‘I’m so glad to hear that.’

‘I hope my hair’s alright? The salon did it to order but I’m not sure how many classic chignons they’ve styled.’

‘It looks great. You look lovely.’

‘It’s all just for fun, anyhow,’ Lucinda responded.

‘Will this thing also help locate us if we’re lost?’ her companion asked as the usher in the tux clipped his bracelet on.

‘Yes, actually it does,’ Jessica Rabbit smiled. ‘Something like that.’ She pointed along the driveway. ‘Please, go through. My colleagues will let you know where to go next.’

When they’d cleared the table, Petra approached.

‘Welcome to the Fallout Ball,’ Jessica said.

‘Thanks, I… I actually don’t have a ticket. I’m just looking for someone.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ the tux started. ‘You need a ticket.’

‘Don’t worry, Ernesto – she’s on the list,’ said Jessica. ‘Petra Orff, playing Camilla Martinez, right?’

‘Uh, I don’t think so. I didn’t register. My friend had the invitation and I told him I wasn’t coming.’

‘But here you are,’ Jessica Rabbit smiled. ‘He must have registered on your behalf.’

Petra looked at the woman’s face. Had she seen this person before? In the gloom, coloured only by this odd, jagged glare, it was hard to tell. Besides, she was wearing thick stage make-up, a wig, false eyelashes. There was no way to tell. ‘I just need to go and find him. That’s all. I didn’t get dressed up or anything.’

And there was nothing weird, Petra told herself, about the fact they knew who she was. In the last few troubled years, facial recognition and SIM proximity tech had become widespread at concerts and sports events. There should be nothing ominous about the fact that they’d recognise her from the previous shows.

‘Let me take your phone and your bag, anything you don’t want to carry – you know the drill, don’t you? – and you can go through and look for your friend.’

If she argued, she wouldn’t be let in, but she needed to keep her phone in case Helena or the hospital called. The night she’d so willingly ceded her phone before Cabinet seemed like a different life. The man in the tux was helping the next guests in line, and it was only Jessica she had to pass. With a docile smile, she handed her sling bag over.

‘Your phone?’ Jessica said.

‘It’s in there,’ Petra said, as naturally as she could.

‘Right, then.’ Jessica Rabbit locked the bag away and turned back to clip a bracelet onto her wrist. She indicated the number stamped onto the wristband. ‘You’re number 138. You’ll need that when you get in.’ Jessica smiled a glittering smile. There was a dark stain on one of her incisors; lipstick, maybe.

* * *