I sat at my cheap chipboard and fake veneer desk and watched the pedestrians walk past my tiny glass-fronted office in Long street.

When I started my cyber forensics business I thought that I would be selling for a fortune in an IPO in 6 month’s time. Unfortunately for me the bubble burst, and business went down the tubes.

Here I was, six years later, waiting for a contract to tide me over until next month. Making sure that no-one was looking, I reached into my drawer, grabbed the smooth squareness of it and pulled it a bit closer… A few minutes of playing on my PSP would really take the edge off.

Then I noticed him approaching. Unusually for a male client of mine, he still had all of his hair, stood straight and proud, and walked as if the world owed him something instead of the other way round.

Barging through my door he announced in stentorian tones: “Solly! Pack your things and come with me. We have a criminal to catch!”

How do you disobey such a dramatic statement?

I went.