Once he got out of the hotel, Willy turned right and slowed his pace to a rapid walk. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself by running. His desired destination was the crowded Star Ferry terminal. When he reached it, he was relieved to lose himself in the throng. Hundreds of people were milling about waiting for the next ferry, which was just then nosing into the pier.

After the Kowloon-bound passengers were allowed to disembark, those waiting were allowed to board. Willy let himself be swept along by the human tide.

He remained on the lower deck with the majority of the people. He stayed close to a large family, as if he were a member. No one seemed to think twice about his presence. After the short ten-minute trip, Willy disembarked and walked up toward the Mandarin Hotel.

The Mandarin was in the same category as the Peninsula. He knew he’d have no difficulty making an overseas call from there. The problem wasn’t making the call, but rather that it would be so unpleasant. It was Willy’s first major failure, and he wasn’t pleased.

Before he entered the Mandarin Hotel, he took advantage of his reflection in a store window to straighten his clothes and comb his hair. Once he felt he looked presentable, he went into the lobby. Downstairs, in a room just outside the men’s room, he found a bank of telephones affording some privacy. Taking a deep breath, he rang Charles Lester.

“The Blumenthal woman is here,” Willy said as soon as he had Lester on the phone.

“I know,” Lester said. “Ned found out through emigration. She took a flight from Brisbane.”

“I tried to have a conference with the interested parties a few minutes ago,” Willy said, using their established patois in case they were overheard. “But things went badly. I failed. The Williams fellow was uncooperative and actively canceled the meeting before I could use my material.”

Willy held the phone away from his ear as a string of Australian expletives sizzled over the line. Once he heard Lester revert to a more normal pitch, he put the phone back to his ear.

“The situation keeps getting worse and worse,” Lester complained.

“It will be much harder to have a conference now,” Willy admitted. “Everyone will expect us. But if you would like, I’ll do my best to arrange another meeting.”

“No!” Lester said. “I’ll have Ned come and have the meeting. He has more practice. All I want you to do is make sure that these customers don’t get away. Watch the hotel. If they change hotels, follow them. It would only exacerbate the problem if we lose contact with the Blumenthal woman in Hong Kong.”

“I also lost the material I was going to show them,” Willy said. “It was left at the conference site.”

“Then you’ll have to get some more,” Lester said. “Was what you had adequate?”