‘It’s not a problem. I ship them to the UK as well as most of Europe. I only exhibit in Spain, but I sell quite a bit from my website. There are customs forms to be dealt with, but the easiest way, if you’re going to do quite a few pieces, is to roll the canvases and transport them in tubes. Much cheaper and you can have them stretched and framed as and when you want.’

Suddenly my phone begins to buzz.

‘Sorry, it’s my sister, I need to get this.’

Nico nods and rather diplomatically heads down towards the far end of the studio.

‘Hannah, what’s up?’

‘Obviously Aiden still hasn’t managed to reach you, then. He rang me to say he’d tried calling you as there’s a problem, but I struggled to hear what he was saying. The signal was awful, so I said I’d get hold of you. Guess you haven’t been on his Facebook page, either. Who the heck is the woman in the last photo? I’ll send you a screenshot. I don’t know what’s going on, but you need to call him, like now.’

‘Photo? Hang on, give me a moment.’

I pull the phone away from my ear and see I have three missed calls. There are also two texts. They’re all from Aiden. Damn it, why didn’t I think to switch it back on immediately after the performance?

Hannah sends through the screenshot and, glancing at it, I have no idea who the woman is, the only person I recognise is Aiden.

I open the first message from Aiden.

Trying to call you. We have to leave pretty sharpish as there’s a problem and we can’t stay here. I’ll try you again in a while.

We?

The second text doesn’t tell me much more.

I’m safe and travelling with two other people. We’ve found someone willing to take us to Adelaide for a reasonable fee, but it’s a long drive from Coober Pedy. My battery is almost dead. I’ll phone you when I can, but there might not be many places to stop by the sound of it. Speak soon.

‘Hannah, I have no idea what’s going on, but Aiden’s text says he’s safe. I had my phone switched off as there was a musical thing going on here. And I haven’t seen any of his posts.’

‘He put up four photos earlier on, about an hour before he called me. Aiden sounded panicky because he couldn’t get hold of you, Fern. There was so much noise, like a fight going on in the background.’ I can hear the fear in her voice.