Marguerite Okonjo said it to Arthur.

The substance was: Julian’s entire defence, in both proceedings, is that this is a personal vendetta by a business partner conducting an affair with his wife.

If that becomes true at any point, it does not matter that it was not true when it started.

It will be alleged, it will be argued, it will be believed by some people forever, and it will affect the credibility of a board, a law firm, a forensic accountant and a federal referral.

Marguerite’s exact sentence to Arthur, which he repeated to me once, was: “You may be right about everything and lose anyway, and this is the only mechanism by which that happens.”