‘To all his other nasty friends.’

‘He’s a solicitor. His friends are other solicitors, and business executives, and tech speculators. I’ve worked with him myself – in fact, he’s doing a really important piece of intellectual property litigation for me at the moment. He’s very well-connected.’

‘He seems so normal on the outside. You would never guess he’s so pervy to look at him. There’s something really wrong there.’

‘I’d never have let him hurt you physically. You know this. I had my eye on you the whole time.’

‘I’m not afraid of him physically, it’s the— Look, it’s hard to describe what it’s like being in someone else’s dream. It’s as if I’m orchestrating it but I’m also the thing that’s being orchestrated. It’s passing through me, it feels totally real. It was horrible.’

‘It must have been. Usually you try to make people better, no matter how unpleasant they are. And I note, most of these ultra-violent-fantasy men are afraid of their own shadow.’

I snort. Shandy says the same thing, but neither of them has a clue what it’s like to be inside one of those fantasies.

‘But what do I know?’ she continues. ‘You’ve got the psychology degree. I don’t even have a degree.’

‘You don’t have a degree?’

‘Nope. MI5 recruited me straight out of primary school.’

I flop back on the sofa and close my eyes. Whenever she makes fun of me, I act like a child. Stupidly, I’m actually fighting back tears.

‘I just want you to say I don’t have to do it.’

‘Of course you don’t have to do it. Who am I to tell you what to do? And darling, you know I enjoy having you here. It just seems a shame for you to be stuck living with a little old lady like me when there’s money to be made out there.’

I open one eye. ‘Are you sick of me, O? Because I can find another little old lady. Or a cardboard box in Wandsworth Town.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous! I’ll be sad when you leave me. One day this business of yours is going to take off. Why do you think I help you?’

‘You don’t have to, though,’ I tell her urgently. ‘If it stops being fun for you, you need to say so. But no more dream sex. From now on it’s straight therapy, bit of ASMR on the side.’

‘Fine. You know I support you, whatever you decide. It’s been a long night. I’m going to bed. Get some sleep. Your eyes look like old tyres.’

‘Thanks heaps, Mycroft.’

TRANSCRIPT

DC: Donato Cruz once again with my colleague Dr Pelka as we interview Ms Charlotte Aaron of Seven Sisters Road, Finsbury Park. Resuming our discussion at Location B after Ms Aaron lost consciousness. It’s now 4:08 A.M. Ms Aaron, given that we’ve just witnessed your narcolepsy in action, can you give us a bit more of the timeline with respect to your condition?

CA: Well, let’s see. I was just going on with my normal life, temping to pay the bills and living in a cupboard under the stairs in Canning Town. Like you do.