The art teacher’s eyes closed in search of the answer. There was silence. Marjorie looked at her index card. ‘A fictional character, a fictional character,’ said Marjorie, who repeated herself when she wanted you to hurry up. Dan had warned all the contestants about this signal. The art teacher spun the wheel again. She hit Lose a Turn. Lucky let out an audible breath.

‘Lucky!’ said Marjorie. ‘It’s your time to shine.’

‘I believe so,’ he said. He spun three times for a total of $1800. He guessed Aphrodite goddess of love and beauty.

Marjorie reminded viewers that Lucky was only two episodes away from a Day of Fortune. Swing music, faddish that year, played over the PA.

3.

During the break between the second and third games, Lucky left his dressing room and went out to the courtyard with the rest of the audience. The clouds were breaking apart and rain pooled on the new paving stones. A passing train scattered the conversations, after which Lucky could hear some audience members talking about him. Their voices were louder than usual, after all that time watching other people speak. They liked him. They didn’t like him. Was he on the spectrum? He was super old. Notice that Marjorie hadn’t mentioned the shooting at his cafe?

The sky was a grimy colour, a pile of unwashed sheets.

From the sound of Emily’s voice last night, when she called to say she couldn’t make the taping—a flat voice in which there was no trace of acquaintance—Lucky knew that she’d discovered something. Had she already spoken to Sophia?

Nearby, the rigger and cue card guy were smoking, and drinking cans of cola. They shot four episodes twice a week. The changeover between eps was scheduled to take forty-five minutes. The crew was usually set in thirty.

Lucky won the third show without difficulty.

4.

For the fourth episode, the audience, as instructed by Dan, clapped a little harder than before. Marjorie made small talk with Lucky and the camera stayed on him, as if trying to crack his composure. Next to him was a contestant on holiday from England. The other was a bank clerk. They meant nothing to Marjorie. She reminded viewers that Lucky was one episode away from his Day of Fortune.

Lucky’s hand shook as he spun for the first puzzle, the wheel ticking down to Lose a Turn. The English tourist and the bank clerk hooted and clapped with extra vigour because they now had a chance. Marjorie didn’t bother asking Lucky’s competitors about their lives or plans. The bank clerk, a man with a small bald head, won the first and second puzzle. The show halted for commercials. Lucky went to the toilet and Dan waited for him outside.