‘You are absolutely sure she’s not here, aren’t you, Johann?’ Nick asked, reading the young man’s name on his lapel badge.

‘I’m sorry?’ Johann looked bemused.

‘Well, one of the things we’re concerned about is her state of mind. She might be … hiding in her room.’

‘Not according to housekeeping.’

‘Could you just call her room? On the off chance she’s up there.’

‘But her key’s here, you see.’ Johann pushed his chair back on its castors and pulled open a drawer in a tall cabinet. Bemusement returned to his face. ‘That’s strange.’

‘What is?’

‘The key … actually … isn’t here.’

‘Meaning she’s in her room after all?’

‘No, no. That can’t be right. I’m certain …’ But he didn’t look certain of anything. ‘I’ll phone her room.’ He grabbed the house phone and dialled. A deep frown crossed his face. ‘That’s … weird,’ he said. ‘The line’s out of order.’

‘There’s a fault?’

‘No. There shouldn’t be. But …’

‘If you gave us her room number, Johann, we could go up and check.’

‘No.’ Johann thought for a moment. Then he burrowed in a cabinet and pulled out a key with a tattered cardboard tag on it bearing the number 22. ‘I will go.’

‘Actually,’ said Nick, ‘why don’t we all go?’

Johann might have argued with Nick’s suggestion if he’d been less distracted. As it was, he seemed so baffled by the missing key and the dead phone line that he gave little thought to Nick and Erla as they joined him in the lift.

A few minutes later, they were all at the door of room 22 on the second floor. There was no sound from within. Johann knocked, then knocked again more loudly. There was no response. He made a third attempt, then put the key in the lock, called ‘Housekeeping’ and opened the door.

Wada wasn’t there. Nobody was there. But someone clearly had been there since the last chambermaid’s visit.

The room was in chaos, with every drawer open and clothes strewn across the bed. The door of the safe in the wardrobe was wide open. It, like the wardrobe itself, was empty. The bedside cabinets had been pulled away from the wall, disconnecting the phone that stood on one of them in the process. A suitcase was lying open and upside down on the floor. Its contents, like those of the drawers and wardrobe, appeared to have ended up on the bed. Glancing into the bathroom, Nick saw that the panels under the bath and basin had been unscrewed and removed. No hiding-place had been overlooked.

The room had obviously been thoroughly searched, though whether the search had been successful was another matter. The removal of the panels in the bathroom smacked to Nick’s mind of desperation. Maybe they hadn’t found what they’d been looking for. Maybe Wada had taken it with her.