“Really?” Ken feigned surprise. “His name is right here alongside Dr de Haas’. I can read the report to you if you like.” Taking a seat, Ken swivelled his chair so he was facing the window again. Then he turned to the summary, and cleared his throat theatrically. “Sampling took place over a ten day period from the prescribed area… the co-ordinates are here. Would you like me to read them?”
“Don’t fuck with me, Kenneth.”
Ken smiled. “Let’s skip to the report’s key recommendation. Here it is. In our expert opinions the relatively small quantities of ore represented in the samples do not warrant the cost of extraction. There’s more. I could email it to you if you like—”
“Don’t be funny, Kenneth. Just read it.”
“Regarding the discovery of the gold nugget that prompted the establishment of the Task Force, it’s our view that the nugget is not from the region at all, and was most likely taken from the Martha mine area to the north during its boom period in the last century. While it is purely conjecture on our part, we believe the nugget may have been transported—”
“One nugget, but…” Her voice was suddenly less sure, she broke off. “It doesn’t make any sense. Fogarty I can understand… but de Haas has dropped off the grid, too. The South African government has no record of him entering the country.”
Kenneth couldn’t resist. “There’s something else here in the report which might be of interest to you…”
“What?”
“It’s a statement from Jules Asher, recommending that the area be retained as a mainland island conservation park. It seems Dr Asher uncovered some unique fauna in the area.” Ken chuckled. “The Urewera region is quite the nature reserve. Home to the rare whio duck. A little grey duck that needs protecting. So, you see, even if the geological findings had been positive, the Conservation Minister is duty-bound—”
There was a click. Ken smiled. The bunny boiler’d hung up.
* * *
Rotorua township, Six Weeks Later
Temera was pulled from his slumber by the cheeky warble of a tui at his bedroom window.
It was Sunday morning and, once again, the morepork had forgotten to call. He checked his alarm. 7:00am. Another full night of delicious kip. For weeks, Temera had laid awake, fearing sleep. But since his experience with McKenna, the morepork had remained silent. Was the horror over? Had the encounter cured Temera of his night terrors?
Outside, the tui chirped his wake-up call. Temera heard Wayne’s muffled groan through the wall. “Shuddup…”
Temera chuckled out loud.
Still laughing, he wriggled down into the warmth of the duvet to listen to the bird’s cheery song.
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Table of Contents
Glossary of Acronyms
Glossary of Māori and Local Terms
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31