‘Good.’ He let go of her, at which point she realized she was visibly trembling. ‘Caldwell is dead. Shot through the head. By Zayala, yes?’

She nodded. ‘Yes.’

‘Where is Ohara?’

‘There’s a … freezer in the room behind the kitchen. His body’s … in there.’

‘Who killed him? You?’

‘Yes. It was … partly an accident.’

‘A lucky accident for you, I would say.’

‘There is another body in the freezer. A friend of mine. Ohara shot him.’

‘Did Ohara also handcuff Caldwell to the wash-basin pipe?’

Wada didn’t know how to shape an answer to that. ‘It is … difficult to explain.’

‘If I search you, will I find the key to the handcuffs?’

Wada tried to think what was the best thing to do. But thinking didn’t seem to take her very far. She took the key out of her pocket and handed it to Espersen.

‘Wait here,’ he said. ‘I won’t be long.’

He turned and ran back into the house. The fire had spread the whole length of the roof by now. The ground floor was still intact, but filling fast with smoke.

Wada watched numbly as the flames rose. Roof timbers were cracking in the heat like gunshots. She wondered who Espersen worked for. There was a white pick-up truck in the yard she hadn’t seen before, but whether it belonged to Zayala or Espersen she had no way of knowing. Maybe she should try to run away. But she felt too weak to consider the idea seriously.

Then Espersen was back, coughing and blinking. She noticed he was carrying her shoulder bag, which he must have found in the kitchen. He grasped her by the elbow and moved her further away from the house. Without the car to lean on, she tottered and might have fallen but for his support. She sensed an ox-like strength in him.

‘I took the handcuffs off Caldwell and checked the freezer,’ he said, his voice hoarsened by smoke. ‘If I were you, I wouldn’t mention the handcuffs again.’

‘Who wouldn’t I … mention them to?’

‘I can’t read Japanese, but I’m guessing the papers in this bag are Kodaka’s kage-boshi file and the stuff you printed out from the Emergence files. Correct?’

She nodded.

‘We’ll take those with us. My car is down by the gate. Think you can walk that far?’

She nodded again. ‘Yes. If you … give me a moment.’

‘Where’s Ohara’s car?’

She pointed towards the barn. ‘In there.’

‘Right. So, Zayala came in the pick-up. And this car’s yours?’

‘It was George’s.’

‘The dead friend. OK. The vehicles have to burn with the house. Fire cleanses. Fingerprints. DNA. You understand?’

‘Who do you work for?’

‘Who do you think I work for?’

‘Not Nishizaki … obviously.’