Joyous Hightower’s link was a prestigious honour as well as an essential business tool. Only a few hundred had been given by the Authority to natives, mostly to politicians and tribal leaders. Ysbel wasn’t surprised when he answered her call almost at once, because most of the calls he received would be about his lucrative work, and she quickly introduced herself and told him that she was working for Special Operations.

‘I know everyone on this link, but I don’t believe I know you,’ he said. He was a sleek, slender person, dressed in a rich purple robe and lounging on a couch on a sun-drenched terrace with a view of lawns (a human affectation adopted by wealthy natives) sloping to a ragged treeline and blue ocean stretched beyond the trees.

‘We should have met at Solomon Firststar’s house,’ Ysbel said, hoping to keep him off balance. ‘But by the time I arrived you had run away.’

Joyous Hightower cocked his head. Silver strings had been braided into his pelt, hanging in a tangled fringe above his sharp black eyes. ‘Then you must be the person who was sent to deal with Trina Mersdaughter. How is she, by the way?’

‘She’s very well.’

‘That’s not what I heard. Isn’t she back on your island across the ocean, claws clipped, toiling in some dreary administrative post?’

‘I heard you sold the map,’ Ysbel said.

Joyous Hightower cocked his head the other way. He didn’t seem at all off balance; he seemed to be having fun. ‘Ah, yes. The map Trina wanted so very much. She didn’t get it, and neither will you. You’re too late, you see. It’s moved on. Flown far, far away.’

‘I heard that you sold it. Which is why I’m calling. I’d like to know who you sold it to.’

‘Are you working with the rural bailiff? He has been pestering my people about that map for quite some time.’

Ysbel had to stop herself glancing sideways at Goodwill. She said, ‘I work for Special Operations. We are willing to match the price you got for the map if you will tell us who bought it.’

‘But there’s no price to match. I exchanged the map for something else.’

‘All I need is a name,’ Ysbel said, with the hopeless feeling that she had somehow lost control of the conversation.

‘But it was a private deal, you see,’ Joyous Hightower said. ‘If you approach the map’s new owner, they’ll know at once that I told you about it. It would damage my reputation and standing. And for no good purpose, because they won’t want to sell it to you or to anyone else, not for any price. They don’t need the money. They have no use for it.’