I have yet to conclude whether George is a good spy or a bad one. He may, in fact, not be a spy at all, though I think this is the least likely option. Whatever he is, my hand is floating to the side of his head, my palm on his neck, my thumb in front of his ear and my other fingers cupping his head behind it.

Somehow, one of his hands is on my shoulder, and the other on my waist.

‘You’re much faster with those hands than I guessed, Mr Markham.’

‘I like to think I’m full of surprises, Miss Graham. You certainly are.’ He pulls me closer. ‘You’ve drunk quite a lot, haven’t you?’ Those bright blue eyes of his, those fluttering lids, the way he dips his chin.

‘Three glasses isn’t that much, is it?’

‘Well, you can still count, so that’s a good sign, and a bit of that third glass did escape.’ He is so gentle. The way he dresses reminds me of a schoolboy. Grey trousers, blue jumper. As if he never learned to do it any other way. He is the anti-Zac, as far as his fashion consciousness goes, or rather, his lack of it. I find it endearing. ‘I won’t take advantage of the fact that you are a lightweight.’

‘That’s a shame.’ To my astonishment, I am flirting. My skin is so alive the sleeves of my thin sweater are filled with static. ‘Do you know?’ I say.

‘Know what?’

‘That I nearly didn’t come out tonight. And I probably wouldn’t have phoned you if I hadn’t had that wine. But I’m glad I did.’

‘I’m glad too.’

I shake my head very quickly, several times, from side to side, then stop suddenly, and open my eyes wide to look in his. Test, test, test. ‘Have you found anything about Frederick Veliko?’

‘There’s something I want to double-check. Give me a bit more time.’

‘You can’t get in trouble, can you? Are you searching on the Deep Web? Or is it the Dark Web? I get them confused.’

He laughs. ‘I use a VPN.’

‘A what?’

‘A virtual private network. No risk of trouble.’

Push, push, push. ‘That’s good. But how do you know how to do this stuff, George?’

‘Practice.’

Even drunk, I can’t help myself. ‘Isn’t it unusual to be able to find that sort of thing? I mean, stuff that normal people can’t?’

‘They could if they took the time to figure it out.’

‘Hmm,’ I say, ‘You have very nice eyes, you know.’

‘What?’

‘You heard me. A friend of mine says men always do that.’

‘Do what?’

‘Pretend not to hear when you give them a compliment, so you have to repeat it. She says a man can never hear a compliment too many times.’

‘Very wise. What friend is this?’