‘Yes,’ the chief said grimly, ‘it is.’ He considered. ‘Was there anything else? Did you see them do anything else? Did they go anywhere? Did they have anything with them?’

‘Well, if you really want to know, one of them had a bulge under their right arm like they were carrying something.’

The chief again looked at Max, who ran his palm from his brow back over his hair’s stiff black furrows. ‘And have you mentioned this potentially hugely significant fact to the Newsdesk?’

Jeremy was pained. ‘I really don’t think it’s anything. In fact, Frank, I wanted to talk to you about the next rota.’

‘Just a minute. Have you thought about what would happen if the biggest scoop of the year was on Newsdesk’s doorstep and someone in this newsroom knew about it, but didn’t say anything?’

Jeremy wished he hadn’t mentioned it. But the chief was right about that. He said, ‘Fine,’ and heaved himself to his feet.

‘Have you thought that they might come over here and rip you limb from limb and I probably wouldn’t even try to save you, because you’d deserve it?’

‘I’m already on my way, aren’t I? But I’m going to say I think it’s nothing.’

‘You say whatever you like, sugar puff. Just make sure you give them the story as well. Talk to Colin, he’s one of the saner ones. He’ll give it a good going over.’

Jeremy nodded, sighing to himself at the thought of the needless questioning he’d let himself in for, and carried his paunch over to the Newsdesk.

The chief’s ever-shifting attention landed on the square pillar where the rota sheets were tacked up, and he bustled over to it. Below the rotas were postcards or letters from subs who’d retired: ‘I’ve mainly been sitting in my lovely quiet garden with a beer and thinking of you poor saps stuck in that newsroom’; ‘You can imagine how many friends I’m making here in Spain by spotting inconsistencies in the menu layouts’; ‘I’ve turned around the parish newsletter. Circulation has tripled since we broke a story about the deacon over-claiming his expenses.’

Next to them were pinned thin scraps of newspaper, bearing headlines gone egregiously wrong:

GIRLS’ SCHOOLS STILL OFFERING ‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’ — HEAD

HOSPITAL WAS SO DIRTY I DISCHARGED MYSELF

OUTLAW BUYING PORN — FORMER MINISTER