Johnny shrugged. ‘Ah, as I think I mentioned, I knew one of the guys from my student days in Australia. An old school chum. Super rich. I had my father on the phone listening. As soon as I heard that mining rep’s name I knew who he was. I hung up and Dad texted the mining guy, because we know the family. I stopped bidding and my old school friend panicked, assuming there was something wrong with the paintings, so he dropped out. Dad had sent a quick text to his mining friend, who then bought the lot uncontested for relatively low prices.’ He smiled and continued, ‘Later we came to an arrangement. And here is the result. For quite a modest sum.’ Johnny waved at the magnificent collection of rare Balinese art.

‘Jeez, Johnny, you’re like a rat with a gold tooth,’ said Steve, laughing.

‘Make it all look good in the promotion,’ he said as he walked away.

Grace hurried after him. ‘Excuse me, Johnny, do you have time for a quick chat?’

‘Sure, Grace, what’s up?’

‘This may be out of line professionally, but may I ask you if my soon-to-be ex-husband has been in touch with you?’

‘Ah, yes. He tried to spin a deal to me over dinner the other night at the Sundara, after you’d been to the monkey dance. I agreed to meet him. He had an offer for an investment for us. Nothing I was interested in, and I don’t deal with guys like that. No offence to you, Grace.’

She gave a dismissive wave. ‘Been there, done that. I just want to make sure you and your family don’t get sucked in to something because of me. Lawrence has tried to use my friends and family before, I’m sorry to say.’

‘I get that. But you know, his idea is not so silly. Cybersecurity, which he was talking about, is a hot and competitive field and you have to move fast. Technology dates easily these days. Start-ups in any field either work or go bust pretty damn fast. Make your money, sell it, and move on as soon as you can. That’d be Lawrence’s motto, I assume.’

‘Do you mind telling me more about what he’s pitching this time?’

‘It’s not original, but it’s an advanced version of a drone used for cybersecurity. It’s a powerful motorised camera that runs on fixed wires. They started using them for sports, to run alongside the athletes at the Olympics, the Super Bowl, and in big movie special effects. But for security it can span large areas, with a powerful zoom and face recognition. The feed goes live to a base and is HD quality and records everything to digital files. And it doesn’t require an expert to operate it.’

‘Where would you use this?’