RR had a very low opinion of the entertainment troupe that had turned up on campus to liven up our engineering programme. ‘They’re a bunch of monkeys who know nothing about research!’ he complained.

Meanwhile I was busy investigating public sector fraud. A group of female staff in engineering had submitted to the University a series of fake expenses claims that were supposedly connected to the visiting entertainers. I gathered the culprits together and lectured them on the need for absolute honesty in public service.

They did not share my opinion. Indeed one admitted that she went shoplifting in her spare time.