‘I phoned round the hotels until I found the one she’s staying in. The Sol, in Ođinsgata. But she’s never there when I call. Late last night. Early this morning. Same story. I get the feeling she’s left the place.’

‘Surely they’d tell you if she’d checked out,’ said Nick.

‘She hasn’t. But she’s never there. And she hasn’t called me, as she promised she would. So, either she’s run out on me … or she’s in trouble.’

‘I don’t see what you can do in either event.’

‘I can’t do nothing, Nick. You understand?’

He nodded. Yes. That he did understand.

The day passed slowly at Stóri-Asgarbær. Initially, Caldwell was reluctant to be drawn into conversation with Wada, fearing she’d try to talk him round. Eventually, though, he was worn down by the sheer lack of anything else to do. His strategy, as he’d several times made clear, was to wait until Thursday. But a waiting game was a wearing game. So, why not respond when Wada pressed him to say something – anything – about himself?

She began by persuading him to describe his working life in the insurance business. He must have thought this was safe ground. And so it was. But the object of the exercise was to accustom him to confiding in her. If that meant hearing about the intricacies of annuities, endorsements, endowments, moral hazard and mortality tables, as it turned out it did, she wasn’t about to object.

Because, inevitably, Martin Caldwell revealed more and more of Martin Caldwell as he went on.

‘I was never much of a salesman, Miss Wada. I didn’t have the gift for instant rapport. Still don’t, I suppose. I was more at home in the back office, calculating the balance of risk. Many people dismiss insurers as leeches, happy to take their premiums but ready with an excuse not to pay out when the worst happens. That’s really not how it is. When I did go out in the field, it was as a loss adjuster. And I never tried to exploit the fine print of a policy to reject a claim. It was a matter of principle. And principles are important to me. That’s not to say I never took a firm line. Fairness cuts both ways. I’m afraid there are lots of people out there in the world willing to make false or exaggerated claims. Naturally, I had to make sure they weren’t rewarded for their dishonesty, however entertainingly ingenious their methods sometimes were.

‘Let me give you an example. It must have been, oh, some time in the late nineteen eighties when this happened. I’d better explain the background to the case. Then you’ll appreciate the irony of the situation as it developed. It does have its funny side.

‘So …’