‘The people at your cafe don’t like me, do they?’

‘Rubbish. See you later, yes?’

The police claimed Henry had the rifle and ammunition vest already in his car, likely in the boot. According to the timeline, he could not have driven home before visiting the restaurant. Then why did he knock on the door? Police speculated: perhaps Henry was looking for distraction, or he wanted to spare Lucky’s life and on the way to the cafe he checked the restaurant boss was at home. Or he knew perfectly well that Lucky would be another person who wouldn’t give him what he wanted, and the visit might serve as propellant.

Peering through blinds in the front window, Lucky watched him cross the road and get into his hatchback, the car radio booming with the cackle and bark of football commentary.

Chapter 25: 2002

2002

1.

Time for makeup again. Lucky Mallios, his face loose and expressionless, his eyes closed, sat before a mirror framed with fluorescent tubes. That morning in the shower he had shaved his face by touch, without a mirror, because he decided it was too much to confront his reflection on the Day of Fortune. Jennine, the make-up artist, worked on the shaving rash across Lucky’s neck. His posture kept deteriorating as he sat in the chair.

‘You look totally stressed out,’ Jennine said.

‘Right now I need to block out irrelevant thoughts.’

‘Such as?’

‘I made a lot of mistakes in my life.’

‘You can’t talk like that, mister!’ said Jennine. ‘You’re about to win three hundred thousand dollars. You’re getting that money!’

Earlier, in an attempt to prepare himself for the television studio environment, for the bright lights and cold air, for the ramping up and maintaining of audience enthusiasm to a degree that was unnatural, he left Louis II with fresh water in the flat and took a train to Circular Quay, where he sat on a bench outside the Museum of Contemporary Art. He watched as the sun came out from behind a cloud and shone on the Opera House tiles and made them look brand-new.

‘Nearly finished,’ said Jennine. ‘No plus ones again?’

‘Didn’t invite anyone. They’d make me nervous. Put me off my game.’