Jess has shoulder-length brown hair. Her face is ‘round and pointy’, as I once heard her tell her best friend on the phone when they were discussing whether she should go for a bob. She’s pretty, but I’ve never tried on any funny stuff with her. Even I am not so dumb as to want to complicate the most important professional relationship in my life. She is the yin to my yang, detail to my broad brush, caution to my recklessness, Lisa to my Bart. I brought her into the Lobby from the accountancy team eighteen months ago, and for the first time in my life I’ve gone from being a lone wolf to hunting in a pack – of two. Her superficial qualifications are a first-class degree in mathematics and a doctorate in monetary economics. More important, she likes a drink, a laugh and nicking the secrets of the powerful, rich and pompous almost as much as I do. When I hired her, my conceit was that I was her Sensei and she was Grasshopper. These days, too often I am the student. She’ll end up my boss. Bet on it.

She runs a disapproving eye over me.

‘What on earth was all that about with Scott? Have you gone mad?’

‘Crossed wires. About a story.’

‘Gil. You were seconds from decking him. You are too overwrought to be at work.’

‘Don’t exaggerate.’

‘I’m not. You are not yourself. Please go home.’

‘I hate being there. You know that.’

‘Then you should be with your family.’

‘That’s worse than being on my own.’ I drop into my chair and swivel it towards her. ‘I need to pick your brains. About pensions . . .’

She decides to humour me, a habitual reaction. ‘OK. What exactly?’ She takes her pen and starts tapping it nervously on the desk.

‘Is there talk about the government doing something about how they’re taxed?’

She snorts in exasperation. ‘You mean something like what I wrote about a month ago?’

‘Ah. Probably.’

‘You didn’t read it.’ No point me arguing. I shrug in half apology. ‘I wrote that Kendall was planning to raise billions from pension funds. It was quite a big deal.’

‘Sorry.’

‘I am assuming you haven’t looked at the Treasury Select Committee’s report, either?’ She sighs. ‘It catalogues the huge tax incentives given by the government to encourage saving for a pension.’

I try to suppress a yawn.

‘You are pathetic. This stuff matters. The report says that much of the subsidy for pensions is poor value for money. It looks to me as if the MPs on the committee were front-running for the Treasury, conditioning opinion for a big reform.’

‘So why hasn’t anything been announced?’

‘Dunno. It’s been nagging at me. I’ve been meaning to follow it up.’