Thin Ice: An Inspector Gunna Mystery (Gunnhildur Mystery Book 5) (21 page)

‘No. I’m just pointing out the truth. You’ve been wrapped up in this silly frustration for the last few days and I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but you’ve been taking it out on me and Steini.’

‘Is that so?’ Gunna said with iron in her voice, and they were silent as the lights of Reykjanesbraut flashed past.

The rain had begun to lift by the time Gunna pulled up outside the college. Laufey was an hour early for her first class of the day.

‘Going to the library for an hour are you?’ Gunna asked, hoping a truce would be forthcoming.

‘Maybe,’ Laufey said, opening the door and letting in a blast of cold air.

‘Call me later in the day and let me know if you need collecting. All right?’

‘Sure you won’t be busy somewhere?’

Gunna opened her mouth to deliver the sharp comment that had been on the tip of her tongue. ‘No, I can’t be sure that I won’t be busy somewhere else,’ she said finally. ‘That’s the way the job is. You know that as well as I do.’

‘Sorry, Mum,’ Laufey said. ‘I didn’t mean it like that.’

‘What, then?’

‘Mum, talk to Gísli, will you? He’s having a proper rough time of it at the moment and the last thing he needs is you being all hurt and offended.’

‘Maybe I am hurt and offended.’

‘I know. But your quarrel shouldn’t be with Gísli. He’s only doing what’s natural and you can’t blame him for that. It’s different for me. I know Ragnar Sæmundsson isn’t out there somewhere waiting to reappear, unfortunately. But Gísli’s had this big question mark there all these years and he doesn’t have long to get all his questions answered.’

Gunna sighed. ‘You’re probably right, young lady,’ she said, startled again at how similar to her father Laufey sounded. ‘Text me when you know what you’re doing later.’

‘All right. If you’re not about I can get a lift with Gísli.’

‘He’s in Reykjavík today?’

‘Mum, Gísli’s in Reykjavík every day until Christmas. I thought you knew that.’

* * *

‘Össi, talk to me,’ Magni said as Erna went upstairs and Tinna Lind started clearing up the kitchen.

In the restaurant the Skoda, and before it the Explorer, had dripped meltwater all over the floor. The parquet was soaked in places and Magni could see that the floor was starting to warp.

‘I feel sorry for the owners of this place,’ he said. ‘There’s a lot of damage been done here.’

‘Fuck that!’ Össur growled. ‘They’ll get it off the insurance.’

‘Or from us if they catch up with us.’

‘Which they won’t. I reckon we leave those two here.’

‘Listen, Össi,’ Magni said. ‘They’re both coming with us. We drop Erna somewhere safe and Tinna Lind stays with me.’

‘Yeah, yeah. Like you said.’

Magni folded his arms, knowing that the sight of those bulky forearms had settled more than one argument in the past.

‘No, she’s coming with us, all the way. We split the dosh down the middle. We take half, you take half, and when we get to an airport or a ferry or whatever, we go our separate ways.’

‘Seventy-thirty,’ Össur said instantly. ‘That’s what we agreed.’

‘That was when we were going to go straight to the sunshine, not spending days or weeks holed up in the back of beyond.’

‘It’s my job. I fixed it up. I take the risk. I take seven tenths.’

‘I’m taking risks here as well. You reckon that old bastard isn’t after me, too? Fifty-fifty or I’m out of here.’

Össur grinned. ‘Yeah, but I’ve got the car key, and a gun.’ The Baikal’s safety catch clicked off and on in his pocket.

Magni glared at him, and a look inside the car proved that the key had vanished from the ignition.

‘Yeah, you’ve got a car that you can’t drive. Are you going to get to Keflavík or somewhere like that on your own?’

‘There are people here who can drive, like you. You’re not going to get out of here either without the car.’

‘That’s where you’re wrong. Don’t forget the guy you shot? Forgotten that, have you?’ Magni saw the corner of Össur’s mouth twitch in anger and his hand start to lift out of his pocket. ‘I know where his truck’s parked. All I have to do is slip out of the door and I’m away while you’re still here.’

Össur snarled. ‘You wouldn’t fucking dare.’

‘You better believe I would. But you don’t have to worry about that. We go fifty-fifty and we all get somewhere safe together.’

Össur sagged. ‘All right. We split it down the middle.’

‘Cool. I’d shake your hand if it didn’t have a gun in it. We split the cash before we leave, count it out together. No mistakes. Straight down the middle.’

‘Yeah. Don’t rub it in.’

‘And we leave here soon. It gets dark around four and I want to get to the main road in daylight. I’m going north. You?’

‘Yeah. North. I don’t want to go anywhere near Alli the Cornershop’s territory.’

The tension crackled in the air as Össur dumped the bag of money on the table.

‘That’s it?’

‘All of it,’ he agreed.

‘Right,’ Magni said with disbelief. The bag looked smaller than it had when they’d run out of Alli the Cornershop’s house and down the street into the twilight.

Össur emptied the bag and bundles of notes tumbled out. ‘You really want to count all of it?’

‘Just make two equal piles? Yeah, of course I want to count it.’

Össur shrugged. They each began counting, Össur counting under his breath, Tinna Lind flicking smartly through each wad of notes and Magni counting carefully as they each made bundles of a thousand euros, then combined these into stacks of ten thousand.

Half an hour later they looked at one another and Magni counted the nineteen piles and leftover piles of fifties.

‘A hundred and ninety-four thousand euros. That makes ninety-seven thousand each.’

He moved piles across the table deliberately, making sure Össur imagined no false moves, and split the last pile, counting it out until there were two piles of equal value.

‘Happy with that?’ he asked. ‘Fair?’

‘It’s not fair and no, I’m not happy with that,’ Össur retorted. ‘I still say it should be seventy-thirty, but I guess I don’t have a choice.’

Magni stacked the cash into neat piles of notes, snapping a rubber band around each one. Össur swept his pile back into the bag and stood up.

‘I’m going to get ready,’ he said. ‘It’s going to be a long day.’

‘Do you think he’s swindling us?’ Tinna Lind asked when Össur had gone upstairs.

‘I’m damn sure of it. That bag was a lot thicker before, so I’d bet anything you like that he’s skimmed a stack off the top and stashed it away somewhere.’

‘It’ll be in his room?’

‘In the bridal suite? Probably. He’s hardly been out of there for days. I think his bag of grass must be pretty much finished by now.’

‘His hands are shaking.’

‘And he’s a lot sharper. He probably hasn’t been without a spliff for a whole day for years and I suppose it might be a shock to his system. But now . . .’

Jón Egill Hjörleifsson was far from overawed by the interview room and met Gunna’s gaze.

‘My name’s Gunnhildur Gísladóttir and I’m a detective with the city CID,’ she said, sitting down.

‘And I’m Jón Egill Hjörleifsson, but I reckon you know that already,’ he said in a deep voice that seemed out of place from someone so stocky. He barely reached Gunna’s shoulder, but the barrel chest and thick arms encased in a worn leather jacket indicated this was no weakling. ‘Why am I here? Haven’t been speeding, have I?’ He grinned, showing a flash of gold set among pearl-white teeth.

‘On Monday a vehicle registered to you was identified in Vesturbraut at 13:45. I’d like you to account for your movements.’

‘I was looking for a friend.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah. But he wasn’t home.’

‘Your friend’s name?’

‘Össi. I can’t remember whose son he is. He drinks in the Emperor some nights.’

The man’s manner was confident and the answers were plausible enough, but the underlying tone of mockery convinced Gunna that Jón Egill Hjörleifsson was too experienced to lie outright, but not too clever to stop himself showing off.

‘Why?’

‘Why what?’

‘Why did you decide to go and see your friend at that particular time? You don’t have a job?’

‘I have a job, officer. And I pay my taxes like a decent citizen.’

‘Where do you work?’

‘I’m self-employed. I run a couple of kiosks. One in Hafnarfjördur, one in Keflavík, one in Mosfellsbær. Lunchtime trade, mostly.’

‘And you weren’t busy with the lunchtime trade at 13:45 on Monday?’

Jón Egill Hjörleifsson looked at her pityingly. ‘I don’t flip fucking burgers myself. I have people to do that.’

‘Why does a successful businessman show an interest in a small-time dealer like Össur?’

‘He’s a dealer?’

‘Why did you go to look for him that afternoon?’

‘We were short-staffed. I was going to offer him a couple of shifts in the kiosk as it’s round the corner from where he lives.’

‘I suppose you had checked that Össur has all the required hygiene certificates?’

‘No, but if he hadn’t I’d have put him through the course.’

Gunna placed a photograph on the desk. ‘Recognize this character?’

‘I’ve seen the face but couldn’t put a name to it,’ he said finally, after examining Árni Sigurvinsson’s driving licence photo.

‘And this one?’

He blanched at the sight of the same face in death, its eyes half open and lips parted as if about to speak.

‘Who’s that?’

‘The same guy after someone set fire to his flat early on Friday morning. Where were you between five and seven that morning?’

‘At home. Asleep, I expect.’

Gunna could see that he was uncomfortable. ‘And will anyone confirm that?’ she asked softly.

‘Is this really necessary?’ he demanded. ‘I can have my lawyer here in five minutes, you know.’

‘Feel free,’ Gunna replied, watching his composure disintegrate. ‘You’re not under arrest, but you have a right to a lawyer if that’s what you want. However, you still haven’t answered my question. Is there anyone who can vouch for your presence at home between five and seven on Saturday morning?’

Magni pulled on his trousers. He watched Tinna Lind dressing, gazing as the trim dark triangle between her legs disappeared into her clothes, hoping this wasn’t the last he’d see of it. He took a deep breath.

‘Ready?’

‘As ready as I’ll ever be. And you? No second thoughts?’

‘None.’

‘You know, if you give yourself up, we can pin every single thing on your friend,’ she said in a low voice. ‘He held us at gunpoint the whole time.’

‘True,’ Magni agreed. ‘But I’m not keen to hang around where Össur’s friend Alli might decide he wants to ask me a few awkward questions. So let’s go for it, shall we?’

Tinna Lind hugged him, laying her head on his shoulder and squeezing him tight. He laid a hand on her head, stroking the long brown hair, the crinkles from its long imprisonment in braids starting to disappear.

‘Come on. We’d better check on the others,’ she said.

* * *

Alli got into Rafn’s car, having first made sure there was nobody in the back seat.

This time it was a blue-collar Avensis of the kind that nobody would look at twice rather than the sleek black van with its tinted windows.

Rafn drove in silence in a circuit around the town and back to the centre, stopping outside the shopping mall.

‘Coffee, Alli?’

‘Yeah. Why not.’

Inside, Alli pointed to a table. ‘There.’

They both knew and accepted the subtext. It was a place chosen as randomly as could be arranged and outside each of their normal stamping grounds, so there was no chance of a wire being under the table. Alli remembered with discomfort that Rafn could be wearing a recording device of some kind, but told himself not to be paranoid as the younger man, this time back in his habitual denims, collected two white mugs of ink-black coffee.

He could see Rafn was perturbed.

‘Still no sign of them, Alli,’ he said. ‘Not a whisper.’

‘That’s strange. Össi’s a city boy. He’s never been one for going much out of town.’

‘It’s not just that.’ Rafn stirred his coffee with a slow, deliberate motion and looked up. ‘I’m not sure this is worth the effort. I’ve had the police sniffing around.’

Alli sat silent and waited for Rafn to continue.

‘One of my associates has been picked up and questioned by the police, and it certainly isn’t some kind of routine thing.’

‘What were they after?’

‘I reckon it’s your gopher. The one who’s dead.’

‘Árni? That was an accident,’ Alli said quickly.

‘Was it? I wonder. It looks like the law have connected Árni’s untimely demise with Össur’s sudden disappearance, which is no surprise. The problem is that anyone looking for Össur becomes someone who might be involved in Árni’s death, as far as the law is concerned, and we can do without the attention.’

‘So you’re telling me you’re backing off?’

Rafn sipped his coffee. ‘Not at all. We haven’t stopped looking for Össur.’ He looked up and smiled in a way that made Alli shiver. ‘We’re just having to be a little more discreet about it, and casting the net wider means it becomes a more expensive operation.’

Össur opened the hatch in the bathroom ceiling and felt between the rafters for the package he knew was there. He retrieved it and blew off a thin layer of dust. Grinning to himself, he opened the bag and unwound the towel. A hundred and ten notes, each worth five hundred euros. He took off his jacket and carefully secreted the thick wad of notes, with his passport, deep in the lining via a tear in the inside pocket, then wondered if that was a safe hiding place. He thought briefly about hiding the money in his trousers or shoes, but realized that would never work. He’d keep the money behind the Baikal, he decided. Anyone wanting to get to his nest egg would have to get past the gun first.

The rest of the money, his half of what they had shared out the night before, he kept in the bag it had come in. He promised himself that the first thing he would do when they got to anywhere with a shop would be to buy himself a decent pair of shoes, some smarter clothes and some luggage to travel with.