Norah only just stopped herself from groaning out loud. She was interested in art and hated it when people spouted specious half-knowledge. She bit back the caustic remark on the tip of her tongue. What did Max say: No one likes a smartarse, darling.

‘Oh, okay,’ Luisa said sarcastically. ‘And the thing where he cut up that woman’s face? Was that a social experiment?’

‘He what?’ David asked.

‘Ah! Now you’re interested!’ Eva cried.

‘How can you cut a woman’s face without breaking the law?’

‘He calls it performance,’ Luisa said, pulling a face.

‘God!’ David said again. ‘How does he find people willing to let him do that to them?’

Eva shrugged.

‘That’s sick,’ David said. ‘That’s not art, it’s grievous bodily harm.’

‘Oh, come on,’ Eva said. ‘What if the girls agree to it? How can it be grievous bodily harm if it’s voluntary?’

‘Didn’t one woman sue for damages?’ Luisa asked.

Norah turned round; things were getting interesting.

‘That’s out of order,’ Eva said. ‘She could have decided not to get involved. But coming along afterwards and saying, Oh, by the way, I’ve decided that wasn’t what I wanted after all; I’d like a hundred thousand euros, please—that’s not on.’

‘In the end, all you girls are interested in is money,’ David said.

Norah imagined taking a fork out of the drawer and ramming it into his neck.

‘Ha ha,’ Eva said, feigning annoyance.

‘Well, I don’t know who I find worse,’ Luisa said, ‘the old perv or the girls who go along with it.’

Norah bit back another caustic remark. She was bad at keeping her mouth shut. It had got her into a lot of trouble at the last place she’d worked and, in her more honest moments, she knew it was an annoying habit.

‘He’s a genius,’ Eva said, refusing to give up.

‘You’re bonkers.’

‘But he’s got us talking, hasn’t he? Even David, who doesn’t usually join in unless we’re talking cars or mountaineering.’

‘Go on, take the piss,’ said David, ‘but as far as I’m concerned, all this conversation’s done is reinforce my belief that modern art is not for me. Nothing but a load of nutcases.’

‘Philistine!’ Eva shouted.

‘Silly bitch!’ David said with a grin.

Norah looked away. Typical David—always testing his limit.

‘Watch it!’ Eva said, with mock menace. ‘I won’t stand for sexist names. If I hear anything like that again, I’ll go straight to the equal opportunities officer.’

‘You’re the equal opportunities officer,’ David said.

All three laughed.

‘I can’t imagine the women knew what they were letting themselves in for,’ Norah said.

She could hear how harsh her voice sounded. A sudden quiet fell over the room, as if her colleagues hadn’t realised that the shadowy figure smoking silently at the window could talk. Norah regretted having spoken.

Luisa nodded politely, as if she thought it a point worth considering, but she said nothing. The other two raised their eyebrows at each other.

Thirty seconds later, the kitchen was deserted except for Norah. She stubbed out her cigarette.