16 January 1866

16 January 1866 is a day of converging discoveries in Hokitika: Ah Sook, seeking an explanation for Anna Wetherell’s collapse, encounters Thomas Balfour just as Balfour discovers the disappearance of Alistair Lauderback’s missing shipping crate. Their conversation redirects Ah Sook’s suspicions toward Francis Carver—and reveals that Carver has already left port.

Background and return to Hokitika

Two days earlier, on the night of 14 January, the Godspeed had weighed anchor after Carver’s rendezvous with Crosbie Wells. Ah Sook, still in Kaniere and occupied with planning Carver’s death, did not yet know the ship had departed. He was distressed by the news that Anna Wetherell had tried to end her life, but doubted that the reported amount of opium could have left her unconscious for so long. Instead, he suspected that Pritchard’s latest shipment had been poisoned.

The following morning Ah Sook returned to Hokitika and sought an immediate meeting with Thomas Balfour, the shipping agent for Pritchard’s Drug Hall. His journey was driven by concern for Anna and by suspicion that the drug itself had caused her collapse; his questions would lead him unexpectedly back to the man he intended to kill.

Balfour’s discovery and the interview

On the morning of 16 January, Balfour had discovered that the crate containing Alistair Lauderback’s personal effects had disappeared from the Hokitika waterfront. The loss left him curt and distracted when Ah Sook asked about Pritchard’s opium. Balfour confirmed that Balfour Shipping held Pritchard’s contract, but said he had little involvement with the cargo and directed Ah Sook instead to Pritchard’s supplier, Francis Carver.

Ah Sook kept his shock under control and asked how long Carver and Pritchard had done business together. Balfour could not give an exact beginning, but reasoned that their association likely went back at least to the previous spring, when Carver had been an occasional presence in Hokitika. The exchange links Ah Sook’s concern about Anna’s opium to Carver’s commercial dealings, though it does not establish that Carver was responsible for the suspected poisoning.

The news that Carver has sailed

Balfour’s account also explains why Ah Sook had not encountered Carver in Hokitika: Carver seldom travelled inland, while Ah Sook seldom went into town. When Balfour realized from Ah Sook’s reaction that the two men already knew each other, he learned that their acquaintance dated to Canton. The recognition exposes an important connection without resolving its history.

The conversation ends with a more immediate setback. Balfour tells Ah Sook that Carver sailed two days earlier and was probably bound for Canton, making his return to Hokitika unlikely for some time. Thus 16 January brings Ah Sook closer to identifying the source of his suspicions while placing his intended target beyond immediate reach. Balfour’s separate discovery of Lauderback’s missing crate gives the date a second consequence: the disappearance is now known to the shipping agent, even as its connection to Carver remains undisclosed.