66 Degrees North

‘I don’t know. I didn’t ask him. But there’s a group of them. He’s the leader. They think capitalism is all wrong. I can tell you all about what’s wrong with capitalism, I listened to hours of it.’

She swayed on the bed, and seemed about to keel over, when she straightened herself up. ‘I placed myself next to him at the Icesave meeting in Austurvollur. He started talking to me. We went for some coffee. Had some more coffee. Went to his place. Had something to drink. Had some more to drink. Had some more to drink. Then he started to take my clothes off.’

‘And then?’

Ingileif giggled. ‘And then I came home to you, what do you think? He was a little upset. I think he thought I had taken advantage of him.’

‘He might have been right,’ said Magnus.

‘Hey! He admitted that they planned to kill the people they thought were responsible for the kreppa. The chairman of a bank. The British ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer. And other people.’

‘Other people? Like who? Did you find out?’

‘Oh, yes,’ said Ingileif. She giggled. ‘I got him to tell me. Ingolfur Arnarson.’

‘Who’s he? Apart from the guy who discovered Iceland.’

‘I don’t know. I suggest you look him up in the phone book and tell him to lock his door. And then you arrest Sindri.’

‘I can’t arrest Sindri,’ Magnus said.

‘Why not?’ Ingileif said. ‘He confessed, didn’t he? I can stand up in court and tell them what he told me.’

‘As evidence that’s useless,’ Magnus said harshly. ‘What do you mean, useless? You’re just jealous.’

‘Jealous? Why would I be jealous?’

‘Yes, jealous. Because I found out more in one night than you’ve been able to find out in a whole week.’

‘That’s ridiculous!’ said Magnus. What really riled him was that there was a germ of truth in what Ingileif said. He was jealous. And she had used illegal methods: she had cheated, not just the law but him. ‘We can’t use any of that evidence. And if the defence attorneys discover there is a link between you and me, which they will, then there is a good chance that the case would be thrown out for entrapment.’

Actually Magnus had no idea whether that would apply in Iceland. But it would certainly have been one hell of a problem in America.

‘How can you be angry with me when I helped you like that?’ said Ingileif. ‘Can you imagine how creepy it is to talk to that lecherous old man for hours, have his hands all over me, when all I’m trying to do is help you?’

‘His hands all over you?’ Magnus asked.

‘You see you are jealous.’

‘Yes, I damn well am jealous!’ Magnus shouted. ‘I didn’t ask you to do all that. I didn’t ask you to seduce Sindri.’

‘I didn’t exactly seduce him. And anyway, I can talk to whoever I want.’

‘Talk, yes. But everything else?’

‘Are you accusing me of sleeping with other men?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Magnus. But it was a question that always nagged at the back of his mind with Ingileif. ‘Maybe. Do you?’

Ingileif stared at him. ‘Do up your shirt. I’m off.’

For a moment Magnus thought of asking her to stay, but only for a moment. Under her rules she could come and go as she pleased. Then so be it.

She went, banging the door behind her.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Wednesday, 23 September 2009

HARPA SMELLED THE coffee. She opened her eyes. Blinked.

Her head was heavy with sleep and she was confused. Above her, not very far above her, were wooden beams and a roof. She was lying in a sleeping bag. Next to her was another sleeping bag, empty.

But it had the familiar smell of Bjorn: male sweat and a hint of fish.

She leaned on her elbow. The coffee smelled good.

She was in a hut. Grey early morning light slipped in through the top of a window. She could hear someone moving about below.

‘Bjorn?’

‘Good morning.’

She slid over to the top of a ladder. She realized she was in a raised sleeping loft in some kind of hut. Panic overtook her, but disappeared when she saw Bjorn’s reassuring smile. ‘Here. Come down and have a cup of coffee. Do you want some breakfast?’

Carefully she climbed down the ladder. She was wearing a T-shirt and underpants, but the hut was warm. Wood was burning in a stove.

Her head was still muzzy. She felt as if she had just woken up from a dream, except she was waking up into a dream.

‘Bjorn, where are we?’ she asked.

He kissed her quickly on the lips. ‘In a mountain hut. I thought we could get away for a few days.’

Harpa blinked. ‘You know, I don’t remember coming here at all.’

‘You were very tired. You slept in the car.’

‘Did I?’ Harpa scrambled to make sense of it. She could remember Bjorn coming to meet her in the bakery, and then nothing. Very strange.

‘Where’s Markus?’

‘With your parents. We left them a note.’

‘I don’t remember that.’

‘Well, I left them a note.’

Harpa sat on a chair by the table and sipped her coffee. Her brain cleared a little. ‘Where is this hut, Bjorn?’

‘Near Grundarfjordur. It’s on the old road from Stykkisholmur to Borgarnes. But no one comes here any more. It’s very peaceful.’

‘I don’t understand,’ said Harpa.

Bjorn took her hand over the table. ‘You’ve been under a lot of pressure recently. You need a rest.’ He squeezed it. Smiled. For a moment she was comforted by that smile.

Then she withdrew her hand. ‘Wait a minute. We didn’t talk about this, did we? We were going to the police. To tell them about Sindri and the student. Isn’t that where we were driving?’

Bjorn swallowed. ‘No.’

‘Bjorn. What’s going on here?’ Then Harpa’s eyes widened. ‘You’ve kidnapped me, haven’t you?’

‘No,’ said Bjorn.

‘OK. In that case let me find my phone and I’ll ring the police.’ She grabbed her handbag which was lying by the door and rummaged inside it.

‘There’s no reception here,’ said Bjorn.

‘Where’s my phone, Bjorn?’

‘You don’t need it. There’s no reception.’

Harpa looked up from the bag. ‘You’ve taken it, haven’t you. My God, you have kidnapped me. Bjorn, what the hell is going on?’

‘I think we should spend some time…’

‘That’s bullshit.’ A look of panic overwhelmed Harpa’s features. ‘You did shoot Oskar and Lister, didn’t you? You want to stop me going to the police!’

‘I didn’t kill anyone.’