At some point he must have changed routes because we arrived at a different river crossing, this one served by a crazy motorised raft built out of barrels, bits of tree, planks, even some of those big plastic containers I’d seen people in Kinshasa carrying on their heads to market, which made the traditional dugout of our way out to the mine seem positively seaworthy. The river lapped sludge-brown between the planks as we wheeled our bikes aboard.

There’d been no signal in the village where we’d spent the night, but I noticed – because it seemed so out of place – that one of the raft guys had a pair of headphones in his ears, and I couldn’t believe it when he began talking loudly to nobody, annoying as a commuter, halfway across that river in the middle of nowhere. I turned on my phone. Sure enough, it caught a signal. I waited, but no messages materialised. With just ten per cent battery, I hit Xander’s number, willing him to pick up, adrenalin surging when he did.

‘Hey,’ he said, relaxed as ever.

‘Have you seen the CCTV footage yet?’

‘Just now, yes,’ he said quickly, cottoning on to the urgency in my voice. ‘Sorry, though – the guy’s wearing a motorbike helmet throughout. He’s completely unrecognisable.’

‘Did you manage to take a copy for me?’

‘Filmed it on my phone.’

‘Good. Get out of the hotel,’ I said. ‘Find us somewhere else to stay. Check you’re not followed. Send us the address.’

‘Sure thing,’ he said.

‘Also, get hold of some dollars. I’ll pay you back.’

‘Right.’

‘And call Joseph again. Pay what it takes to have him meet us at Goma airport tomorrow.’

‘No problem.’

‘Langdon’s mining outfit is dodgy,’ I explained. ‘Full of little kids, and spreading into the national park. He obviously didn’t want Mum and Dad to find out.’

‘You think he’d kidnap his own family?!’

‘No, but it’s convenient if they’re out of the way until after the summit. And he’s been odd about the whole thing from the start.’

‘Want me to contact the police again?’

‘Not till we get back and I’ve seen that footage myself.’

‘Fair enough,’ he said, adding, ‘Hang in there, Jack.’

57.