When she was called to give evidence, Melissa stuck faithfully to her story, which was, of course, true: Alan39 had approached her as a result of a piece she wrote on local theatre. She took it to Mr Tredizzick, her editor, who has since sadly died, on the day he was to make an appearance before the committee. She didn’t understand the paperwork her source sent on to Mr Tredizzick. Mr Tredizzick told her that it demonstrated that misconduct was taking place. She also testified that she had no idea who Alan39 was when she met him, but she had been able to identify him when he was arrested by the Serious Organised Crime Agency on a charge of data theft. The chairman of the committee, a jowly man in a confidently striped shirt, described her as a good witness and a breath of fresh air, and thanked her warmly on behalf of the committee.

Julian Trevelyan-Tubal and Nigel Stafford were reprimanded by the parliamentary committee for failing to meet the required standards of accounting, and banned from holding a senior position in banking or finance for five years. By implication, the previous Prime Minister and his Secretary of State were equally guilty, perhaps more so. The committee was hampered by the fact that no one, no members of the Trevelyan-Tubal family, none of the trusts the bank handled, nor any single member of staff, testified against Mr Trevelyan-Tubal.

Ms Estelle Welz was particularly clear that, when she witnessed the signing of documents shortly before the death of Sir Harry Trevelyan-Tubal, there was no pressure on her to sign anything and she confirmed that she had accepted, after seeing the medical certificate, that Sir Harry was no longer capable of making rational decisions. She was family. There was a sense that even the members of the committee understood that this was a political drama, staged after the main event. Everyone was entitled to write his or her own script.

Mr Cy Mannheim was not called to the enquiry. Some journalists said that the new government was kowtowing to him because of his enormous wealth; others said that a few years ago he had been given special exemption because of his help in saving National Expressways. The chairman of the committee issued a statement saying that even if the committee had wanted to interview Mr Mannheim, it was not within their powers to demand his attendance at a British parliamentary enquiry.

People talk about true stories. As if there could possibly be true stories; events take place one way and we recount them the opposite way.

Melissa often thinks of Artair MacCleod.

Her mother and father miss her but they are proud of her, although they still don’t understand exactly what happened at the Globe and Mail. But then, as she said, who really does?