It took us a good half an hour. The pole snapped off its stand easily enough, but the only way through the lock at the foot of the roller door was to chip and stab and gouge the concrete from around the fixing. Eventually we loosened it enough to prise up the bottom of the door, and when the lock gave, the door, counterbalanced from inside, shot up in a clattering rush.

‘Mum, Dad!’ I yelled again.

And this time Mum’s response was louder. It was coming from behind a partition wall, in the middle of which sat another locked door. I was yelling at her in delight, shouting, ‘Stand back,’ and about to attack that door with the metal pole too, when Amelia pointed to a key hanging on a nail in the adjacent wall. I couldn’t get it into that lock fast enough: my fingers were a jittery mess. But eventually I did, and the door swung open to reveal my parents. Mum was right in front of me, crying with excitement. Dad was standing with a hand to his forehead, his face as grey as the breeze-block wall.

65.

I didn’t know where to begin, started talking in a frenzy, gabbling on about Innocent and the mines and Langdon and the safari and Caleb and motorbikes and canoes and child slaves and national parks and photographs and evidence all in a great rush. Were they all right? Had they been here all this time? Did they know what day it was? Had they any clue who had done this to them and why? They wouldn’t believe it! Did they know what I meant about the evidence, and chairman Mukwege, and –

Amelia put one finger on my forearm and said, ‘What Jack’s trying to tell you is this. Our safari ended in disaster. We returned to find you missing, reported it to the police and eventually paid the kidnappers’ ransom. When that didn’t work, we went looking for you ourselves at Langdon’s mine and beyond, worked out his business is corrupt, that he was responsible for your kidnapping – presumably to stop you finding out the truth and presenting it at the summit – and followed him here. We had no luck getting in last night, but we delivered evidence to the chairman of the Mining and Conservation Committee on your behalf ahead of today’s vote and returned just now to find the guards gone. You’re free. I think that’s the bones of it.’ Turning to me, she asked, ‘Anything to add?’

I just wanted to know they were OK. Scanning the room, I saw two camp beds, a fridge, a sink, and an open door leading to a little bathroom. They both looked healthy enough, if a bit pale.

‘Langdon responsible?’ Dad said with a laugh. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

I looked him straight in the eye and said, ‘Believe me, he is.’