The next day at breakfast, Duke comes down to see Daphne already sat with Magda and Evie. He hasn’t had a second these past few days, but he is showered and in desperate need of some food, and he tentatively approaches the table to see if he’s welcome. They’re all laughing together, after all. Evie must know Daphne is no threat if she’s sat having breakfast with her.

‘Sit,’ says Evie, when she sees him. ‘Daphne says you’ve had a crazy all-nighter again. I come in peace.’ She holds up her hands to emphasise her point.

‘I’ve cleared the air,’ Daphne tells him. ‘If that wasn’t obvious.’

Evie shrugs, as if to say oooops!

‘Our girl here gets her exercise by jumping to conclusions,’ Magda jokes, winking at Evie, who scrunches up her nose and takes the hit.

‘I’ve got issues,’ she says, but she’s smiling.

Duke tucks into his fruit salad, and conversation ultimately turns to yesterday, and Katerina’s great uncovering.

‘I mean, jeez – she had better be telling the truth; that’s all I can say.’ Evie chuckles darkly as she spears a piece of asparagus with her fork. ‘Because right up until she said it was to pay for her dad’s care I was ready to … well, I’m not sure,’ she admits. ‘I was mad.’

‘I have known you for almost twenty years and have never, not once, seen you erupt like anything close to that,’ Magda agrees. ‘I was like, scared.’

‘I’ve only heard about it from Duke.’ Daphne giggles, ‘And I’m still scared. Someone in production said you threw a punch! But Duke says it was more of an almost. So I’m pleased about that. What she did was awful, but we don’t condone hitting people, do we, Duke?’

Duke accepts the pointed barb.

‘We don’t,’ he says.

‘Thanks for setting the record straight,’ Evie tells him, and they steal a glance at each other before Evie looks away. Duke would kill to know what she’s thinking. He was all primed to make a grand declaration and then … it didn’t happen. He’s running out of time. By mid-morning tomorrow they’ll all be on buses – or in a private car, in Duke’s case – to the airport.

‘Well, I’m envious at your self-control,’ he quips, pointing at the very faint bruise still left under his eye. ‘I’ve still got a lot to learn about how violence is never the answer.’

‘And this is the part where I say never, in all the time I’ve known you, Duke, have I known you to lose your cool enough to throw a punch,’ Daphne offers.

Duke closes his eyes briefly and reflects on his bad behaviour. ‘There’s no excuse,’ he says. ‘My therapist is going to have a field day.’