“It was perfect,” Willy said. “Absolutely perfect.”

The Royal Hong Kong police inspector was what Tristan called a “bloody pom” when he described him to Marissa later on. He even looked British with his gray skin tones and his baggy English suit, complete with a vest and fob. He and Tristan were sitting in the manager’s office of the Peninsula Hotel.

“Let us go over this again,” the inspector said in his clipped English accent. “You’d just handed over your safe deposit key when you became aware of this gentleman of Oriental appearance approaching you.”

“That’s right, mate,” Tristan said. He knew his jocular Australian phraseology would grate on the inspector’s nerves. It was purposeful torture. The police inspector had been grating on him for almost two hours.

Tristan tried to be patient. He knew that the reason the inspector was making a fuss over the incident was because the police didn’t like to have trouble in an area so crucial to tourism, particularly tourism in a place as posh as the Peninsula Hotel.

“ . . . At that point you turned around and saw the man coming at you,” the inspector continued.

“That’s right,” Tristan said. It was the twentieth time they’d gone over this.

“How did you know he was approaching you rather than someone else?” the inspector asked.

“He was looking directly at me,” Tristan said. “Giving me the evil eye.” Tristan glowered at the inspector in mock imitation.

“Yes, of course,” the inspector said. “But you had never seen this man before?”

“Never!” Tristan said with emphasis. He knew this was the point of particular interest to the police. But Tristan had not been willing to divulge that it had been Marissa who had recognized the man. As long as the police failed to question Marissa, they’d never find out. Tristan didn’t want to admit to everything he knew, fearing that if he did so, the meeting with the Wing Sin the following morning would be compromised.

Finally, after two hours, the inspector gave up, but he concluded by saying that he might want to question Tristan further and that Tristan should stay in Hong Kong until further notice. Immediately upon his release Tristan went to the house phone and called Marissa.

“I’m free at last,” he said. “Let’s celebrate by going out and replacing our watches!”

They went back to the same jewelry store where they’d gotten the first replacements. The second time around, Tristan insisted on an even better deal than before. After a brief protest, the clerk obliged.

Returning to their rooms, they locked themselves in. They decided to stay in for the remainder of the day. Not having eaten since breakfast, the first thing they did was order food.

While they waited for room service they sat by the window in front of the spectacular view.