you take her over to the park with Sohail and take half-a-dozen photographs? Make them look like a couple.’ Adebayo threw a small digital camera at Tom, which he caught.

‘Okay, no problem. We can do that.’

Tom, Sohail and Jeta left the office wordlessly and went to the park just a short walk away. He took a series of photographs of them together in various poses: sitting on a bench, gazing into each other’s eyes lovingly, holding hands by the swings, leaning against a tree. He was sure the photos looked utterly ridiculous, but it didn’t really matter as they would never make it to the Home Office.

Back in the office, Adebayo looked through the pictures on the camera’s screen and chuckled. ‘How do those fools ever accept nonsense like this?’

‘You go now, Sohail,’ Adebayo said. The man left the office, shooting a deferential look back in Adebayo’s direction as he did so.