The message came in on a Thursday morning while James was arguing about a chair.
Nyra wanted the good one moved into the back room for Alice, on the grounds that Alice was a guest. Alice had pointed out that she had lived there for two and a half weeks and had therefore stopped being a guest. Nyra had said that was exactly the sort of thing a guest would say.
James's phone went on the table.
**Roisin Kavanagh:** *Weekly update attached. Contractors are on schedule for the residential wing, though "schedule" is doing some work in that sentence. Office fit-out has slipped a week; nobody cares. Server migration finished Tuesday.*
*The licensing-critical works passed final inspection this morning.*
*All five of you. Headquarters. Two o'clock.*
James read it.
Then he read it again, from the top, slower, the way you check a bank balance you do not believe.
The kitchen carried on for about four seconds without him.
