Will suppressed a startled laugh and looked away quickly before they noticed him eavesdropping. Anna was one of the few people in the newsroom whom Will’s mind found restful, partly because she was a woman and partly because she was on Pictures, ergo: not competition. Her petrol-black hair was chopped into a bob that swung around her face when she hurried, and her nose curved towards a scarlet-lipsticked mouth that puckered and pouted whenever she was concentrating. Will had already heard that it was the after-mark of a long coke habit, from the days when Anna had been alluring and highly sexed. He’d never spoken to anyone remotely like her. In fact, he thought many of the newsroom veterans were like over-bred dogs, forced by the constant pressure to become extreme versions of themselves.

Even though it was rude, he glanced across at Rosie’s screen to see what she was up to. She was diligently examining the opening paragraphs of a Criminal Immigrant story and did not seem especially open to some frivolous chat. But the bosses were in conference and after they came back everything would pick up speed until deadline.

A pretext came to him. ‘Sorry, Rosie,’ he said, again swivelling his screen towards her, ‘do you think this headline is alright?’

Rosie’s body started to turn, but her eyes finished the sentence they were reading before they flicked across. She asked, ‘Sorry, what was that?’

‘Um, I’m not sure about this headline. Do you think it’s alright?’

Rosie read it and said, ‘Hmm. Calling him “Dr Filth” is very… He’s named and pictured, isn’t he?’

‘He’s been convicted, so there’s no legal problem.’

Rosie twisted her hands together uncomfortably. ‘I don’t know; it’s hard to say. It’s obviously very strong. Is “Dr Filth” just from you, or does someone in the copy call him that?’

‘Someone says: “You don’t expect a doctor to be so filthy.”’

‘Hmm.’ Rosie considered. Will didn’t see what there was to consider – it was the strongest headline he’d read all week. ‘I don’t think it’ll get through.’

Jeremy spoke up from the other side of the desk. ‘The Stentorian wouldn’t have printed that, would they?’

‘No,’ said Will, ‘but the Stentorian’s going down the pipes.’

Rosie was interested. ‘Do you think so?’

‘Oh yes, it’s dying from the inside out. All that’s keeping it going is subsidies from the TV channels. Really it should have gone bust already.’

‘Yeah,’ said Jeremy. ‘But they haven’t turned a profit in 200 years. I suppose the difference nowadays is the losses keep getting bigger.’

Rosie wanted to ask Will whether that was why he’d left, but thought that might be awkward. Instead she said, ‘A friend of mine from uni, Leo Draper, works there. Do you know him?’