Black Chalk

Dearest Jolyon,

First of all, heartfelt congratulations. Please find your prize money herewith. We agreed upon ten thousand pounds, of course, but the other two thousand pounds represent the monies deposited by yourself and Mark Cutler. (The tragic suicide of young Mark remains one of Game Soc’s overwhelming regrets. However, it was agreed, if you remember, that the deposit of any defaulter would be added to the prize fund. And the rules are the rules, we suppose. That was certainly always your position, Jolyon, if memories serve us correctly.)

There is one final matter: Game Soc is still in possession of a final one thousand pounds, the deposit banked by Theodore Chadwick Mason. Please do have a good hard think, Jolyon, and perhaps you might let us know the precise location at which Mr Mason might be found. There remains, alas, the awkward question of unfinished business.

Other than that, Jolyon, good luck. Good luck, and our very best wishes.

G.S.

No, I have told enough truth, I have played by their rules, I am free.

So I hold Dee, only hold her, old friends who have spent too long apart. I have hidden myself away from everything for too long. I have a small amount of money now, a gentle itch for something new.

But as I let Dee go, I start to wonder – how much did he love her? Did Chad love Dee unreservedly or did a part of him want her because, in having her, he imagined he was defeating me?

Acknowledgements

I always used to believe lengthy and rambling acknowledgements at the ends of novels to be an author showing off his number or quality of friends. Then I wrote one. And now I realise that so many people have been such an enormous help to me that it would be an act of unpardonable rudeness not to thank them all.

Therefore, thank you so very much to all the following:

For everything, my wife Margi Conklin. Not a single page of this novel would have been written were it not for her unwavering and loving support.

For reading me stories while curled on her lap, for encouraging me in my own story-telling and for her constant cheerleading, my mother, June.

For her unflagging support, shrewd suggestions and for never giving up, my extraordinary agent Jessica Papin at Dystel & Goderich.

For her inspiring, tireless insight and innumerable improvements, my editor Alison Hennessey at Harvill Secker.

For their enormous professionalism and kind support, Lauren Abramo, Arabella Stein and Michelle Weiner.

For their relentlessly intelligent reading, re-reading and invaluable suggestions, Jemima Rhys-Evans, Katherine Gleason, Paul Manes, Sarah Crawford, Shaun Pye (thank you for ideas as well), Jeffrey Williams, Jonathan Brown and May Kuckro.

For his help, twenty-three years ago, with the conception of the Game (which thankfully we never played), Chris Winslow.

For help with attention to detail, Ted & Sue Conklin and Jason Kohn. For publishing advice and support, Lisa Thompson. And thank you also to the following for their various and much-appreciated contributions – Andrew Cresswell, John Lee, Adam Lewin, Stefanie Cohen, Brian Sampson, Jillian Straus, Jon Luke, Sharon Wright, Dorothy Koomson, James Jones, Kathy Fry, Simon Rhodes, Ben Fowler and Felicity de Chenu.

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