Page 185 of King’s Ransom

Me, Audrey, Heidi and Trey Hooper.

As the elevator rose, my face set.

Time check.

11:45 p.m.

‘Heidi, you ready?’ I said.

‘Ready to rock, little man.’

‘Let’s do this.’

The elevator arrived and its doors opened.

We stepped out into an expansive apartment high above the city . . .

. . . to find all the guests standing with their backs to us, facing the living area to the north, all clutching champagne flutes.

A speech was underway.

Aristo King was giving it.

‘. . . I remember when he was a boy, Ajax just loved going to our vacation home in Hawaii. He said Kūki‘o was his favourite place in the whole world . . .’

King stood with his back to an enormous picture window that overlooked Central Park (with the thin shadow of 59West partially blocking the view).

Winnie Tan stood proudly at his side, listening solemnly.

(I also noticed Merritt Garrett, Aristo King’s head of security, standing nearby with Mia Kimura, King’s executive assistant and occasional booty call.)

Six large-screen TVs were arrayed around the living room, all of them showing a montage of photos of King’s recently deceased son, Ajax.

A shot of Ajax as a smiling boy in Hawaii made the crowd of wealthy guests sigh as one.

‘Heidi.’

‘Give me a few seconds.’ Heidi tapped away on her laptop.

‘Hey! What are you doing here?’ Deputy Director Gavin Longmuir hustled up to us, his face going red.

‘Sir.’ Hooper stepped in front of me. ‘I got this.’

Heidi hit a final button on her laptop, seizing control of the wi-fi-connected video system . . .

. . . and it happened.

As Aristo King continued speaking—‘what Ajax lacked in studiousness, he more than made up for with partying’—the montage of photos on all the television screens suddenly changed . . .

. . . to a video recording . . .

. . . of Winnie Tan . . .

. . . looking almost directly at the camera, saying angrily, ‘Why have you come here? To try to blackmail me with some sex tapes?’

My voice answered her.

‘No, I—’