The meeting was called for ten o'clock.
Graham's team briefings always ran for exactly forty minutes, not because he respected anyone's time, but because he liked efficiency, speed and accuracy.
I arrived early.
I chose a seat midway down the table. Not at the back where you could easily be overlooked, not at the front where attention was inevitable. Just in the middle. I was visible but not at the center of attention.
Lucy arrived a minute later and took the chair beside me. Brian slid in across the table, straightening his jacket, nodding at people with his energy brimming.
He looked relaxed.
Graham entered at exactly ten. His pot belly preceding him, salt and pepper hair freshly combed, reading glasses pushed up on his forehead like a prop. He set his folder on the table and looke
