A rugby ground in Twickenham, south-west London. The corridors run thick with paranoia. Urgent whispers can be heard behind office doors. Rumours ricochet round the place like shrapnel. Heads are set to roll.
But this is not Twickenham Stadium. And this is not 2011. This is the Stoop and the date is April 2009. The media call it 'Bloodgate', as if it is some unspeakable crime from the pages of a James Ellroy novel. It is only rugby, but in sporting terms it is one of the most sensational felonies of the decade.
Two and a half years on and the crime scene has been disinfected and it is all fresh nostrils and beaming smiles at the Stoop again: 14 wins out of 14 this season and a home Heineken Cup fixture against French dandies Toulouse to look forward to this Friday.
Across the way, the Rugby Football Union's bigwigs could be forgiven for peeping through their blinds and ruminating: "If Harlequins can drag a mop over their place and emerge smelling of roses, then perhaps there's hope for us, too."
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So there we are, two excellent results for Glasgow and Edinburgh. And I think they were down to two things - good players and improving game structure.
The first point is that, as always, the quality of Scottish players is as good as any in the UK. For far too long we have been told by a succession of coaches that they are working with a certain, perhaps lesser, quality of player.
Actually, that's nonsense. The English league is full of Scottish players and there's a crop of young players who are as good as anything out there. I would say that Duncan Weir and Harry Leonard at stand-off are international class.
I first saw Duncan Weir playing at school level, and he was extraordinary.
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So big Richie Gray is leaving Glasgow. Is he making a mistake? What on earth is one of our best players doing leaving Glasgow to play in Manchester?
And is the English Premiership that attractive?
Why is Scotland's most marketable player walking out the door?
Frankly, I'd like to have seen him either stay at Glasgow to gallop across Scotstoun when Glasgow move there, or go and sample the life of wine, pate, some strange pain (their word for the staff of life) and the odd fight in the sunshine.
I am surprised he didn't go to France.
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© 2011