There was the lower part of my ribcage on the right-hand side where I had torn my internal intercostal muscles – the muscles that let you breathe – when I had fallen through a table. And there were assorted knocks that I had picked up in the gym, trying to be a tough guy.

They all hurt today.

So I took off the jacket of the suit that I had got married in and got down on the floor of MIR-1 to do some stretching. It was the only thing that made all that old bone-deep pain go away. I had learned the moves watching Stan. He did them every time he got up.

I settled in a neutral position on my hands and knees and then curved my spine, raising my head as I pushed back my shoulders. Just like Stan. And then the other way round, arching my back and trying to make my chin touch my navel. Just like Stan. I breathed out, feeling better already, and settled for a moment on my hands and knees before straightening my arms and legs and pushing my butt into the air. And that is the position I was in when I saw Tara Jones watching me from the doorway of MIR-1.

‘You do yoga?’ she said. ‘I’m impressed.’

I got to my feet, my face burning. ‘What? Yoga? No! These are just some moves that Stan taught me.’

‘Stan’s your yoga teacher? He’s good.’

‘Stan’s my dog.’

She came into the room and went to her workstation.

‘Why are you in so early?’ I said, and when she turned to look at me we both realised that she had not heard me.

‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘Sometimes I forget.’

She was plugging her laptop into the workstation’s computer.

She looked at my face. ‘You forget I’m deaf?’

‘Yes.’

‘There’s no reason to remember. My condition doesn’t define me. It’s a difficulty not a disability. My parents were told, “Your baby girl can have a disability or a difficulty. It’s up to you.” They treated it as a difficulty rather than a disability. And so do I.’

‘I don’t mean to offend you.’

‘It’s fine that you forget. You don’t offend me.’

She waited for me to speak.

‘I just wondered why you are here so early.’

The hint of a smile. She pushed the hair out of her face.

‘I didn’t mean to disturb your yoga session, Detective.’

I laughed uneasily. ‘I don’t do yoga.’