Giles replied in the negative and then asked Kerry whether she knew why Jeanette and Cormac’s house at the far end of the avenue was up for sale. I listened for a moment to her explanation of how a top-floor refurbishment had slowly but surely descended into mental and marital breakdown, and then I made a decision.

‘I’m going to help Cameron with the drinks,’ I said, standing up and walking hurriedly away, not bothering to wait for acknowledgement or approval of my plan.

Once back in the bar, my colleague wasn’t difficult to spot, being taller than the vast majority of his fellow drinkers. An additional aid to locating him was his thick mousy hair, which was today far more bed-head than usual, standing on end and adding to his height. He appeared to be next in line to be served and was tracking the bar staff intently, ready to catch an eye at the first opportunity.

I took a deep breath, affixed a smile, and then made my way towards him, tapping his back on arrival.

He turned with some reluctance away from the bar, his surprised expression immediately confirming that he was as uninformed as I had been about us spending the evening together.

‘You?’ he said.

‘Yes, it is me.’

He frowned, clearly confused and also slightly flustered. ‘Are you here for the band too? And hello, by the way.’ He patted down his hair and glanced over my shoulder into the other room. ‘Is this a coincidence?’ he asked.

‘Apparently not.’

‘And you didn’t know either?’

‘Nope.’

He rolled his eyes.

‘I still would have been very happy to come, though,’ I clarified, ‘even if Giles had told me that you were going to be here. So I’m not sure why he didn’t.’

He looked down at me for a moment and then smiled. ‘Same here,’ he said. ‘But Kerry does love a bit of drama.’

‘Giles, not so much. So I’m not sure what his excuse is.’ I looked over my shoulder. ‘But I’m definitely going to ask him,’ I added, with a certain amount of menace.

‘What’s this band, then?’ he asked. ‘Kerry was a bit muddled about their music.’

‘Reggae and Eighties pop and rock. Our neighbour plays the bodhrán and the penny whistle.’

‘Oh, OK. So she wasn’t muddled then – apart from that she thought he played the recorder.’

It was at that point that the noise of a soundcheck, including a guitar being tuned and a shrill blast on a penny whistle, reached us. This was closely followed by Bill shouting, ‘Hello, young lovers!’ and making a reference to ‘Giles and his cousin’, which I was very grateful not to be able to entirely make out.

‘Drink?’ Cameron was looking at me, clearly amused.

‘No, thanks, we’ve just got one.’

I turned my head as Bill boomed something about ‘cousins’ and ‘blood relatives’.