Pin rang ET and spoke to her sister, who always asked the questions of the client and took the sign-language responses from her famous sister.

‘We must be brief,’ the sister said, ‘she is not well herself. In fact, very sick. But she will answer what she can. She regards you as a friend.’

‘I am very sorry to hear she is ill,’ Pin said. ‘Is there anything I can do?’

‘No, she has not long.’

The sister consulted ET.

‘She does not see death for him,’ ET’s sister said, ‘but she does see death all around him.’

Pin was shocked.

‘What does that mean?’ she asked, losing her composure.

There was a longer than normal ‘chat’ with ET before her sister said, ‘You have consulted my sister before about Victor. She told you that he is a good man. That is constant. You can trust him. But his life and work deals with death.’

‘As a journalist?’ Pin asked, perplexed and concerned.

‘Whatever his work is, death lurks with him.’

‘Could you expound, ET?’

The comment came back to Pin, ‘She sees an avenging angel.’

Pin was stunned. ET refused to elaborate.

Pin was both comforted and discomforted by ET’s words. The remarks were definitive yet mystifying.

Pin took a taxi to the hospital. Cavalier was conscious. His speech was incoherent. He did not recognise his former wife.

‘It does not mean a good or bad recovery,’ the doctor handling Cavalier remarked. ‘The loss of blood and the severe concussion mean his brain is scrambled.’

‘Could it be permanent?’

‘I can’t say.’

‘I’ve seen such cases. Most recover but some never do.’

‘One thing in his favour is his physical shape. I’ve never seen a man of his age like him. Very strong heart. Exceptional lung capacity.’

‘I did medical research on his body at thirty,’ Pin said. ‘His heart is an abnormal size, more like a horse’s. And the lung volume is off the charts.’

‘It’s more than just excellent genes, though, isn’t it? I’ve never seen a more muscular abdomen wall than his. It’s like a brick, even though the bullet fragments pierced it.’

‘He did gym workouts and ran daily.’

‘One thing,’ the doctor said, ‘he has a scar not far north of this bullet entry. How did he get that?’

‘Don’t know. We haven’t been together for eight years.’

The doctor tugged his ear, frowning.

‘What?’ Pin inquired.

‘There’s scar tissue in the abdomen wall. I don’t think it’s more than a few years old.’

Pin frowned, embarrassed that this was another secret Cavalier had kept from her.

Over the next three days, Cavalier’s speech returned. He had no memory of the flight from Luang Prabang or the shooting incident. He had trouble even recalling the Mekong River trip.