‘You mean she’s gone away somewhere, or that she’s vanished completely?’

Áróra wasn’t sure if the woman was slow on the uptake, or if she simply hadn’t been listening to what she had said. What was obvious was that the question about Ísafold had taken her unawares.

‘She has disappeared completely,’ Áróra said. ‘My family is becoming seriously concerned.’

‘I see,’ the woman said, and Áróra waited for her to continue, but she remained silent.

‘Can you tell me the reason she was given her notice—?’ she asked, and had hardly finished her sentence before the woman interrupted her sharply.

‘No,’ she said shortly. ‘But it was done entirely legally.’

Áróra stood up, and thanked the woman for her help, which 96elicited a dry response. The woman turned her attention to her computer screen. Her movements seemed theatrical, as if she was on stage, playing an office girl, and needed to convey what she was doing all the way to the back of the auditorium.

Áróra walked out of the office and across the lobby. Just as the automatic doors swung open, she glanced back to see the woman squinting as she watched her.

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40

Áróra had decided against the acrylic nails, opting instead for acrylic nail varnish, which she knew from experience would be more resilient than the usual stuff and would last well into the summer. The chemical smell in the nail bar had given her something of a headache, and she put on sunglasses as soon as she stepped outside the nail bar and into the shopping centre. She was wondering whether to call Daníel, when she realised he was standing in front of her.

‘In the police we’re always suspicious of people who wear sunglasses indoors,’ he said, and Áróra laughed.

‘With good reason,’ she said, accepting his kiss on the cheek, as she did so touching his upper arm in something that was somewhere halfway between a handshake and a hug. But she held on too long and saw his eyes flicker over her body. Maybe it was unintentional, or some sort of response to her move, which hadn’t been supposed to be any kind of a move, and which had happened inadvertently … or maybe it hadn’t. His arm was muscled and she could feel the heat from his skin through the thin shirt. She wouldn’t have minded keeping her hand there a little longer.

‘I was just thinking about you,’ she said with a smile that he returned with a wink.

‘Is that so?’

Áróra couldn’t help laughing. There was something flirtatious about his tone, and he raised an eyebrow in mock invitation. She was relieved that he was making a joke out of the mild dalliance that had developed between them. She hadn’t meant to touch him so firmly or for so long.