Despite having no chance of catching up, he didn’t slow. He now needed to get clear of the Sky Tower before the cops arrived – which they soon would, sirens rising. He angled across the road, then around a corner. The street ahead sloped down towards Viaduct Harbour to the north.

Walking as quickly as he could, he called Cheng. ‘It’s me,’ he said. ‘Listen, they’ve got Nina.’

‘What?’ said Cheng. ‘Oh no! What are we—’

‘Just take the key and get out of the hotel. Meet me at, er . . .’ He didn’t know the city, and the only landmark he could think of was the Sky Tower itself. ‘Meet me at the dock where we went onto the ship. There was a ferry terminal, I’ll see you outside it.’

‘Are you okay? What about Professor Wilde?’

‘I’m fine. Just get there.’ He disconnected and continued down the street as more sirens sounded behind him.

An hour later, Eddie saw Cheng nervously approach along the waterfront. As well as his backpack, the young Chinese was carrying the few items Nina and Eddie had left in the hotel room. ‘What took you so long?’ the Englishman demanded.

‘I wanted to make sure nobody was following me,’ Cheng replied. ‘Do you know what’s happened to Professor Wilde?’

‘No, and that’s worrying, ’cause I would have expected them to call me by now – to exchange her for the key. You got it?’

He nodded. ‘Are you going to give it to them?’

‘To get Nina back? Course I fucking am.’

Cheng was surprised, even alarmed. ‘But . . . but Professor Wilde almost died to keep it from them.’

‘Professor Wilde’s almost died for a lot of stupid archaeological crap. I’ve been telling her ever since we met that she’s more important, but she never listens.’ Eddie saw the younger man trying to hold back a smile. ‘What?’

‘It’s funny, but . . . in her lecture, she said her number one rule is that no archaeological find is worth risking your life for. I suppose she doesn’t even listen to herself.’

‘Sounds like Nina,’ said Eddie, with a half-smile of his own. It quickly faded. ‘I don’t trust ’em to make a swap without trying something on, though. They need her as well as the key and the coffin. They won’t let her go until they’ve made her do what they want.’

‘So how are you going to get her back?’

‘That’s a bloody good question. I wish I had a bloody good answer!’

‘I’m sure you’ll rescue her,’ Cheng told him. ‘You’ve done it before, after all.’

‘Too many times. This needs to be the last.’ He frowned in frustration. ‘But I can’t do anything until I know where she is.’

‘Have you tried calling her? She may still have her phone.’