The Luminaries

Maoris,’ said Staines. ‘I thought it would be safest there—at least for a while; until I came back and dug it up again.’
    ‘What did you intend to do with the bonanza?’
    ‘I planned to cut it down the middle,’ said Staines, ‘and keep halfof it for myself. The other half I meant to give to Miss Wetherell, as a gift.’
    ‘Why should you wish to do such a thing?’
    He looked puzzled. ‘I’m afraid I don’t understand the question, sir.’
    ‘What did you mean to achieve, Mr. Staines, by presenting Miss Wetherell with this sum of money?’
    ‘Nothing at all,’ said the boy.
    ‘You meant to achieve nothing at all?’
    ‘Yes, exactly,’ said Staines, brightening a little. ‘It wouldn’t be a gift otherwise, would it?’
    ‘That fortune,’ said Broham, raising his voice above the scattered laughter, ‘was later discovered in the cottage belonging to the late Crosbie Wells. How did this relocation come about?’
    ‘I don’t know for sure. I expect that he dug it up and took it for himself.’
    ‘If that was indeed the case, why do you suppose that Mr. Wells did not take it to the bank?’
    ‘Isn’t it obvious?’ said Staines.
    ‘I’m afraid it isn’t,’ said Broham.
    ‘Because the ore was smelted, of course,’ said Staines. ‘And each one of those blocks bore the word “Aurora”—engraved into the very metal, by my Mr. Quee! He could hardly pretend he’d lifted it from the ground.’
    ‘Why did you not bank the bonanza against the Aurora, as you were legally obliged?’
    ‘Fifty percent shares on the Aurora belong to Mr. Francis Carver,’ said Staines. ‘I have a poor opinion of the man, and I did not want to see him profit.’
    Broham frowned. ‘You removed the bonanza from the Aurora because you did not want to pay the fifty percent dividends legally owing to Mr. Carver. However, you intended to give fifty percent of this same bonanza to Miss Anna Wetherell. Is that right?’
    ‘Exactly right.’
    ‘You will forgive me if I consider your intentions somewhat illogical , Mr. Staines.’
    ‘What’s illogical about it?’ said the boy. ‘I wanted Anna to have Carver’s share.’
    ‘For what reason?’
    ‘Because she deserved to have it, and he deserved to lose it,’ said Emery Staines.
    More laughter, more widespread this time. Moody was becoming anxious: he had warned Staines against speaking too fancifully, or too pertly.
    When it was quiet again the justice said, ‘I do not believe that it is your prerogative, Mr. Staines, to adjudicate what a person does or does not deserve. You will kindly restrict yourself, in the future, to factual statements only.’
    Staines sobered at once. ‘I understand, sir,’ he said.
    The justice nodded. ‘Continue, Mr. Broham.’
    Abruptly, Broham changed the subject. ‘You were absent from Hokitika for over two months,’ he said. ‘What caused your absence?’
    ‘I’m ashamed to say that I’ve been under the effects of opium, sir,’ said Staines. ‘I was astonished to discover, upon my return, that over two months had passed.’
    ‘Where have you been?’
    ‘I believe I have spent much of the time in the opium den at Kaniere Chinatown,’ said Staines, ‘but I couldn’t tell you for sure.’
    Broham paused. ‘The opium den,’ he repeated.
    ‘Yes, sir,’ said Staines. ‘The proprietor was a fellow named Sook. Ah Sook.’
    Broham did not want to dwell on the subject of Ah Sook. ‘You were discovered,’ he said, ‘on the twentieth of March, in the cottage that once belonged to Crosbie Wells. What were you doing there?’
    ‘I believe I was looking for my bonanza,’ said Staines. ‘Only I got a little muddled—I was unwell—and I couldn’t remember where I’d buried it.’
    ‘When did you first develop a dependency upon opium, Mr. Staines?’
    ‘I first touched the drug on the night of the fourteenth of January.’
    ‘In other words, the very night that Crosbie Wells died.’
    ‘So they tell me.’
    ‘A bit of a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?’
    Moody objected to this. ‘Mr. Wells died of natural causes,’ he said. ‘I cannot see how any coincidence with a natural event can be a significant one.’
    ‘In fact,’ said Broham, ‘the post-mortem revealed a small quantity of laudanum in Mr. Wells’s stomach.’
    ‘A small quantity,’ Moody repeated.
    ‘Continue with your interrogation, Mr. Broham,’ said the justice. ‘Sit down, Mr. Moody.’
    ‘Thank you, sir,’ said Broham to the