SPC, SH and I stayed in Birmingham at SH’s flat a couple of weeks before the start of our final year at University. Just across the road people were queuing to lay flowers at a murder scene. We tried to avoid them by playing on the swings in a posh city centre bar, where uniformed waiting staff were available to push the customers.

Our main topics of conversation were where we would eat our breakfast, whether it was now too late to seek a part-time admin role at the University for the coming year, accommodation options for SPC and me, and how likely it was that TPR would find a job in Birmingham.