‘You’re being naïve. Breitner may be on your side now, but he’ll turn on you. Look at how he’s dumped Ramsey. When you’re no longer useful, he’ll destroy you. And if you let him buy Capital, he’ll be so powerful that no one will be able to control him. Not Johnny, not anyone.’

‘We don’t think so.’ She says it slowly and deliberately, as an ending. The meeting is over. Her eye scans the crowd for other chores that need doing. ‘Jimmy will owe us too much. And you’ve always underestimated Johnny.’

I recall a line of JFK’s that Dad loved to quote – and even put right at the front of one of his books. ‘Those who foolishly seek power by riding the back of the tiger end up inside it,’ I say.

‘We’re not riding the tiger. We’ve put it on a leash.’

‘Do you really believe that?’

I don’t know whether she hears. A man with a walkie-talkie is waving at her from behind the velvet rope. ‘I think we’re done, Gil. It was fun.’ She strokes my face with her forefinger and leaves.

She’s right. We’re done. I’m done. I don’t try to stop her. I walk up the wide stairs and on to a terrace that overlooks the promenade. On the embankment outside are huge screens alternating between the BBC, ITV and Sky, piping the results to a mob whose energy is still rising. A stage has been erected on the right. The engineers are on it, making a final test of the equipment. It looks like the preparation for a rock concert, and a chant of ‘Johnny, Johnny, Johnny’ is building. At the back of the podium is another screen replaying Labour’s party political broadcasts. The crowd roars every time Todd’s face appears. His eyes seem to be taunting me.

And as that enormous, smug face grins out at me, I see what’s happened.

Clare is lying in bed with Todd in a hotel room. She’s already given him the pensions tax policy, but now she needs to blow the whistle on Breitner’s theft from the pension fund. Kendall has become Breitner’s pawn. He’ll help Breitner cover it up. But when you win, you’ll be able to break free of Breitner’s grip. You can destroy him.