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“Wait!” I say urgently “Before you go, Freya, what on earth did you say to Trish about the Spanish ambassador? And the Mansion House?”

“Oh, that! Well, she kept asking questions, so I thought I’d better make some stuff up I said you could fold napkins into a scene from Swan Lake … and make ice sculptures … and David Linley once asked for your cheese-straw recipe”

“Freya …” I close my eyes

“I o, babe Love you”

“Love you too”

The phone goes dead and I stand motionless for a moment, the bathroom suddenly very silent without Freya’s husky voice in my ear

I look at ot time to have a look

Three ers as I wait for the Internet connection to work I asked Trish if I could possibly send an e-er to open up the study for me and loiter behind the chair, until I politely asked her for some privacy

Eddie’s hoe opens and I immediately type in carterspinkcom

As the faree circle on the screen, I can feel all the old tensions rising, like leaves fro a deep breath, I click swiftly past the introduction, straight to Associates The list coht fro

I tell myself to be rational Of course they’ve taken me off I’ve been fired, what else did I expect? That was my old life and I’o to Iris’s house, and forget about it That’s what I should do Instead, I findinto the search box No result pings up a few moments later

No result? Nowhere on the whole Web site? But … what about in the Media section? Or News Archives?

I quickly click onto the Done Deals box, and search for Euro-Sal,European deal last year, and I handled the financing The report appears on the screen, with the headline carter spink advises on £20bn er My eyes run down the familiar text The Carter Spink team was led from London by Arnold Saville, with associates Guy Ashby and Jane Ston

I stop in disbelief, then go back and read the textwords: and Sa, it should read But the words aren’t there I’m not there Quickly I click onto another deal, the Conlon acquisition I know I’m in this report I’ve read it, for Christ’s sake I was on the teaot a tombstone to prove it

But I’m not mentioned here either