Rani and I loitered at the café for a while, recovering after the Royal Society dust-up. Then the middle of the night became early morning, but instead of going straight to the bookshop, we went via Rani and Bec’s place. Rani’s suggestion.

Drummond Street, North Carlton, is only half an hour on foot from my place, twenty minutes if I’m in a hurry. It’s part of the city where university students are so thick on the ground that you could almost walk from one side of the suburb to the other on their heads. If they stayed still and let you, which is doubtful. I wouldn’t, if I were them.

Rani let us in. Bec appeared in her pyjamas, yawning, with her hair everywhere – and with Bec’s hair, that meant nearby suburbs were in danger. ‘Happy birthday, Anton,’ she said, and she punched me on the shoulder. ‘Beard Boy becomes Birthday Boy.’

‘Hey, Bec.’ Then I gaped at something small and grey that was winding its way out of the bedroom. ‘You’ve got a cat.’

‘Well spotted,’ Bec said.

‘Of course,’ Rani said, squeezing her arm, ‘if he was well spotted he’d be a leopard. Not a cat, but pretty close.’

They grinned at each other and went for a high five that Bec began awkwardly but Rani – with her reflexes – compensated for so it ended with an impressive slap.

‘What’s its name?’ I asked, feeling a little bit like an intruder. Not a burglar type intruder, but one of those people who wander over and hover at the edge of a conversation that they’re not really part of. That sort of intruder.

‘He,’ Rani said. ‘He’s a he, not an it.’

‘Max,’ Bec said.

‘That’s an ordinary name for you two to give a cat.’

‘We didn’t call him that,’ Rani said. ‘He came with it. He’s a rescue cat.’

‘But he has other names, of course,’ Bec pointed out.

‘His being a cat and all,’ Rani added. ‘Mr Smooshyface, for instance.’

I stared. ‘Truly?’

‘And Ooja Booja,’ Bec said. ‘Although, sometimes he’s Scrawly McCaterwaul. But that’s mostly when he’s hungry.’

‘Or thirsty,’ Rani said without missing a beat.

‘Or wanting a pat,’ Bec added.

They both laughed again, and Rani scooped up this creature called Max. She buried her face in his neck while he purred smugly.

‘I have so much to learn about cats, obviously,’ I admitted.

‘They’re much simpler than people.’ Bec reached up and scratched him between the ears. He looked even smugger, if that was possible. ‘You’ll learn.’

‘I might aim to finish understanding one species first before moving on to another.’

‘You think you’re going to understand humans?’ Rani’s voice was a little fur-muffled. ‘Good luck with that.’

‘True. Any chance of a decent cup of coffee around here?’ I asked Bec, without much hope, to be honest. ‘Or do I have to settle for a cup of the other hot brown liquid?’

I was only joking. I’d found that I didn’t mind an occasional cup of tea, as long as it was good stuff, made well, in a nice cup or, failing that, a mug with a humorous saying on the side.

Bec surprised me, though. Committed tea-o-phile though she was, she led the way to the tiny kitchen and said over her shoulder, ‘Stovetop espresso okay for you?’

Gobsmacked, me. ‘This is your doing, Rani, right?’

Rani put Max on the floor while she unbuckled her belt and left her sheathed sword in the umbrella stand near the door. Max immediately rubbed against her leg. ‘We’ve taught each other a lot,’ she said. ‘I taught her how to make good coffee and she’s teaching me about your football.’

‘Bec is one of the most sensible, logical people I know, except where football’s concerned. Be prepared for heartbreak and tragedy.’

Rani shrugged. ‘It’s only a game.’

‘Don’t let her hear you say that. We might deal, professionally, with life and death all the time, but football is so much more important than that.’

We joined Bec in the kitchen. She handed Rani a cup of tea. ‘Coffee won’t be long.’

‘I’ve got one I’ve been saving up for you,’ I said to her.

‘Try me.’

Bec and I had modified our True Facts Challenge, after agreeing that we were looking for something more mature. It was her idea to go with a Quotes Challenge. Extra points were awarded for quotes that had some relevance. Bec, when it’s her turn, makes pointed commentary on me and my life. Ironic, mostly, but definitely pointed. Me, I’ve got half a dozen quotes up my sleeve that are easy to memorise.

I clasped my hands behind my back and adopted Serious Historical Pose. ‘“If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.’”

‘Someone almost terminally indecisive, I’d say,’ Rani offered.

‘I give up.’ Bec’s pyjamas had little elephants all over them, and so did the mug she was sipping out of. Consistent.

‘Abraham Lincoln.’

Bec nearly dropped her mug. ‘Never!’

‘Well, when you look a bit more closely there’s a fair bit of argument over it, but I saw his name attached at least once, so I’m going with it.’

‘Heaps of points, anyway,’ Bec said. ‘But just you wait – I’ve got a winner lined up for you for when the time is right.’

‘I’ll be ready. Bring it on.’

The espresso maker bubbled. ‘Hold on a second.’ Bec jumped up and soon I had a small cup of pretty good coffee in front of me. What am I saying? It was coffee, and its toasty aroma took me in its arms like a lover. Or like a lover is supposed to, to judge from all the movies I’ve seen. ‘Now, you want details about our difficult night of hunting numerous aggressive ghosts?’ I said to Bec after I’d recovered from my first sip.

‘If you’re quick.’

‘What?’ I asked. ‘Time poor all of a sudden?’

‘Uni stuff,’ she muttered. ‘I’ve got some catching up to do.’

I hid my surprise by saying, ‘Aww! Look at Max!’, which immediately had them both turning around and adding more awws. He wasn’t doing anything special, just being a cat, but apparently that’s always worth commenting on. It’s the paws, I think.

I needed a bit of time because I was startled by the whole idea of Bec needing to do catching up. She was never a catcher upper. She was always way out front and it was other people who had to do the catching up.

I made a mental note to follow this up, discreetly, and because mental notes have a habit of wandering away and getting lost, I punched a reminder into my phone. It was Bec, after all, and if things weren’t right with her I wanted to know about it.

The Max Admiration Society wound down its spontaneous meeting after voting him the cutest thing ever and Rani and I kicked off a description of the night’s encounter. A few minutes in, Bec stopped us and went for her laptop. ‘I may as well log this properly.’

When she got back, we impressed her with the sheer numbers of ghosts and their unprecedented viciousness, and she reached over and patted Rani’s hand before going back to the keyboard and slamming in the data.

‘So many ghosts,’ Bec said when we finished. ‘More and more every night.’

‘You know,’ Rani said, ‘if this keeps up, we could have an extreme ghost outbreak on our hands.’

‘Extreme aggressive ghost outbreak,’ Bec added. ‘In fact I’d call it a ghost epidemic.’