I questioned him in great detail about the death. It was nothing like I had imagined. Greg had continued with the chemotherapy. He hadn’t opted for alternative medicine, which was the scenario I had pictured. Nat’s image of Greg, which he had passed on to me, was one of recovery. So rapid and unexpected a demise is always shocking, even when relayed second-hand and after much experience of death. Greg’s doctors remain baffled. Cobalt lymph node tests, body scans and the like revealed no further spread of cancer seedlings. The areas affected were not critical: primarily the chest but also, to a much lesser extent, the stomach. Even these tumours were thought to be under control. There was no residual cancer in the remaining testicle.

Nat described the postmortem in some detail: “when they opened him up, huge tracts of his body were riddled with cancer. They wanted to find out why all their probing and dissecting, with the zeal of vivisectionists, had not even hinted as much, but Greg’s parents would not consent to more tests”.

Apparently, the coroner was old Blinkensop, which is a shame because I do not know him well enough to learn more of the matter. Greg’s parents, who have a family plot at the cemetery, arranged their son’s funeral but did not attend. This is a decision that I fear they will come to bitterly regret. They did inform Nat of the burial ceremony and he in turn passed on the information to Greg’s anarchist friends, none of whom chose to honour the obsequies. Nat was the only mourner.

Nat has coped well with the conflicting emotions. He inevitably harbours a certain amount of guilt for what happened to Greg, although not as excessively as one might expect from such an anxiety addict. Indeed, he has done very well to survive the initial stages of such a trauma.

It was Nat who clogged my telephone answering machine full of blank messages. This is understandable in the event, but I wish he could come to terms with telecommunications.

WED MAY 25

I dropped by at Nat’s house today. He rather resented my “checking up” on him. He seemed well balanced, as if he’d somehow worked through much of his grief prior to Greg’s death. I advised him not to lose contact with Jim and the people at the studio. A glow of perversity illuminated his dull eyes.

SUN JUN 26

The studio has already released Nat’s band’s debut and swansong album. Nat brought me a copy today, his only one, which he insisted I must keep.