‘My contact’s name is Meera Bhango. She’s very gifted and much in demand, and she has the backing of a silent partner.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘Someone with deep pockets is behind this. Anything Bhango is involved in has got to be worth a look. If you click through you’ll get the company website, but they haven’t put any of what I’m telling you up publicly yet. They’re only looking for participants for their study.’

The logo is a purple Celtic spiral and the company name is Little Bird. I go to their website in case it jogs my memory, but there isn’t a lot to see. Under ‘About Us’ there are photographs of a woman – Meera, I presume – and a guy. He’s very tall, dark-haired, hirsute and serious-looking.

‘I know that guy,’ I mutter. ‘Where do I know him from? He’s so familiar. Not a client. Not from school. Not from work. How do I know him?’

O leans in to look over my shoulder. ‘Bernard Zborowski. Never heard of him.’

‘I wonder if I know him through Shandy . . . Oh, it’s so close, like I can almost get it but—’

‘Stop trying to remember. Think about something else and it will come to you.’

I gather up the plates and glasses and carry everything into the kitchen, accompanied by Edgar, presumably still rattled after Jez’s visit. I offer him a piece of cheese but he only sniffs it.

‘Do you want generic-brand-addictive-cat-treats?’ I say in my baby-cat voice. Edgar’s pupils dilate when he hears his favourite word. I get the generic-brand-addictive-cat-treats out of the tippy-top cupboard and shake two into my palm. Then it comes to me. Where I’ve seen Bernard Z before.

What a bloody coincidence. I almost can’t believe it. Excited, I raise my voice.

‘He was from the study. The drug I took for BigSky, for the trial. Damn. He came in once during a consultation with a string of medical students following him like baby ducks. If it hadn’t been for that trial, I’d still have my nasty little job like a normal person and not be cluttering up your life with my problems.’

There’s a long silence except for the sound of Edgar’s powerboat-volume purring as he chews his treats. Then O’s voice comes in via my earring, even though she’s only in the next room. She can’t stand shouting, says it’s uncouth.

‘It seems that the trial you were involved in was no great success. Zborowski has left BigSky, and no papers have been published, not even in preprint,’ she says. ‘I have an alert on my system. The project appears to have been binned.’

‘But he’s moving up in the world if this Meera Bhango is as hotshit as you say she is.’

‘Leaving BigSky to go to a start-up is risky. He’ll only move up in the world if Little Bird can produce something of real value. It’s possible he’s jumped ship because his work was stonewalled at Excelsior-Barking, but BigSky are unlikely to let go of the intellectual property so easily.’