As for Alison, I could see how, by applying her usual dispassionate, entirely professional approach to the matter, she would be able to maintain both a clear conscience and a highly effective working relationship with Cameron, untroubled by doubts as to whether or not the incident with Ruby had been a genuine misunderstanding. Moreover, when Ruby had declared that she didn’t wish to pursue the matter, Alison would no doubt have simply accepted that decision on the basis that, firstly, it was Ruby’s to make and, secondly, that it was impossible for her to categorically determine what had actually gone on between them.

And I might have been able to adopt the same approach as Alison, had I merely been Ruby’s colleague, and not her friend. However, as her friend, I had no trouble whatsoever in determining what had gone on and consequently I didn’t want to be any closer to Cameron Grange, either figuratively or literally, than I absolutely had to be. I didn’t seek his professional opinion, I didn’t go for drinks if I knew he would be there and, whenever he tried to talk to me about any subject other than work, I kept my answers brief and closed-ended.

If my other colleagues noticed this reluctance to engage, they didn’t mention it, and my relationships with them continued much as they always had. So yes, I hadn’t told Kerry a barefaced lie; work was largely fine, with Luke, Roger and Alison, plus the enjoyable challenges of the job that I loved, providing me with a welcome daily distraction from the loss of Ruby, and the presence of her far-from-satisfactory replacement.

It was upon precisely these positives that I was reflecting while sitting at my desk one Friday evening, about a month after moving to Henleaze, when I was disturbed by Cameron saying goodnight. I had, until that moment, been in a perfectly good mood, having just received a text from Giles, reminding me not to work too late because we were going to June and Stan’s that evening. I had smiled at the thought. OK, so it might not be an evening of cocktails or haute cuisine, but I was interested in putting some faces to names and genuinely looking forward to meeting, and swapping business cards with, Kerry’s architect friend.