‘OK. Nick.’ She looked around, perhaps to confirm that all the nearby customers were absorbed in their own affairs, as they certainly appeared to be. ‘You’re the guy Martin Caldwell was going to meet in London, right?’

‘You know about that?’

‘Martin told us.’

‘Us?’

‘My boyfriend Kristjan and I. Before Martin went … missing.’

‘How did you and … Kristjan … come to know Martin?’

‘Not sure I want to trust you with that yet, Nick.’

It was then Nick noticed Erla’s hands were trembling slightly. There were hollows under her eyes as well. Her youth and prettiness were hiding a lot of anxiety. ‘You said you were worried, Erla. Just about Martin? Or is there something else?’

‘There’s a lot else.’

‘Maybe I can help.’

‘Maybe. But you’re not the only person looking for Martin. And trusting the last one didn’t work out well for Kristjan.’

‘In what way?’

‘In the police way. He was arrested Sunday night.’

‘How did that come about?’

‘It came about because someone betrayed him.’

‘Do you know who?’

‘Not for sure. But it could be the other person who was looking for Martin.’

‘Would that be a Japanese woman called Mimori Takenaga? Also supposed to meet Martin in London?’

‘That’s not her name. She told us she was only posing as Mimori Takenaga. Her real name’s Umiko Wada. She works for a private detective hired by the Takenaga woman. So she said, anyway.’

‘What happened Sunday night?’

Erla put down her mug and looked intently at him, searching his face, it seemed, for some sign she could be sure he wasn’t trying to set her up. ‘I wasn’t there. I don’t know exactly what happened. What Kristjan and Wada were doing went wrong somehow. Now the police are holding Kristjan and they won’t tell me what they’re charging him with. But I don’t believe they can charge him with anything that would justify keeping him in custody, so there’s obviously a lot of sinister stuff going on behind the scenes. Wada wasn’t arrested and she promised to contact me, but she hasn’t. Her phone’s off. Has been for the past twenty-four hours. I don’t know what that means. But Kristjan went up against some powerful people, I know that. I’m frightened and maybe you should be frightened too.’ She took a breath. ‘Tell me everything about why you’ve come all this way looking for Martin Caldwell, Nick, and … maybe I’ll tell you everything from my side too.’

‘Only maybe?’

‘Yeah. No promises. I have to be certain about you. Which means you have to convince me you’re on the level. Think you can do that?’