You could hear a pin drop as Alex Trebek’s voice echoed throughout Coleman’s Irish Pub filled with Rachel Fabi’s friends and colleagues Monday night.

The SUNY Upstate professor was in last place heading into Final Jeopardy, but she was within striking distance of the leader.

The crowd watched on as Fabi got the final question wrong, but risked nothing. The only hope was for the two contestants ahead of her to also answer incorrectly and wager enough to fall below Fabi’s total of $8,400.

When the leader answered wrongly and fell to exactly $8,399, the place erupted. Fabi was a Jeopardy champion - by a $1 margin.

Fabi realized before Final Jeopardy that the leader had to wager enough money to ensure that if the second place contestant successfully doubled his total, she could still cover and win. That wager, for the leader, was $5,001. Luckily for Fabi, the leader losing that wager on the question would drop her to $8,399 – exactly $1 below Fabi.

“It’s a rare thing for that exact score configuration,” Fabi said after her victory aired. “It’s only happened something like 19 times since 2004.”

SUNY Upstate professor Rachel Fabi celebrates her Jeopardy win at Coleman's Irish Pub in Syracuse.

So, after not feeling overly comfortable with the category “British Authors,” Fabi played the numbers and wagered nothing, hoping the two ahead of her would both answer incorrectly and topple below her.

The question read, “Born in 1866, he has been called “The Shakespeare of Science Fiction.”

Fabi answered incorrectly, but suffered no losses thanks to her prescient wagering. The crowd at Coleman’s tensed when the contestant in second place also answered wrongly and fell below Fabi.

Trebek then panned to the then-leader, who answered with a third and final wrong answer. And, to the delight of her friends and colleagues, she wagered just enough to fall beneath Fabi’s total of $8,400.

(The correct answer to Monday’s Final Jeopardy Question was “Who is H.G. Wells?”)

For the weeks between the filming of the episode and its eventual airing, Fabi said she’s been fielding questions from everyone regarding her success, or lack thereof. But, due to Jeopardy’s privacy restraints on pre-recorded material and results, she’s had to keep quiet. She had played coy on Twitter last week with the elusive tweet, “Tune in on February 18 to see me get things wrong on national tv!”

“All of these people have been asking me, ‘Can you tell me anything?,’” Fabi said laughing and gesturing to her crowd of friends. “But, no I really can’t.”

Fabi said her father flew out with her to California for the shooting of the episode, but he’s the only one not completely in the dark. Her parents do not live in the Central New York area, but Fabi said they had their own viewing party elsewhere.

For Fabi, the veil of secrecy continues at least for another night. She’s still not allowed to confess to friends or family how long her Jeopardy run lasts, but until she loses, Fabi will be on Jeopardy at 7:30 p.m. every weeknight on WSYT Fox.

“I’ll be back here tomorrow,” Fabi said, referring to Coleman’s Irish Pub.

But after her second Jeopardy episode airs tonight, it’s back to business as usual on Tuesdays for Fabi and her friends. Trivia night at Coleman’s – 8:00 p.m.

They’ll just be sure to get there a half-hour early to catch the second leg of Fabi’s Jeopardy run.

Play along at home

Here are the correct answers (phrased in the form of a question) that led Rachel Fabi to victory on Monday night’s episode of “Jeopardy!”

Category/Wager: Vocabulary, $200

Answer: Run it up the pole and salute! Vexillology is the study of these.

Question: What is the flag?

Category/Wager: Depression Era Dining for $400

Answer: Emeril Lagasse has brought back this desperation pie, which uses the apple cider type of this instead of lemons.

Question: What is vinegar?

Category/Wager: Depression Era Dining for $800

Answer: Even tobacco and lint were ingredients in Mulligan Stew, eaten by this type of 4-letter itinerant.

Question: What is a hobo?

Category/Wager: Saving the Animals for $200

Answer: After this island was ravaged by Hurricane Maria, Lucky Dog Animal Rescue and Southwest Air flew some pets to the USA.

Question: What is Puerto Rico?

Category/Wager: Saving the Animals for $1,000

Answer: In August 2018, more than 85,000 pets were adopted during the national clear these places campaign.

Question:: What are shelters?

Category/Wager: Bill of Rights for $200

Answer: Per this amendment, freedom of speech cannot be abridged.

Question:: What is the First Amendment?

Category/Wager: Tell Alls for $800

Answer: “Unhinged” is her “insider’s account of the trump white house”

Question:: Who is Omarosa?

Category/Wager: Bill of Rights for $800. (First round Daily Double, Fabi wagers $2,000)

Answer: Key phrases in this amendment: “witness against himself” and “twice put in jeopardy.”

Question: What is the Fifth Amendment?

Category/Wager: Still I Rise for $1,200

Answer: According to Ben Franklin, “early to bed and early to rise, makes a man” these 3 positive things

Question:: What is healthy, wealthy and wise?

Category/Wager: Use your B,R,A,I,N Power for $2,000

Answer: If you’re “under” this in a hospital, you’re technically an outpatient though you may stay for days.

Question: What is observation?

Category/Wager: Name the Venue for $1,200.

Answer: Johnny Cash’s musical memorial service - this Nashville auditorium and former home of the Grand Ole Opry.

Question: What is the Ryman?

Category/Wager: Languages for $400

Answer: Also known as Northern Chinese, this is the official language of China.

Question:: What is Mandarin?