Nick was disorientated by what he’d learnt in the space of a few hours: that his father wasn’t who he thought he was; that his father might not be dead after all. He’d grown accustomed to the absence of such a figure in his life. But that absence hinged on his death when Nick was a toddler, somehow excusing his neglect of his son up to that point. That had all changed now. Nick’s mother had deceived him. His real father had probably never known he had a son at all.

Was he alive, though? Was Caldwell really on to something? The answer wasn’t waiting for Nick at Nancekuke tomorrow, with the nerve gas factory long since demolished and the site cleared of all traces of what it had once been used for. It was just an RAF radar station now. Officially, anyway. Holgate had said there were still rumours of strange goings-on there. But rumours were always popular. Generally, people couldn’t get enough of them.

Nick had no use for rumours. He wanted facts. He wanted the truth that had for far too long been denied him. And he meant to get it.

But, first, he needed to see where the mystery had begun.

Wada was a light sleeper, especially when she wasn’t sleeping in her own home. It was still dark when she heard Haruto moving around in the kitchen in a manner that suggested he was trying hard not to wake her.

His first words to her when she walked into the room were an apology for disturbing her. She brushed that off and asked for a cup of the tea he was preparing.

They sat with their cups either side of a marble-topped table. The spot-lighting gleamed on the whorls in its surface.

‘I have to be in early this morning,’ Haruto explained. Given that it was not yet five thirty, the explanation wasn’t strictly necessary.

‘They work you hard?’

‘There are just things to be done.’ The reply was evasive, but she wasn’t inclined to press.

‘I will not be staying long.’

‘But for the weekend at least?’

‘No. I’m leaving tonight, actually.’

‘Tonight?’

‘Sorry.’

‘Where are you going?’

‘It’s better for you not to know.’

Haruto frowned. ‘Now you’re worrying me.’

‘We could have lunch before I go.’

‘I do not believe you came all the way to New York just to have lunch with me.’

‘No. I did not.’

‘Then why?’

‘I will explain at lunch. Just one thing, though.’

‘What?’

‘Please do not mention my visit to any of your colleagues.’

‘Why not?’ Haruto gave her a knowing look. ‘You’ll explain at lunch, I suppose?’

‘Yes.’

‘I don’t get long.’

‘We’ll make the most of it.’

He held his gaze. ‘I guess we will.’