‘The next night,’ Niall went on, ‘they told me they thought they’d found a solution to the cancer drug issue. A way of making it affordable. They looked so ecstatic that I actually felt happy for them. They went off to bed, and we agreed to see each other on the last night. We partied late after the conference and rolled to bed. I didn’t think I’d see much of them after that, but she – the wife – turned up at my room before breakfast on the last morning, freaking out, apparently.’

‘Their scheme with the drugs had gone wrong somehow?’ Jonah asked.

‘Of course it had,’ Niall said, bitterly.

He explained, tightly, everything she’d told him. That their flight had been cancelled and their airline was rerouting them via Boston, an airport where they used sniffer dogs. They’d picked up a large batch of her cancer drugs at a much cheaper price here, not actually legally. They knew they couldn’t risk taking them through US customs in Boston.

‘She said, “We can’t afford to jettison them,” and she looked so …’ He sighed. ‘So desperate. I didn’t even stop to think about it all properly. When she asked what they should do, I just – I just said to give them to me. I was taking drug samples myself so it wasn’t a problem to take theirs home too.’

‘And these drugs …’ Jonah said.

‘They weren’t cancer drugs,’ Niall said, flatly. ‘They told me later that they were MDMA. And, no, I didn’t check before I shipped them. I went to their hotel room with my case, and I let them thank me over and over as they gave them to me. They hugged me and cried a little, both of them, and I never even stopped to wonder if the bag sitting on the bed had a concealed camera in it. I guess I just don’t think in the right way for that stuff.’

‘So what happened when you arrived home?’

‘They came to get the drugs, and they said, “Come on, Niall. You know they weren’t cancer drugs.” Then they played me the little video they’d taken of me putting the drugs in my suitcase and pointing out my fake paperwork. They’d obviously edited out the rest. And I felt just so …’ Niall’s body sagged as he sighed. ‘I thought I’d made some lifelong friends. When all they’d done was recruit me.’

‘Did they pay you?’