High-mindedness is all very well, Cullen thinks, but it doesn’t make a dent in the mortgage. He waits for Maddy to stop talking and leaves a respectful pause before saying, ‘Should we be worried?’

Shaking her head and waving the question away, Maddy says, ‘Just keep an eye on Nevis Smith for a while, to reassure her mother.’ Brightening, she goes on, ‘Now, that’s not what you came to see me about.’

‘No,’ he says, nervously. ‘Though it’s not good news I’m afraid.’ He has been thinking about this conversation half the night. It won’t be easy, but it has to be had now. Any later and he runs the risk of Ratner cooking up his own version. ‘Since you brought up our robust policy on sexual harassment… Not that this is harassment, necessarily, but…’

He sees Ince look up, a small bead of alarm in her eyes.

‘I discovered very recently that Mark Ratner has been carrying on with one of our undergrads, Natasha Tillotson. Of course I immediately insisted that Mark put a stop to it, but it appears that he did not.’

Maddy’s brow is furrowed and her lips are pressed together so hard that the skin above them blooms creamy white. This is harder to brush aside than the petty concerns of Nevis Smith’s mother. ‘I assumed all that nonsense had stopped after Mark got married. Is the girl a problem? Might she bring a complaint? That’s all we need right now.’

‘It’s more of an academic matter.’ He opens his laptop.

‘If you’re about to show me something, you’d better come closer,’ Maddy says. Cullen moves over to sit in the visitor’s chair at the desk.

‘You look rather tired, Christopher,’ Maddy says calmly as he nears, but with a hint of reproach. ‘I’ll ask Alison to fetch that coffee after all.’

‘I was scratching my head over this most of last night,’ Cullen says.

‘That must be how you came by that abrasion on your face,’ she adds, pointing to a spot on his cheek. ‘I couldn’t see it when you were sitting on the sofa.’

Cullen raises his finger to his face and feels a roughened patch. Did Ratner get him? If he did, he has no memory. All he can recall is the moment his fist made contact with Ratner’s cheek. Gathering himself and, forcing a smile, he says, ‘Lazy razor work.’

Ince returns the smile and, gesturing to his right hand, says, ‘Been shaving your knuckles too?’

‘Oh, that,’ he says, as casually as he can. ‘Loose paving in the driveway. Lucky not to break anything.’

She lets this pass and, with a raised eyebrow, says, ‘You were saying…’

‘It appears that Mark has been doctoring Natasha Tillotson’s grades.’

Maddy’s face darkens. In a strained voice, she says, ‘You have any evidence of that?’