‘Raze?’ I say. I’ve heard the name before.

He pulls himself up, sitting against the headboard. I reach for the bedside lamp, turn it on and he squints against the light.

Last time we banned him from his computer for a week he was teasing another gamer online. ‘Evan, you’ve not been bullying that kid online again have you?’

‘No, he’s just another player.’ It’s all I can do to keep from rolling my eyes. ‘He made the others in my clan kick me out and he took my place. That’s why I joined another clan.’

I draw a long breath, assessing the situation. I can’t tell him that this is all frivolous, that the real world is outside, that the internet is intangible, irrelevant to life, because it’s not true; the cyber sphere is as much a part of the real world as anything else. But still I feel frustrated.

‘So Raze kicked you out? How does that make you responsible for the fire?’

I think about the word, Raze, to level or destroy. It’s a coincidence, surely. Evan’s gaming alias is probably Destroyer or Hell bringer.

‘When I joined another clan, he told me to quit or he would dox me. But I didn’t quit. Then he said he knows where I live. He said he was going to swat me.’

I have no idea what any of these words mean, but they don’t sound particularly threatening.

‘What is dox and swat?’

He sniffs, tilts his head forward. ‘Dox is to reveal someone’s real identity and personal details online. I stream, so people can see my screen and my face, but that’s it, nothing else.’

‘How would he do that?’

‘Hacking, usually, or there are other ways. By tracking my IP address he would know our suburb, then using screengrabs from my streams and trying to match my face to photos on other people’s Facebook and Instagram pages, especially tagged at local places like restaurants or parks.’ He’s talking about my social media accounts and July’s. Not Gabe’s, I note, because Gabe is absent from the online world. The only information you will find there is his short profile on the webpage for Moore and Wansbone Accountants. You’re much more likely to find Gabe reading a book or a newspaper then staring at his phone.

‘What do you mean by “Swatting”?’

‘Swatting is when people call in a serious crime to a police department and they give them another gamer’s address. Then police storm their house and it often comes up on live streams. I was worried that would happen, but then what happened was worse.’

‘Oh, Evan, I doubt that’s the case here. Raze, whoever he is, probably lives in another country.’

‘He doesn’t, he lives here. He told me he lives in Melbourne. I know he lives in Melbourne.’

‘How could you possibly know that?’