“That’s been on my mind. It’s not as if we can fly.”

“I might be able to help,” she said. “Well, not me—Jean-Michel. His brother works in Benoa Harbour. He runs a crew of local stevedores.”

“I can’t ask you for more. You’ve done more than enough already.”

“Don’t be a dick,” she said, shoving him on the shoulder. “The last thing I want is you hanging around staring at her with doe-eyes.”

“I do not—”

“Yes, you do.”

“You said you were going to leave it,” Milton protested.

“Sorry,” Victoria said. “I will. But I do get it. Why you might feel that way about her. She’s very cute.”

She chuckled as they walked on.

“It might have crossed my mind,” Milton admitted.

“Finally. Thank you.”

They reached the Jeep and paused outside it. “Let’s just say—hypothetically—that you might be able to help us.”

“I’ll speak to Jean-Michel and he can speak to his brother. There’re ships in and out of the harbour all the time. One of them must be going to Tokyo, or somewhere nearby.”

Milton thought for a moment. While he was unwilling to involve Victoria more directly than she already had been, he knew that the connection could be valuable. Stevedores were the most useful people to know at a harbour; their jobs loading and unloading ships meant that they had easy access to the dock and knew everyone who was worth knowing.

“Okay,” Milton said. “Just find out if there’s a ship going to Tokyo. Nothing more than that.”

Victoria opened the door, swung herself up into the cabin and reached over to open the passenger side. “You got it,” she said. “There’s something else we need to do, too.”

“What’s that?”

“I want to introduce you to Eric Blair.”

51

Victoria met Milton on the beach. She led him to two loungers that were not overlooked by any other guests. She had a bag with her and, as Milton sat down on the edge of one of the loungers, she unzipped it and took out a handful of documents. She passed them to him.

“I haven’t done this for a while,” she said. “And I don’t have access to the same facilities as before. I’m afraid you’re going to have to be Australian. My best contacts are all over there now.”

Milton shuffled through the items that she had given to him: there was a passport, a birth certificate, a debit card from Commonwealth Bank, an American Express credit card, a plastic driver’s licence and a clutch of membership cards for various clubs and associations.