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called you back this soon.’
    â€˜Go on,’ said Otto, sensing the reticence in Angelo’s voice.
    â€˜I got a call this morning’ – say it, he told himself – ‘from a television director.’
    The involuntary sound in Otto’s throat might have come from The Exorcist.
    Angelo pressed on.
    â€˜They’re launching a new cultural show on television next month. It sounds as if it could be reasonably highbrow.’
    Angelo was frantically pushing all the right buttons he could think of, before Otto made that terrible sound again.
    â€˜Chloe, the show’s director, thought that the planned demolition of Marlowe House would make an interesting feature for the programme. She lives in Taylor House, as a matter of fact.’
    â€˜Of course she does,’ said Otto, darkly.
    â€˜That’s how the problem with its twin across London came to her attention. Chloe’s lifestyle coach, who lives on the floor above, showed her the story.’
    From the snort on the end of the line, Angelo guessed that maybe he shouldn’t have added this last piece of information.
    â€˜She was especially interested when I mentioned the appeal, and when I told her that you were taking a personal involvement in the campaign. I must admit to you here, she was surprised to discover you were still alive.’
    â€˜That’s understandable,’ said Otto. ‘I’m surprised to discover it myself most mornings.’
    Good, thought Angelo, he’s regained his sense of humour. Now it’s time for a touch of flattery.
    â€˜She’s been doing some research about you. She said she didn’t realise you were such a well-known celebrity during the 1960s.’
    â€˜I exchanged some ideas on contemporary culture with a group of fellow intellectuals, and there happened to be television cameras positioned in the room, if that’s what she means,’ replied Otto.
    Angelo was losing him again. It was the word ‘celebrity’ that had done it. He must tailor his vocabulary more to Otto’s world-view.
    â€˜She thought it a great shame that you never appear on television any more. She said from what she had seen you had an engaging personality, a brilliant mind and were very “televisual”. Between you and me, I think that means she thought you were quite the dish in your younger days.’
    Over the years Angelo had gathered a rich treasure trove of phrases from Otto, who sometimes sounded like a living Pathé newsreel. He had recovered one of those phrases for Otto’s benefit now.
    â€˜ Do get on with it,’ said Otto, who knew what was coming and had already prepared his answer.
    â€˜She asked some more about you – where you were living, what you were up to these days. And then she asked if you might be interested in appearing in person on the programme.’
    At last, thought Otto, before launching into his reply.
    â€˜I don’t feel entirely comfortable about appearing on television, as I explained to you yesterday. There are various reasons for this, not the least of which, I’ve now come to realise, is plain old vanity. I don’t particularly want people of an older generation sitting in front of their television screens and saying: “Good God – look what happened to him.”’
    At the other end of the line, Angelo smiled.
    â€˜But I’ve thought it through, since we spoke, and I realise that the media are a necessary evil. If we’re going to campaign to save Marlowe House, then we ought to do it properly – not half-heartedly. A slight humiliation in front of a couple of million people would be a small price to pay, if we eventually won. So I’m willing to at least discuss the possibility of doing an interview.’
    â€˜I’m glad to hear it.’
    â€˜Where would she like to do it, if I happened to agree? Here or back in England?’
    Now for the difficult part, thought