I imagined the devastation on my folks’ faces if they’d had to actually bail me out, then sit in the public gallery watching me be tried in a court of law. It was bad enough having just been arrested! I felt a cold sweat of horror at my recklessness, and relief at having been let off without charge, especially in the light of the discovery of Dad’s terminal diagnosis.

Caitlin and I hadn’t been best mates or anything, but she didn’t deserve that. And even if she never knew it, I owed her a debt of eternal gratitude for putting the idea in my head in the first place, and therefore giving me the chance to meet Samantha.

I shoved the shutters into place with the long pole and went back into the now much-lighter shop, propping the pole back in the corner. ‘I didn’t even see her when I was there. Mind you, the place is huge,’ I said, noticing how dusty the till was. I found a grimy duster behind the counter and set to. ‘I don’t blame her for lashing out at them. The police literally carried us all off – it was pretty terrifying. She must have just been really unlucky that she injured one of them.’

Dusting done, I flicked the kettle back on to reboil and pointedly threw a teabag into one of the other tannin-stained mugs; an ancient chipped Southampton FC one emblazoned with the words ‘When the Saints Come Marching In’.

‘Do you have her folks’ phone number?’ I asked. ‘I’ll give her a ring to say I’m sorry she got nicked.’

Alaric shook his head. He’d sat down on the swivel chair with his tea and lit a cigarette, flicking through the pages of last week’s Melody Maker and scratching his black arm hair. He was the hairiest man I’d ever seen.

‘When’s the trial? Is she going to come back? What about her boyfriend? Will you have to get another full-time person?’

‘Blimey, Meredith, enough with the questions. I told her I’d keep a job open for her, but she was a bit rude about it. I let it go because she’s obviously under a lot of stress, but she basically implied that I could stick it.’

I suppressed a smile. Caitlin couldn’t stand Alaric – said he ogled her tits and made suggestive comments to her.

‘I think she’s broken up with that bloke of hers too. She made some self-pitying comment about how she’s lost everything, including the love of her life…’

He sighed dramatically, as if Caitlin’s misfortunes were nothing more than an irritation to him – which they doubtless were. Alaric had never been big on empathy.