Wijaya pulled a face. ‘I’m afraid by that stage Doctor Paul Ford was unable to provide more detailed explanations.’ He pushed a box of assorted papers and journals across the desk. ‘I thought you might be able to find out more in his grandfather’s diaries. I’ve had them translated, they’re quite fascinating.’

Sura was privately furious at the needless loss of precious information. Her father’s goons were expert in violence and little else.

Wijaya got to his feet. ‘I have already actioned a plan to locate the submarine and retrieve the gold. It will involve deep-water salvage inside an unexplored cave system.’

Sura sat up hopefully and he patted her head as one would an eager pet.

‘Believe me, I am grateful for your acumen, darling. Who would ever have believed it? Hundreds of millions, just sitting there in the jungle. With that money, we will be able to build significant ties in the region. You know how difficult it is for me there.’

She nodded politely. Kopassus was one of his constant grievances, and they had the western sector of Indonesian Papua sewn up like a fiefdom. To combat their influence, her father had to bribe the émigré landholders who now controlled significant interests in timber and mining.

‘Which is why I am going to send the recovery expedition in via the back door,’ he continued.

At this she frowned. ‘Papua New Guinea?’

‘PNG’s defence minister, Sir Julius Michaels, has agreed to a covert mission. In return for half the proceeds, he will provide both right of passage and a crew to sail my ship up the Sepik.’ Wijaya smiled merrily. ‘We will extract the gold and opium right under the noses of Kopassus.’

Half the proceeds? Sura was reeling, stunned and appalled by the thought of an inconsequential politician pocketing a fortune that was rightfully hers.

‘But, Father,’ she blurted out, ‘I had hoped for a legitimate share of the enterprise!’

His eyes narrowed to two cold slits. ‘You forget your place, Sura. This is not some grubby personal windfall. Sir Julius will use his share to buy his way to the prime minister’s office, and when I am president, the money we will make from mining contracts in PNG will make two metric tonnes of gold pale into insignificance.’

She had thought Paris would make a nice base. A large ivy-covered house in the Avenue Montaigne, ski trips to the Alps by private helicopter, endless European sojourns – the freedom to enjoy great wealth, not just be surrounded by it like a pretty bird in a gilded cage. Above all, what she craved was the freedom to pursue her own life, to break free of Wijaya’s relentless march to power; and now, yet again, he was taking it all away from her.

He stood there, looking down at her while she fought to get her disappointment under control.