Nathaniel leant close to Jack and explained in a whisper that Mathew had a thing about height: anyone perceived to be below around 5’10” was referred to as ‘diminutive’, and anyone above 6’5” was ‘Hodorian’ after the Game of Thrones character, Hodor. Anyone in between those two heights was of no interest to Mathew at all. Mathew stood, walked over to Jack and, whilst keeping his eyes averted, offered his hand. Mathew’s grip was uncomfortably firm and accompanied by one single, violent up-and-down shake. Then he let go and returned to his chair. ‘What do you want to talk about?’ he asked.

Jack glanced at Nathaniel for any indication that Jack shouldn’t start his questioning, but Nathaniel had his hands in his pockets and was smiling, so Jack took a deep breath and began. ‘Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Mathew. I’m loving your Game of Thrones stuff. Have you played The Sword of Darkness?’

Nathaniel’s smile disappeared and he audibly groaned.

As Mathew began talking animatedly about The Sword of Darkness, he swung back and forth in his chair, shifting between the different voices as he recounted the entire game narrative. At certain moments, Mathew even stood up and excitedly acted out some of the most thrilling fight scenes. Jack could see he had forgotten himself – just like the little boy in the picture at the top of the stairs, playing tag in the garden with his parents. Exactly thirty-two minutes later, Mathew stopped talking as suddenly as he’d started. He then sat perfectly still, like a wind-up toy that had finally run down.

Nathaniel breathed a sigh of relief and threw Jack a warning look that very clearly said, ‘Don’t ask him anything else about Game of bloody Thrones!’

‘Mathew,’ Jack began, ‘will you talk to me about the night the men broke into your home?’ Mathew laced his fingers together, sat forwards in his chair and bowed his head. His eyes remained open and he looked as if he was concentrating, waiting for a question to be asked. ‘Can you remember how many men there were?’

Mathew briefly raised five fingers.

‘Were the men diminutive or Hodorian – or neither?’

Mathew thought for a moment, then said that three men were diminutive and two were neither.

‘Were all the men masked?’

Mathew nodded

‘OK, Mathew, then—’

‘Oberyn Martell,’ Mathew said quickly.

Jack stopped and let him continue.

‘Oberyn Martell took his mask off.’

Jack looked around the bedroom walls, desperately trying to recall what the hell Oberyn Martell, who he knew was a character from Game of Thrones, actually looked like. His eyes paused on a poster of the House Martell family tree: Oberyn was a handsome young man with Mediterranean looks and a perfectly trimmed jawline beard and moustache.