subject. He had had enough humiliation for one day.
‘No problem,’ said Katrin smiling. ‘You were very sweet. Just before you went to sleep you gave me a cute little smile, and said “You’re under arrest.” Then you fell asleep.’
‘Oh, Jeez.’
‘Don’t worry. You will probably have to do the same for me one day.’
She leaned back against the fridge, eating her yoghurt. She had a couple fewer studs in her face than she had the first night Magnus had met her. She was wearing black jeans and a T-shirt emblazoned with an image of a wolf’s jaws. The microwave pinged and Magnus extracted his dinner, tipped it out on to a plate, and began to eat. ‘I don’t usually get that drunk.’
‘I really don’t mind. Just as long as you are careful where you throw up. And you clean it up afterwards.’
Magnus grimaced. ‘I will. I promise.’
Katrin examined him. ‘Are you really a policeman?’
‘Matter of fact I am.’
‘What are you doing in Iceland?’
‘Helping out.’
Katrin ate some more of her skyr. ‘You see, the thing is, I don’t like my little brother spying on me.’
‘I’m not surprised,’ said Magnus. ‘Don’t worry. I’m not officially a signed-up member of the Reykjavik Metropolitan Police. I’m not going to tell anyone what you’re up to.’
‘Good,’ said Katrin. ‘I saw you going into Ingileif’s gallery yesterday.’
‘Do you know her?’
‘A bit. Is she suspected of something?’
‘I can’t really tell you that.’
‘Sorry. Just curious.’ She waved her spoon in the air. ‘I know! Is it Agnar’s murder?’
‘I really can’t say,’ Magnus said.
‘It is! A friend of mine went out with him when she was at university. I saw him the other day in a cafe, you know. The Cafe Paris. With Tomas Hakonarson.’
‘Who’s he?’ Magnus asked.
‘He has his own TV show. The Point it’s called. Gives politicians a hard time. He’s quite funny.’
They ate in silence for a minute. Magnus knew he should write the name down, but he was too tired, he couldn’t be both-ered.
‘What do you think of her?’ he asked.
Katrin put down the yoghurt and poured herself some orange juice. Magnus noticed that there was a tiny blob of skyr on the ring jutting out of her lip. ‘Ingileif? I like her. Her brother’s a bastard, though.’
‘Why’s that?’
‘He won’t let me sing in his clubs any more, that’s why,’ said Katrin, anger in her voice. ‘He owns the hottest places in town. It’s not fair.’
‘Why did he ban you?’
‘I don’t know. I had some really successful gigs. It’s only because I missed a couple, that’s all.’
‘Ah.’ From what he had seen of Petur he wasn’t surprised that he was tough on unreliable acts.
‘I like her, though.’
‘Ingileif?’
‘Yeah.’ Katrin lit up a cigarette and sat down opposite him. ‘I’ve even bought some of the stuff in her gallery. That vase, for instance.’ She pointed to a small twisted glass vase with a dirty wooden spoon in it. ‘Cost a bomb, but I kind of like it.’
‘Do you think she’s honest?’ Magnus asked.
‘Is that a cop talking?’
Magnus shrugged.
‘Yes, she is. People like her. Why? What’s she done?’
‘Nothing,’ Magnus said. ‘Do you know Larus Thorvaldsson?’
‘The painter? Yes, a little. He’s a friend of Ingileif’s too.’
‘A good friend?’
‘Nothing serious. Larus has lots of girls. You know where you are with him, if you see what I mean. No hassle.’
‘I think I do,’ said Magnus. It was pretty clear that Katrin knew him in much the same way Ingileif did.
Katrin looked at him closely. ‘Are you asking that as a cop, or do you have some other interest?’
Magnus put down his fork and rubbed his eyes. ‘I really don’t know.’ He picked up his empty plate, rinsed it off and stuck it in the dishwasher. ‘I need sleep. I’m going to bed.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Baldur seemed to have a new lease of energy at the morning meeting as he doled out tasks to his detectives. He passed on the report from the forensics lab about the mud on Steve Jubb’s shoes, and explained that they needed to widen their investigation. Speak to everyone they had interviewed one more time. Interview new people: anyone who might conceivably have seen another visitor to Agnar, the people who sold Agnar drugs, his students, his former girlfriends, his colleagues, his friends, his wife’s friends, neighbours, everyone.
There was some discussion with Rannveig about providing the British police with the paperwork they required to grant a search warrant for Jubb’s house and computer. The detective Baldur had sent to Yorkshire had spoken to Jubb’s neighbours. Jubb was a bit of a loner, often on the road with his lorry. His passion for The Lord of the Rings was well known. A former girlfriend, now married to someone else, said he was an intelligent man, obsessive, but not violent in the least. No help there, no leads.
Throughout all of this, Baldur did not look at Magnus once.
Until after the meeting, when he beckoned Magnus to follow him to his office. He slammed the door behind him.
‘I do not like being undercut!’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean that I don’t like you going to the Commissioner behind my back and telling him we should be sending people to California.’
‘He asked my opinion. I gave it to him,’ said Magnus.
‘This is exactly the wrong time to divert resources away from the main thrust of the investigation.’
‘When do I go?’ asked Magnus.
Baldur shook his head. ‘You’re not going. Arni is on his way. He left last night.’
‘Arni! Alone?’
‘Yes. I can’t afford to spare more than one detective.’
‘What about me?’
‘Oh, you are far too valuable,’ said Baldur, his voice laden with irony. ‘Besides, Arni has a degree from the States. And he speaks good English.’
‘And what should I do?’
‘You can look for a ring,’ Baldur said, smiling grimly. ‘That should keep you busy.’
As soon as he was back at his desk, Magnus called Arni. The young detective was at JFK, waiting for his connecting flight to San Francisco. Although it was very early morning in New York, Arni sounded wide awake. He was really excited. Magnus just managed to calm him down enough to suggest a line of questioning for Isildur. Threaten him with conspiracy to murder unless he explained what Steve Jubb was really doing in Reykjavik.
Arni seemed to take it in, although Magnus had little confidence in his ability to get Isildur to divulge anything he didn’t want to.
‘By the way,’ Magnus asked, ‘did you check out Birna and Petur’s alibis yesterday?’
‘They’re good,’ said Arni. ‘I checked with Birna’s lover and the hotel in Kopavogur. I also spoke to the managers at Petur’s three clubs. They all saw him on that night.’
