I clicked open the first file and, as I did so, an odd idea entered my mind like a refrain and grew from idle thought to inspiration. I felt like Einstein confronting E=mc2 on the blackboard inside my head. I had obeyed the rules of the system. After losing five times in a row, I had stopped. That’s what you are supposed to do. The next step was to start again. I thought, if I borrowed £310 from the Roche-Marshall sundries account, I could make a little money and put it back before anyone noticed. It was just a few clicks away. The room was cool and quiet. My hands were clammy. There was sweat between my breasts. I hung my pink jacket on the back of the chair, sat very still, very upright, completely poised. This was a bad thing I was about to do, but it was the right thing. The only thing. There were butterflies in my tummy as I entered the Roche-Marshall account. I entered the account numbers, the secret code and keyed in £310. My finger hovered over the zero and, like an echo, I pushed the zero once more.
