‘Yes, I seem to remember him being extremely gung-ho at the buffet and on the dance floor,’ I agreed. ‘Anyway, are you on your way to see him? How is he?’

‘Well, here’s the thing, Edie: he’s dead.’

I lowered the phone and frowned at it for a moment before returning it to my ear. ‘Dead?’ I queried. ‘But he’s the same age as you, isn’t he? Wasn’t he?’

‘A year younger, in fact,’ said Giles, sounding understandably subdued. ‘Thirty-five. Dropped down dead of a heart attack in an all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant last Thursday. Coronaries were completely blocked, apparently. Who’d have thought it? Apart from absolutely everybody, of course,’ he added quietly.

‘I’m so sorry, Giles.’

‘Yes, all very sad and, thanks to a miscommunication, I’ve only just discovered that the funeral is tomorrow in Edinburgh. Hence I’m at the airport.’

‘I see,’ I said, finally understanding. ‘And do you need my help? Would you like me to pick you up when you get back?’

‘You are so kind, but no, thank you. I actually have a quite different favour to ask of you.’

‘Fire away.’

‘Well, it’s Anthony, you see. I’ve had to come away at such short notice that I was unable to make entirely satisfactory arrangements for his safekeeping and care.’

‘You’d like me to pop round and walk him?’ I asked, reaching for my bag and delving inside. ‘I’m not at home, but I think I have your keys with me.’

‘There is no need to trouble yourself tonight. Kerry, my wonderful neighbour at number 21 – you’ve heard me talk of her – has taken Anthony in. However, she is taking her son to a rather wonderful animatronic dinosaur event in Taunton tomorrow at nine a.m., so I was wondering if perhaps you could walk Anthony then? Would that be possible?’

I smiled to myself, always entertained by any mention of Giles’s neighbours in the north-west Bristol avenue he had called home for a little over two years. Although I had never actually met any of them, their habits and foibles were, thanks to his affectionate anecdotes, increasingly familiar to me and it was obvious from the incidental details of his stories, that his neighbours were just as fond of him as he clearly was of them.