My phone pinged in my pocket – Biddy, for sure.

‘OK …’ He adjusted his glasses. ‘So, Chris, I really appreciate our friendship. You mean a lot to me, you both do. And the kids. And what I’m about to tell you might have an impact on how you feel about me as a person or whatever, and –’

‘Take your time, man. This is great so far.’

‘Fuck off.’ He laughed. ‘As you can probably tell, this isn’t easy for me.’

‘Or me.’

‘Just let him speak, hun,’ Sarah said.

He ran a finger slowly across his eyebrow, above his glasses. ‘What I wanted to say, after my long and winding preamble as you’ve rightly alluded to, is that … I was charged for a couple of crimes about six months ago.’

‘Six months ago?’ I glanced at him, at Sarah.

‘When we met I told you I’d resigned from Teas & Tisanes, but in reality, I was sacked for faking my resumé. I made myself a bit older so I could exaggerate how much experience I had. Which wouldn’t have been a problem if they didn’t already have me on file from a previous application. Which came to light as part of my application for a promotion. Anyway, when they found out what I’d done they got really angry. They started using words like “betrayal” and “traitor”, saying I’d let them down. And I mean “them”, personally, dude, not even the company. It’s like a cult at that place, you wouldn’t believe it.’

I stood – Biddy was waiting for me. ‘Are you saying you got arrested for faking your CV, for a job you lost as a result?’

His hands on his bag strap. ‘They’re really fucking vindictive, man. I saw it when I worked there. We had three different lawyers at our disposal and were encouraged to use them whenever we wanted.’

I looked at Sarah.

Her phone pinged. She glanced at it, smiled, got up from the bed. ‘Back in a second, guys. I’ve heard this, so just carry on without me.’

Zac seemed nervous. I rolled up a T-shirt, planted it in my bag. ‘That doesn’t sound right, man. Who doesn’t fake their fucking CV?’

He shrugged. ‘I guess it’s more that I was caught, dude. And the fact I was in charge of large numbers of cash transactions across Australia. And that there were minor discrepancies in the accounts.’

‘What kind?’

‘Oh …’ He waved his hand. ‘That’s not the point.’

My phone pinged, buzzed – I ignored it, knew I was late, knew I needed to leave or we’d miss the Truth Rockets gig.

I asked, ‘And the police thought it was a criminal offence?’

‘It actually is. Falsifying documents carries a maximum sentence of ten years.’

‘Oh, fuck off, man. Ten years for lying on a CV?’