Last night Emily had practically dropped the snake at the door and gone elsewhere; she didn’t ask about Wheel of Fortune, and he didn’t know what exactly Sophia had told her about the Third of April, or Valia, or the fire at the Achillion. After the game he’d call them; after the game, they’d all know more. After the game—another alarming thought—he’d need to buy frozen mice for poor Louis. Turning from the mirror, Lucky opened his eyes to the encouragement and embraces his opponents were receiving from their plus ones. Dan knocked on the open door and leaned in, standing on one foot. The green room’s coffee machine made a whizzing sound like a worn-out refrigerator.

‘We’re ready when you are—whoa, nice! Looking good, Mr Mallios. Time to go, sir.’

‘The game’s not supposed to start for another hour,’ said Lucky.

‘We have to shoot some background material. Your background. Hasn’t anyone told you? No fear, it’ll be the easiest thing you do today.’

Lucky and Dan crossed the hall and went up a flight of stairs, down a hallway, and found another flight of stairs that climbed above what Lucky supposed was the Wheel of Fortune studio, and they walked along another hallway, past executive offices, until Dan pressed a lift button, and they went up one level to a roof garden with resort-style outdoor furniture. A view of grey terrace houses and the lustreless trusses and tubes of new apartment buildings. Present on this rooftop: Marjorie and a camera crew.

‘What’s this?’ said Lucky

Dan then stepped aside, holding his breath, signalling for Lucky to walk ahead of him. The sound guy whispered something in Marjorie’s ear. She waved Lucky forwards, and he moved towards her. She explained: ‘What we’re about to do is assemble a package about your background, so viewers get a sense of who you were and what you’re all about, in real life, away from Wheel. To be honest, that personal colour stuff gets lost a bit in gameplay. Plan is, if you win today we’ll run a background segment on Wheel, like we do for all Day of Fortune winners. Also, the network’s current affairs section might use the footage for a piece on Lucky’s and the Third of April. That would air around the time of the anniversary of the event. We all share content now. It’s network policy. We’ve streamlined the entertainment and news divisions.’

‘Maybe during the rugby league half-time you could run a two-minute segment on the massacre,’ said Lucky.

‘As it happens, we do run breaking news at half-time,’ said Marjorie. ‘Everyone does. But I note the sarcasm. Lucky, I’m sorry for what happened on the Third of April. I’m sorry for your losses.’