Thin Ice: An Inspector Gunna Mystery (Gunnhildur Mystery Book 5) (30 page)

Magni looked through the door into the little apartment’s living room, where Össur’s feet in their grey socks protruded from under the duvet.

‘We’re going to have to be very careful,’ he said, slipping back under the bedclothes. ‘I’d bet you anything that he’s thinking how to do just the same to us. But for the moment we’re safe enough.’

‘Because he still needs us?’

Magni snaked an arm under Tinna Lind’s back and gave her a squeeze that made her gasp.

‘Until we have passports, we’re OK. We need him so we can get passports. He needs us to get around, because the police are looking for him and Össi doesn’t drive.’

‘So once we have the passports, we’ll have to watch our step?’

‘That’s the way I see it,’ Magni said. ‘And that loaded pistol in his pocket makes the whole thing a lot more awkward.’

The streets of Selfoss were awash with meltwater as the warm south wind and the constant rain showers it brought with it took off the layers of dirty snow to reveal the hardened older ice beneath, which seemed more reluctant to disappear down the town’s drains and swell the river that was in flood, bloated with milky water from high in the hills.

Gunna checked the address and parked outside the newish wood-framed house on the town’s outskirts. The grass in the garden could be seen peeking out through gaps in the snow cover and the place was littered with the junk left by active children encouraged to play outside, although on a day like this she had no doubt they would all be indoors.

She was right. Svava Jónasdóttir ushered her into the kitchen, bypassing the living room, where a group of pre-school children were ignoring the television and playing with an excited puppy.

‘Busy day?’

‘Just a bit. If it’s dry, I can send them outside to play for a few hours and that tires them out. But that’s not going to happen today.’

‘I know just how you feel, although that’s something of a distant memory these days,’ Gunna said. ‘I’m Gunnhildur Gísladóttir and I’m with CID in Reykjavík. Lárus Erlendsson said I ought to talk to you.’

Svava pursed her lips and fiddled with a strand of hair. She looked through the door to check on the children, as if hoping to be interrupted.

‘Yeah. It’s about the people you’re searching for from that hotel up near the lake at Apavatn,’ she said in a slow voice, unsure of herself.

Gunna nodded, taking a sheaf of pictures from her folder. ‘Go on,’ she said.

‘Well, it was something about the car those people had been travelling in, you see.’

‘This one?’ Gunna said, rooting in her folder and placing a picture on the kitchen worktop showing Erna’s Ford Explorer where it had been found in the church parking lot in Kópavogur.

‘I think so.’

‘You’ve seen the vehicle, or the driver?’

Svava nodded and chewed her lip before she answered. ‘It was either Friday or Saturday, I’m not sure which, but it was in the car park outside Samkaup. I go there a few times a week, and normally I just run round fast and get what I need, but there was someone there I hadn’t seen for a long time and it was such a surprise to see him there, in Samkaup in Selfoss of all places.’

‘And who is this character?’

‘His name’s Magni. Magni Sighvatsson. I saw him drive away in that car, or one just like it,’ she said, pointing a finger at the photograph in Gunna’s hand.

‘You’re certain? You spoke to him?’

‘We had a chat in the shop. Of course I’m certain.’

‘I mean you know this man well enough to be in no doubt about this? That’s what I’m driving at. I need to be sure there’s no mistaken identity here.’

Svava’s head nodded miserably. ‘I wish there could be,’ she said with a long sigh. ‘But it’s definitely him. I’ve known Magni since we were teenagers. Magni’s from the Westmann Islands originally, but we were at school together in Thorlákshöfn after his parents moved to the mainland. I seem to remember that his mother wasn’t from the islands and she never felt at home over there. Anyway, we grew up together. He lived with my sister a long time ago.’

‘Magni has a family?’

‘Not really. That relationship didn’t last, I’m afraid. I get on all right with Hjalti, my ex, and Hjalti’s still good friends with Magni. But it’s a different story with Magni and Ína. I don’t think he sees his kids very often, if at all.’

‘You know where he lives?’

Svava shook her head.

‘What did you talk about?’

‘You know. Ex-partners, children, that kind of stuff.’

‘Did he say anything about where he was going or why he was in Selfoss?’

‘Yeah, sort of. I was surprised to see him because last I heard of him was in the summer and he was working on a factory trawler called
Hafthór
and earning good money. I didn’t realize the ship had been sold and he’d lost his job. He said he was going east to Vík and had stopped here to get a bunch of groceries for the weekend – I assumed he was planning on staying for a while because his trolley was piled high.’

‘Vík?’ Gunna wondered out loud. ‘As someone who knows him, did that sound convincing to you?’

‘Well,’ Svava said and thought for a moment, ‘I don’t know. I got the impression there was someone waiting for him in Vík for a long weekend on their own, and it wouldn’t be a surprise. Magni’s a really lovely guy and ladies’ clothes tend to fall off when he’s about.’

Baldvin looked even less happy than he had the day before. His face was still a mess, although he’d been escorted to hospital by two uniformed officers where a dentist made a manful attempt at fixing the damage to his remaining teeth. His lawyer, a young woman with severe glasses and an even more severe expression on her face, tapped a pen on a pad and prepared to make notes.

‘Let’s go over it again, shall we?’ Helgi said with patience. ‘We have all the time in the world to get this sorted out, you know.’

‘All right,’ Baldvin said, sucking at his empty tooth sockets and whistling as he spoke.

‘You last saw Árni Sigurvinsson on Thursday last week. We’ve established that he was seen driving down the street towards Alli’s place and that his car was parked outside. People saw it there and we have witness statements to that effect, including one from the person whose space it was parked in.’

Baldvin nodded.

‘Talk me through it again, will you?’

‘They just had a chat. Alli was a bit upset, but I don’t know what it was that had pissed him off.’

‘This is where it gets interesting. Let’s backtrack a little, and you tell me just what Össur Óskarsson was doing at Alli’s place that afternoon, before Árni turned up?’

Baldvin looked pleadingly sideways at the lawyer, who lifted one eyebrow in return.

‘Unfortunately Árni is no longer here to give his side of the story,’ Helgi continued in a patient tone of voice, as if the lawyer wasn’t there. ‘Why did he stay so long? Because he was held there against his will?’

‘All right. Árni came along the street. He stopped outside and just sat in the car like he was waiting for someone. Alli saw him and went berserk. He went outside and hauled Árni out of the car and took him indoors.’

‘And you didn’t take part in this?’

‘No, not me,’ Baldvin whistled.

‘Árni was ten years younger than Alli and a head taller, yet Alli was able to drag him inside? I find that hard to believe? You must have had something to do with it.’

‘My client has already stated that he had nothing to do with this, officer,’ the lawyer broke in. ‘Can we please move on?’

‘Had a gun,’ Baldvin mumbled after a long pause.

‘Össur? A handgun? Or Alli?’

‘Össi.’ Baldvin sighed in despair, giving up to the realization that he was outgunned. ‘Him and the big guy.’

‘That’s who smacked your teeth out?’ Helgi asked. Baldvin nodded again and sighed, and Helgi sensed that he was about to give up. ‘There was an argument, or a fight? Over what?’

‘Cash. A load of cash.’

‘Go on. Tell me more.’

‘Össi knew Alli had cash in the house, so he took it. Him and the big guy, they ran off.’

‘How much cash?’

‘Fucking loads. Foreign money. In a bag.’

‘And then Árni turned up?’

‘Yeah. Looking for Össi.’

Össur’s phone buzzed. Magni looked at it and wondered if he should answer, but instead he picked it up and went into the living room to give Össur a shake.

‘Hey, mate,’ he said, planting the buzzing mobile in Össur’s hand. ‘Phone.’

Magni stayed while Össur answered, knowing that there was probably only one person who could be calling.

‘Yeah?’ Össur answered, stabbing at the green button.

There followed a conversation that Magni was only able to follow half of before Össur killed the connection and dropped the phone on the floor.

‘Well?’

‘Tonight. Rafn says we can have the passports tonight.’

‘Three million krónur?’

Össur’s teeth were exposed in rare triumph.

‘A million each. That makes eight thousand euros each. Just as well I’m travelling alone, I reckon,’ he said and closed his eyes, his hand once again clasping the comforting butt of the Baikal in his pocket.

* * *

Gunna took the stairs two at a time. Eiríkur looked up in alarm as Gunna appeared and went straight to her desk and began rattling her keyboard, punching the keys harder than necessary as she muttered to herself.

‘His name’s Magni Sighvatsson,’ she said in answer to Eiríkur’s unasked question. ‘Our mystery man in person,’ she added, sitting back and looking at the driving licence photo on the screen. Eiríkur stood by her shoulder and studied the beefy face that looked as if it were suppressing laughter just as the cheap photo-booth picture had been taken.

‘Magni Klemens Sighvatsson, born twenty-ninth of May 1986 in the Westmann Islands,’ Eiríkur said. ‘That’s our mystery man?’

‘That’s him,’ Gunna said, eyes on the screen as she keyed in the name again. ‘No criminal record, so it’s no surprise his prints didn’t show up anywhere.’

‘He’s a big lad as well,’ Eiríkur said, back at his own desk and tapping at his own computer.

‘How do you know that?’

‘Google. He was a weightlifting champion when he was twenty.’

‘So we might be looking at something of a handful,’ she brooded, looking at the friendly face in the photo, the twinkling eyes topped by a carrot mop and surrounded by ginger stubble. ‘I wonder what’s going on here? Why’s someone of that age with no record getting involved with deadbeats like Össur Óskarsson and Alli the Cornershop. It doesn’t make sense, unless there’s something we’ve missed.’

‘Or something we just don’t know about?’

‘More than likely. At any rate, it seems Magni lost his job not long ago, so maybe he was getting desperate. Eiríkur, find out what you can about this guy while I go and speak to the Laxdal, will you?’ Gunna said, scribbling names and ID numbers on a sheet of paper and passing it across. ‘See if you can find contact details for these people as well while I’m talking to the big man,’ she added, taking a couple of sheets of paper from the printer and sweeping from the room.

* * *

Ívar Laxdal sat with his chin in one hand and the other tapping at a laptop on his desk. Only his eyes moved as Gunna knocked and pushed the door open without waiting for a reply.

‘News, Gunnhildur?’

Gunna put the printout of Magni’s passport photo on the desk. ‘Our mystery man is called Magni Klemens Sighvatsson.’

‘How did you figure that out?’

‘Someone who knows him identified him as driving Erna Björg Brandsen’s car in Selfoss a week ago, and spoke to him in the shop there.’

‘No doubt about it? No mistaken identity?’

‘No. No doubt about this guy.’

‘What are you after?’

‘A search warrant for a flat at Hólabraut 70 in Gardabær. It’s his legal address, although I don’t think he actually lives there. According to the national register, the occupiers are a couple called Hjalti Traustason and Kamilla Oddsdóttir, and Magni Sighvatsson’s registered domicile is also there. According to my witness, Magni and Hjalti are old friends, each was best man for the other, although I’m given to understand that both those relationships have long since broken up.’

‘So this Kamilla is Hjalti’s new wife?’

‘That’s what I need to check. Eiríkur’s looking for contact numbers right now.’

‘What do you want me to do?’

‘I’m not sure I want this guy’s face in the papers and on TV yet. If we find them, then we’re going to need the Special Unit to flush them out. Össur’s armed, so I’m not inclined to take chances.’

‘Quite right, Gunnhildur. Let me know when you need them.’

There was a tap at the door and Ívar Laxdal looked up, frowning as the door opened.

‘Chief?’ Eiríkur said, hastily jotted notes in his hand. ‘I’ve spoken to Kamilla Oddsdóttir. She’s a big cheese at some pharmaceuticals company and it wasn’t easy to prise her out of a meeting.’

‘But you did. So?’

‘She and Hjalti are married but separated, and they’re still joint owners of the apartment. She moved in with her parents when the two of them fell out and Hjalti still lives there.’

‘She confirmed that Magni Sighvatsson’s legal residence is registered there?’

‘She said she has no idea whether he has a key to the apartment, but that it wouldn’t be a surprise if he did.’

‘Sounds promising, doesn’t it?’ Gunna looked at Ívar Laxdal and back to Eiríkur.

‘She also said that Hjalti definitely isn’t there, as he’s an engineer on a Norwegian oil survey ship and is away for two months at a time. So if there’s anyone in the place, it’s not going to be one of the two owners as she has no reason to go there. Then she got quite angry and wanted to know what the hell this was all about?’

‘You told her?’ Ívar Laxdal asked.

‘Of course not. I just said it was a very serious investigation and that she should keep away from the place and keep quiet about what we had talked about, and that I’d be in touch to let her know what the situation is.’

‘You’re a diplomat, Eiríkur,’ Ívar Laxdal said, and Eiríkur glowed at the compliment. ‘But on the downside, I’m afraid we’re going to have to let one of your bad boys go.’