An attacker who brutally beat an RSA manager in a robbery on Thursday morning may have stayed overnight in the building.
It's one possibility being explored by police as they investigate the attack on 62-year-old Maxine Corless at the Hobsonville RSA.
She was left with bad bruising to her face and body after being punched, dragged and tied up by a man wearing a Halloween-style mask.
The intruder took off with an undisclosed sum of money from the bar.
Police interviewed Ms Corless on Friday, and Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Andy King says she is coping well and assisting with inquiries, Auckland Now reported.
Det Snr Sgt King said police were still trying to work out how the attacker gained access to the building.
RSA bar manger Donna Francis said the man could have stayed overnight in the premises - which Det Snr Sgt King agreed was a possibility.
A neighbour had told investigators they thought they saw the offender emerge from bushes and jump a fence.
Det Snr Sgt King said police had received numerous calls from the public with information on suspicious people and vehicles in the area.
Police released a description of a man aged between 20 and 40, of solid to fat build, who was wearing a jumper, cap and sunglasses.
The attack occurred on the 10th anniversary of the Mt Wellington RSA murders, where parolee William Bell shot and killed Mt Wellington-Panmure RSA club president William Absolum, member Wayne Johnson and cleaner Mary Hobson on December 8, 2001.
Bell was convicted of three charges of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 33 years, reduced to 30 years on appeal.
NZN