“Let me have the money. Two thousand! That’s nothing! You don’t understand. Stupid old git!”

Erlendur was now on his feet too and she went up to him as if she was going to attack.

He couldn’t fathom this sudden aggressiveness. He looked her up and down.

“What are you looking at?” she shouted in his face. “Fancy a bit? Eh? Does dirty old Daddy fancy a bit?”

Erlendur slapped her face, but not very hard.

“Did you enjoy that?” she said.

He slapped her again, harder this time.

“Getting a hard-on?” she said, and Erlendur leapt back from her. She’d never talked to him like this. In an instant she’d become a monster. He’d never seen her in this mood before. He felt helpless towards her and his anger gradually gave way to pity.

“Why are you trying to give up now?” he repeated.

“I’m not trying to give up now!” she shouted. “What’s wrong with you? Can’t you understand what I’m saying? Who’s talking about giving up?”

“What’s wrong, Eva?”

“You stop that ’what’s wrong, Eva’! Can’t you let me have five thousand? Can you answer me?” She appeared to be calming down. Maybe she realised she’d gone too far, she couldn’t talk to her father that way.

“Why now?” Erlendur asked.

“Will you let me have ten thousand if I tell you?”

“What’s happened?”

“Five thousand.”

Erlendur stared at his daughter.

“Are you pregnant?” he asked.

Eva Lind looked at her father with a submissive smile.

“Bingo,” she said.

“But how?” Erlendur groaned.

“What do you mean, how? Do you want me to go into details?”

“None of that clever talk. You use protection, surely? Condoms? The pill?”

“I don’t know what happened. It just happened.”

“And you want to give up dope?”

“Not any more. I can’t. Now I’ve told you everything. Everything! You owe me ten thousand.”