Read by Paul Clarke
“How does it work?”
I slide the sheet of paper over without looking up from my game of patience. “Like the Palio in Siena? Eight departments, or ‘Contrada’, represented by eight runners. Three circuits of the office, starting and ending at the lifts by Reception.”
“And who are the runners?”
“It’s on the list.”
“But not the odds?”
“There aren’t any.” I sigh, bored of explaining. “Apart from a bottle of fizz for the runner, the winners divide the pot – the more you put in, the bigger slice you get back.”
If you would like to read the rest of this story, please check out London Lies, the Arachne Press anthology in which it, and many other London-based stories from the League archives, appears.