‘Middle of next month, hopefully,’ I replied. ‘I’ve just got to sort out my current tenancy with the agency. I haven’t got much to move, because most of my furniture is still in storage.’

‘Let me know if you need a hand with shifting and the like,’ said Roger gruffly. ‘Don’t struggle on your own.’ He didn’t look at me as he made the offer, but instead unzipped his case and peered inside in an attempt to distract Luke and myself from the fact that, despite a decidedly crusty exterior, he was a very lovely man with a very warm heart.

‘That’s really kind of you.’ I placed a hand briefly on his shoulder as I walked past him to my desk. ‘I’m going to hire a little van and I think Giles, my cousin, will be around to help. But I’ll definitely take you up on the offer if he’s not, so thank you.’

‘No bother,’ he said.

‘And of course I’m happy to help too,’ Luke chipped in. ‘No matter how much I disapprove.’

‘Thank you, Luke,’ I said. ‘And if you do find yourself in Henleaze on that or any other day, let me know and I’ll stand you a pint in one of those pubs.’

His upper lip curled slightly. ‘Yay.’

I tutted at him and was rewarded with a wink as he spun round in his chair to face his screen.

I smiled to myself, reflecting on the fact that Ruby’s loss notwithstanding, I would still be part of a caring, if somewhat quirky, team of co-workers.

Regrettably, my sense of cosy camaraderie proved to have the longevity of a gnat. Because just as I was about to embarrass both Luke and Roger by telling them how much I genuinely appreciated them, Cameron swept into the office, his unbuttoned blue raincoat swishing behind him, like a villain in search of a nightie-clad woman to tie to the nearest set of railway tracks.

‘Cam! How did the weekend go?’ asked Luke, in a manner so cheery I could only conclude that either he didn’t know that the man he was addressing was actually a bit of a bastard, or that he was capable of overlooking that fact in a way which was impossible for me. It was a confusing choice because, instinctively, I didn’t really believe either to be the case.

Cameron said something about a weekend of DIY – a comment that clearly harked back to a conversation in which I had played no part – before answering a question from Roger about the central valley guttering on his butterfly roof. I, meanwhile, shifted my attention to Roger himself, wondering if I would be able to guess anything about his attitude towards Cameron from their exchange. But Roger’s manner was as impenetrably deadpan as ever and, as for Cameron, he seemed completely at ease.

Until, that is, he looked at me.