‘Next Tuesday I’ll be wearing this same suit at a taping of Wheel of Fortune. All going well, I’ll reach the jackpot episode by the next day’s taping. If I win the jackpot, I’ll have money for a restaurant. And I tell you, Wheel is the easiest game show on television. The phrases are all too common. Find yourself in trouble? Buy a vowel. And look at the foot traffic on this street! This is my chance right here. You know, I used to visit an illegal gaming room on this street.’

‘This is just more gambling, I think,’ said Emily.

He said: ‘I’d like you to be my plus one at the taping. It will be good for your story. You’ll get some nice detail.’

She couldn’t bring herself to accept that his TV appearance and her Sydney visit had coincided by chance. He must have told the producers he was available only this week or next, and they gave him what he wanted. What he wanted was the glorious ending of his story to be dramatised in the New Yorker. His final investment in life. He saw himself as her collaborator. His shrewdness, his energy, his unlikely plans. Emily had to respect his talent for hope. She said: ‘There must be better ways of getting the money together.’

‘I’m old. Who’s going to lend me a couple hundred grand?’

‘A bank. Or you could find investors, people with money and experience.’

‘I saw a bank manager and he said he’d loan me the money if I put up my house. Then I had to tell him I rent. I saw other loan officers. Next I went to see an old business friend of mine, Michael Ventouras (he’s Greek, he changed his first name but didn’t bother with surname). Michael used to be the state manager of Streets Ice Creams, and he made a packet because of people like me; we sold the Streets range in Lucky’s for thirty years. When I asked him for a loan, Michael said, I can’t do it. I’ve got grandkids.’

‘Starting a small business is stressful and you’re not young.’

‘This is my last chance to do something.’

‘I’d like to know why you don’t have pride in what you’ve accomplished. What am I missing? What aren’t you telling me?’