“The lawyer thinks we can divide everything up more or less equally,” she said, sipping her liqueur.

“That’s good,” Erlendur said. He knew they had lived in a large detached house close to the old children’s hospital and wondered which of them would get the house. He asked whether it was important to her.

“No,” she said. “He was always much fonder of the house. Apparently he’s found himself a new woman.”

“Really?”

“Someone from the hospital. A young nurse.”

“Do you think anyone can create a good relationship when both parties have been unfaithful?” he asked, thinking about a missing-person case he was investigating. “Do you think anyone can create a good, solid relationship if they’ve both cheated before?”

“I didn’t,” Valgerdur said. “He repeatedly cheated on me with any woman who would stand still long enough.”

“I’m not talking about you, but about a case I’m dealing with.”

“The missing woman?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think they both cheated before they got together?”

Erlendur nodded. He rarely discussed the cases he was handling with anyone else. Valgerdur was an exception. So was Eva.

“I don’t know,” Valgerdur said. “Obviously it can be difficult if both parties have left their spouses under circumstances like that. There are bound to be repercussions.”

“Why shouldn’t it happen again?” Erlendur asked.

“You shouldn’t forget about love though.”

“Love?”

“You shouldn’t underestimate love. Sometimes two people are prepared to sacrifice everything for a new relationship. Maybe that’s true love.”

“Yes, but what if one of them finds this true love at regular intervals?” Erlendur said.

“Did she leave on account of his cheating? Had he started again?”

“I don’t know,” Erlendur said.

“Were you cheating when you got divorced?”

Surprised at the question, he smiled.

“No,” he said. “I have no idea how to go about that sort of thing. In Icelandic, we talk about practising adultery. Like a hobby or a sport.”

“So you’re wondering whether the man betrayed this woman’s trust?”

Erlendur shrugged.

“Why did she disappear?”

“That’s the question.”

“You don’t know any more than that?”

“Not really.”

Valgerdur paused.

“How can you drink this Chartreuse?” she asked with a grimace.

“I happen to like it,” Erlendur smiled.

When Erlendur went back to Sunee’s flat her ex-mother-in-law had arrived, a fairly slim, intense woman aged about sixty. She had rushed up the stairs and hugged Sunee, who was waiting for her on the landing. Sunee seemed relieved to have Elias’s grandmother with her. Erlendur sensed that their relationship was warm. They had not yet been able to contact Elias’s father. He was not at home and his mobile was switched off. Sunee thought he had recently changed jobs and did not know the name of the company he worked for.

The grandmother talked to Sunee in half-whispers. Her brother and the interpreter stood a little way off, to give them space. Erlendur looked up at the red lampshade with the yellow dragon on it. The dragon seemed to be curled around a little dog, but he could not work out whether it was to protect or to curse the dog.

“Such a terrible tragedy!” The woman sighed and looked at the interpreter, whom she seemed to recognise. “Who could have done such a thing?”

Sunee said something to her brother and they went into the kitchen with Gudny.

The grandmother looked over and noticed Erlendur.

“And who are you?” she asked.

Erlendur explained his involvement in the case. The woman introduced herself as Sigridur. She asked Erlendur to tell her exactly what had happened, what the police were doing, what hypotheses were being put forward and whether any clues had been found. Erlendur answered her as best he could, but he had very little concrete information. This seemed to irritate her, as if he were withholding details. She told him as much. He assured her that this was not the case, the investigation was just beginning and they did not have much to go on as yet.

“Not much to go on! A ten-year-old boy is stabbed and you claim you don’t have much to go on?”

“My condolences about the boy,” Erlendur said. “Of course we’re doing everything in our power to work out what happened and find the culprit.”

He had been in this position before, standing in the homes of people who were paralysed by grief over something incomprehensible and unbearable. He knew the denial and anger. The incident was so overwhelming that it was impossible to face up to and the mind seized on anything to ease the pain, as if the situation could still somehow be put right.

Erlendur knew this sensation, had felt it since he was ten years old and he and his younger brother Bergur had got lost in a storm. For a while there was a genuine hope that his brother would be found alive after burying himself in the snow as Erlendur had done, and it was this hope that drove people on to search for him, long after his brother’s fate had been sealed. The body was never found. When the hope began to wane by the day and then vanished by the week and month and year, it was replaced by a feeling of numbness towards life. Some people managed to keep it at bay. Others, like Erlendur, nurtured it and made the pain their lifelong companion.

He knew that it was crucial to find Elias’s half-brother Niran. He hoped that the boy would return home as soon as possible and be able to shed light on what had happened. The more time that elapsed without him turning up, the more Erlendur felt that his disappearance was somehow connected with the boy’s death. In the worst-case scenario, something had happened to Niran too, but he did not want to pursue that train of thought.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” Sigridur asked.

“Have you heard from his brother?” Erlendur asked.

“Niran? No, Sunee’s so worried about him.”

“We’re doing everything we can,” Erlendur said.

“Do you think something’s happened to him as well?” Sigridur asked in horror.

“I doubt it,” Erlendur said.

“He must come home,” Sigridur said. “Sunee must get him back home.”

“He’ll be back,” Erlendur said calmly. “Can you imagine where he might be? He should have got back from school a long time ago. His mother said he’s not supposed to be at any extra courses or football practice or anything like that.”

“I don’t have the faintest idea where he could be,” Sigridur said. “I don’t have much contact with him.”

“What about their old friends from when they lived on Snorrabraut?” Erlendur asked. “Could he be with them?”

“I have no idea.”

“The boys haven’t been living here long?”

“No. They moved from Snorrabraut in the spring. The boys had to change schools this autumn. I think it’s been terribly difficult for them, first the divorce, then moving to a new part of town and starting at a new school”

“I need to speak to your son,” Erlendur said.

“Me too,” Sigridur said. “He’s working for a new firm of contractors and I don’t know the name.”

“I understand that Sunee wasn’t his first foreign wife.”

“I can’t understand the boy,” Sigridur said. “I’ve never been able to figure him out. And you’re right. Sunee was his second wife from Thailand.”

“Did the brothers get on well?” Erlendur asked cautiously. She could sense his hesitation.

“Get on well? Of course. What do you mean? Of course they got on well.”

She moved a step closer to Erlendur.

“You think he did it, do you?” she whispered. “You think Niran attacked his own brother? Are you crazy?”

“Not at all,” Erlendur said. “I—”

“Wouldn’t that be an easy solution?” Sigridur said sarcastically.

“You mustn’t misunderstand me,” Erlendur said.

“Misunderstand? I’m not misunderstanding anything,” Sigridur hissed between clenched teeth. “You think this is just a case of Thais killing each other, don’t you? Wouldn’t that be convenient for you and for the rest of us? They’re just Thais! None of our business. Is that what you’re saying?”