‘More or less. I wrapped it up nicely by suggesting we’re far more likely to catch the kidnappers if we engage with them. ‘

‘True. Probably,’ said Amelia.

Xander shrugged: ‘And of course I made the whole thing seem like it was probably what he’d planned to do anyway. People love it when they think they’ve come up with a good idea themselves.’

‘Amazing.’

‘It seemed to work, as I say, but there’s no guarantee.’

Xander was trying to be understated, but I could tell he was optimistic. I know first-hand how persuasive he can be. Particularly with adults. He has this knack of making them feel good about themselves. I’ve mentioned it before, the way he is with my parents, asking them questions and listening to the answers, looking like he’s really interested. They’d do anything for him. Langdon’s a tough nut to crack though. Making him think selfishly was a stroke of genius by Xander. It could definitely have changed his mind.

‘How did you leave it?’ I asked.

‘He agreed it would be wise to have the money ready just in case. If the situation hasn’t changed between now and the deadline, at least then we can choose whether or not to pay off the kidnappers; without the money we won’t have that option. Again, I made it clear he’d no doubt thought of that and sourced the cash already, making it easy for him to say of course he had.’

‘He could have,’ said Amelia.

‘Sure,’ said Xander, suppressing a smile.

Realising I was bouncing on the balls of my feet, I let out a long breath and steadied myself. ‘We’ll see,’ I said.

42.

Though I called again and again that evening and throughout the following day, I couldn’t get through to Marcel. Xander and Amelia tried too. We all left messages. But neither Marcel the guide nor Yannick the travel operator answered our calls. With each hour that passed it seemed somehow less likely we’d ever manage to contact them.

Would Langdon bring the ransom money? As the deadline loomed ever larger I started to lose hope. By the next day even Xander’s quiet confidence seemed to have evaporated. Our conversation withered and died. My uncle had promised to be at the hotel at midday on Friday. Half an hour before then Amelia, Xander and I were waiting together in the bar area. We ordered club sandwiches at Amelia’s insistence, but I couldn’t eat mine. The minute hand swept past twelve o’clock, and Langdon didn’t show up. At half past twelve he still wasn’t there. One o’clock: ditto. I watched the ice melt in my untouched Coke as the corners of my sandwich curled.