‘I must be paranoid. I was worried I’d wronged you somehow. Or that you knew my companion and she’d wronged you instead.’

‘No, sorry, I was just looking over. I was wondering if she was your daughter, actually.’

‘God, no – what makes you say that?’

‘Oh, I thought I caught a resemblance.’

We both turned and stared at her. She looked quizzical and turned away from our scrutiny.

‘She’s not my daughter, but you’re accurate in one sense: it’s a relationship of formal obligation. I’m her PhD supervisor. What are you having?’

He got me a pint, himself a half and a bowl of nuts, and then he shook my hand and wished me luck. When he returned to the booth he sat opposite her this time, so I could only see her face. His exchange with me seemed to have annoyed her. She was frowning and kept looking up at me, and I was forced to become a better spy, to pay less attention to them. I caught him shaking his head at her at one point. She looked at him incredulously and then seemed to change character completely. She pulled her laptop back in front of her, a barrier between them, and looked down at the screen every time she spoke to him. I couldn’t see his face to ascertain what his reaction was. Eventually, she stopped asking him questions and stayed quiet for a while, studying the surface of the table. This lasted for a few more minutes until he stood up. She got up too, and they made their way back through the bar together, both smiling at me when I glanced up at them. I had half of my pint left so couldn’t leap up and follow them without being obvious. Nevertheless, I downed it quickly and looked to see if they walked past the window back in the direction they’d come from. When they didn’t, I hopped down from my stool and headed out. I couldn’t see them in any direction. I looked back into the reception for the hotel and wandered over to the receptionist.

‘Excuse me,’ I said. ‘Do you know if Andrew Lancaster has checked in yet?’

He looked down at his screen. ‘What’s your relationship to him?’

‘I’m just meeting him for a drink and he’s late.’

He looked again. ‘No one of that name has checked in,’ he said.

‘Thanks,’ I said, and left.

‌

‌Five