‘Just over three years. I was doing the sound on one of her shows.’ Ian looked at him. There was a barely contained frustration that was turning into anger. ‘But we’re wasting time here. We should be looking for her.’

‘People are looking,’ Perez said. ‘Local people who know the land. We’d just be in the way. Now talk me through everything that’s happened since you arrived in Shetland. You arrived on the ferry from Aberdeen yesterday morning?’

‘I wanted to bring my car,’ Ian said, ‘so we decided on the ferry instead of flying. And in the end Marcus brought his too. We didn’t know what it would be like here. Whether there’d be shops. You know . . .’

‘Oh, we’re almost civilized these days.’

Ian stopped walking and grinned, despite himself. ‘Yeah, well. Neither Nell nor me really does country. We weren’t sure what we’d find.’

‘Did you stop in Lerwick at all? For shopping? Breakfast?’

‘We had breakfast on the boat and decided to head straight north. We’d stocked the boot with enough food and booze to last for months, and Caroline had said she’d sort out milk and bread. I’d looked on the map. Before then I hadn’t realized how far it would be.’

‘Two long, skinny islands and two ferries – and that’s after you get to Toft on Shetland mainland,’ Perez said, as if he had all the time in the world.

‘It was late morning by the time we arrived. We’d arranged to get into the house early, and Polly made lunch.’ He stopped again and stared at Perez. ‘Do you really want all this stuff?’ Terns screamed overhead.

‘I do.’

‘Eleanor hadn’t slept much on the boat from Aberdeen. She’s like a kid when she’s excited. Hyper. When we’d cleared up lunch she said she wanted to rest before the wedding.’

‘Was she really excited?’ Perez asked. ‘Not anxious and depressed?’

‘They’ve told you about the baby.’ He stared out towards the water. ‘It was her second miscarriage. She wants a child. Of course she was upset and angry. Eleanor has always got what she wanted.’ He paused. ‘That makes her sound horrible, but things have always come easily to her. Liberal, arty family with enough money to indulge her. She’s bright enough to pass exams without too much effort. Then this happened. Something that couldn’t be put right with money or hard work. It floored her.’

‘She spent some time in hospital?’

‘Just to please me,’ he said. ‘I felt so helpless. I wanted my wife back. I’m an engineer and I’m used to fixing things if they’re not working properly. I got her into a private place.’

‘But she refused to stay there?’ Perez wondered what that must do to a relationship, a husband sending his wife to an institution because she was sad.

‘She said she wasn’t ill and it would only take time. She said that I should trust her.’ Ian paused. ‘She was right. On this trip she was much more herself again. Focused on a new project at work. Excited about the trip and about the wedding.’