There was a protracted silence. ‘Mr Miller?’ she asked.

‘Yes, I’m here,’ came the reply, the pushy arrogance gone – until it surged back at full force. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about. I warn you, if you libel me I’ll put you in debt for the rest of your life, and you’ll never work—’

Nina looked to Eddie and rolled her eyes before speaking again. ‘Mr Miller, there were survivors from the Torrox.’ The revelation cut him off mid rant. ‘They were picked up by a Chinese cargo ship and taken to Melbourne. I’ve spoken to them; they identified Harhund, and our investigations led to you.’

When Miller spoke again, his tone was guarded. ‘What do you want?’

‘I want to talk to you. In person. I want to hear your version of events. I’m sure a man in your position couldn’t possibly have intended there to be any loss of life – you could set the record straight and make sure the right people are brought to justice.’

‘I could . . . meet you today, yes,’ Miller eventually said. ‘Can you come to my office?’

Eddie put his hand over the phone. ‘Not a fucking chance,’ he whispered. ‘Needs to be somewhere public.’

‘I know,’ Nina replied. ‘But we don’t know the city, so where . . .’ She looked up – and saw the Sky Tower through the window. The hotel room had brochures for Auckland’s tourist attractions; she signalled for Cheng to bring them. ‘Does it have an observation deck?’ she wondered, quickly flipping open the relevant pamphlet and finding that as well as various attractions involving dangling from its upper floors, it did indeed have a viewing deck, and places to eat and drink. ‘Okay, that’s about as public as you can get!’ She gestured for Eddie to lift his hand. ‘I’d prefer to meet at the Sky Tower.’

‘The Sky Tower, okay,’ said Miller. ‘We’ll meet in the Sugar Club at . . . noon. Okay?’

It was now just before ten thirty. ‘Yes. I’ll see you there.’ She ended the call.

‘We need to get over there right now,’ said Eddie, eyeing the landmark. ‘He’s probably calling a goon squad to stake the place out already. If we get there first, we can watch for anyone turning up.’

Cheng stood, but Nina waved him down. ‘No, no,’ she told him. ‘You stay here.’

‘But you might need me,’ he protested.

‘I do need you – to look after the key.’ She glanced at the golden relic, still in the waterproof pouch. ‘As soon as Miller realises who I really am – and I doubt it’ll take long – he’ll want to know what happened to it. You have to keep it safe.’