Walter Moody—Mercury Timeline and Summary

Walter arrives in Hokitika looking to make his fortune in gold, basically fleeing from his father's dissolute behavior. He has a harrowing boat journey in; there's a nasty storm, and he thinks he sees the ghost of a bloody man while on board.
When he goes into the smoking room at his hotel, he meets twelve men who seem to be in the midst of a powwow. He eventually earns their trust and is invited into their confidence.
His spiritual run-in on the boat actually becomes relevant to their discussion, since Walter believes he has seen the ghost of a missing man the twelve men had been discussing/trying to find.
Walter tells Ah Sook, a local hatter and owner of an opium den, where to find Frank Carver when Carver starts sleeping elsewhere to avoid Sook's revenge plot.
When two people related to the Crown dudes' tale—Anna and Emery—end up in trouble, Walter helps defend them in court.
He leaves town at the end of the book to go on a dig, just as his father gets into town to apologize/beg forgiveness from him.