AT the end of the first week in March 2009, the Wisma Sritex building in Tawangmangu, Central Java, was heavily guarded by the presidential security detail. The entourage of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, which had inaugurated the opening of the Tawangmangu Tourist Market that day, was staying the night.

In the cold air of Tawangmangu, Ibu Kristiani Herrawati, better known as Ani Yudhoyono, spoke in private with biographer Alberthiene Endah