I had a busy day ahead with a research council panel meeting in the morning followed by an operation to remove a facial skin cancer in the afternoon. CO was on the same schedule as me so – as a distraction – we spent our last night of relative freedom performing card tricks on other members of the panel.

While CO played magician, I took on the role of a regular punter. In reality, however, I was covering up for CO’s mistakes as he handled the deck. Happily the panel members were completely fooled and enjoyed the show.

Afterwards I asked CO about AM’s whereabouts since I had not heard from her for some time. ‘She’s working in Finland during lockdown’, he replied.