[Ricki's avidity for the written word endears him to Iris almost as much as his concern for a lost dog did, and she doesn't try to interrupt until she's managed to steer him to a table. Then she fetches herself a gin and tonic and, after eyeing him briefly, decides on black label Johnnie Walker for Ricki.

When she does speak, it's quietly (by Iris standards), as if to someone in a library.]

Let me know if you've any questions, sweetheart. Or, well, any immediate questions. You aren't going mad, though, the universe does that all by itself.