‘Then what the hell are we doing here?’ Harpa shouted.
‘Sit down,’ Bjorn said. ‘And I’ll explain.’
‘You had better,’ said Harpa. But she sat down. She sipped her coffee.
‘To start with, I haven’t killed anyone,’ Bjorn said. ‘I promise.’
‘But you know who has?’
Bjorn nodded his head. ‘I know who has.’
‘And you did go to France?’
Bjorn nodded again. ‘Yes. I flew to Amsterdam and then rode down to Normandy to prepare the ground for someone else.’
‘Who?’
Bjorn shook his head.
‘Sindri? Isak?’
‘Sindri and Isak are involved, yes.’
‘So Frikki was right?’
Bjorn nodded. ‘But we did it for a good reason.’
‘Oh, come on, how can killing anyone be for a good reason?’
‘You killed someone, Harpa.’
‘Yes, and I’ve regretted it ever since!’
‘I haven’t,’ said Bjorn quietly.
Harpa looked at him closely. His blue eyes were steady, strong.
‘I mean the more I thought about it, the more I thought Gabriel Orn deserved to die. He was a nasty man. He treated you like shit.’
‘That’s not a good enough reason to murder him,’ Harpa said.
‘Maybe not, but ruining our country is. People like Gabriel Orn have destroyed Iceland and the people in it. The strong, hardworking honest Icelanders like me, and the thousands like me. You know how hard I worked to build up my fishing business. Why should I lose it all? Why should thousands like me lose it all? Farmers losing their farms, shopkeepers losing their shops, and yes, fishermen losing their boats. Young families losing their houses. You remember Sindri talking about his brother that night after the demo?’
Harpa shook his head.
‘Well, his brother lost his farm to the bank in the end. And killed himself. And now the brother’s wife and kids will have no home and no job. These people have worked hard all their lives. It’s not their fault! And it hasn’t even really started yet. They say unemployment will go up. We’re going to be a nation of paupers for decades. Because of people like Gabriel Orn.’
‘But it’s not just Gabriel Orn’s fault, is it?’ said Harpa.
‘Precisely!’ said Bjorn, and he struck the table with the flat of his hand. ‘What do they say, there are thirty people who destroyed Iceland?’
‘People like Oskar?’
‘Yes.’
‘And Julian Lister?’
‘Yes.’
Harpa frowned. ‘You’re crazy. You’re all crazy.’
‘Are we? Sure, the Icelanders protest, but they don’t actually
‘Four?’ Harpa counted them off on her fingers. ‘Gabriel Orn, Oskar, Julian Lister… who’s the other?’
Bjorn shook his head.
‘So Frikki was right. One more to go?’
Bjorn didn’t answer.
A tear leaked from Harpa’s eye. ‘I don’t understand you, Bjorn. I mean Sindri, I do understand. He has always said he believes in violence. He’s deluded himself into practising what he preaches. But you? You are one of the most practical men I know.’
‘That’s what I thought,’ said Bjorn. ‘But I’ve learned a lot over the last year.’
‘Such as?’
‘Such as that people like my father and Sindri are right. They always said that capitalism hurts real people, people who work and save. It’s a tool for the rich to screw the rest of us. I can see now how that is blindingly obvious. But I never listened to my father. I thought he was a dinosaur from the wrong side in the Cold War. I believed in the Independence Party, that capitalism meant people like me could work hard to build a business. Boy was I wrong. But at least I realize it now. At least I am going to do something about it.’
‘Like kill some people?’
‘Harpa.’ Bjorn reached across the table for Harpa’s hand. She drew back from him. ‘Harpa, you’ve suffered almost as badly. You lost your job. Your father lost his savings. Gabriel Orn treated you badly, as did Oskar. Don’t you see we’re the good guys here?’
‘You are a murderer, Bjorn. OK, you didn’t pull the trigger yourself, but you are a murderer.’ Her eyes widened. ‘Wait a minute! Did you pick Oskar because of me? Did you know he was Markus’s father?’
‘The police only told me that on Sunday. But yes, when we were talking about which bank boss to go for, Odinsbanki seemed a good choice to me.’
‘So you killed him on my account?’
‘Yours, mine and every other ordinary person in Iceland.’
Harpa pursed her lips. Anger flared through the couple of tears that had gathered in tiny pools around her eyes. ‘So what are you doing with me? Holding me prisoner?’
‘I’d like you to stay here for the next twenty-four hours.’
‘Until the next guy on the list is shot?’
Bjorn shrugged.
‘And what happens after that?’
Bjorn sighed. ‘I think it’s inevitable they catch us. The others think there’s going to be a revolution, but I don’t know. It’s just not the way the Icelanders do things. So I guess I’m going to jail.’
For a moment Harpa almost felt sorry for him. But only for a moment. ‘You deserve to,’ she said.
‘Maybe. Perhaps I should pay for what I’ve done; I knew the consequences when I did it. I will just have to accept them.’ His voice was calm.
‘Perhaps you should.’
‘One more day, and then it won’t matter. The others think they’ve still got a chance. I’d like you to keep quiet for a couple of days, until the police have caught us. Then you can say what you like. I’ll make sure you aren’t implicated in any of this.’
‘You’re mad if you think I would go along with that.’
‘Please, Harpa,’ Bjorn said. ‘For my sake.’
Harpa glared at him. ‘You make me sick,’ she said. ‘Now give me my phone and let me make a call.’
‘No,’ said Bjorn.
‘In that case, I’m leaving now,’ Harpa said, pulling herself to her feet.
‘You have to stay in the hut,’ said Bjorn. ‘No, I don’t,’ said Harpa. ‘Are you going to stop me?’
She walked a couple of paces towards the door. Bjorn leapt to his feet, grabbed her from behind, twisted her around and pinned her to the floor. Harpa screamed and kicked. Bjorn stretched out and grabbed the length of rope that was lying on a chair.
He wrapped it around her body, pinning her arms to her sides, and tied a firm knot. Harpa screamed louder as she writhed against the rope. Bjorn left her on the floor and stood by the cooker watching her.
‘I hate you, Bjorn!’ Harpa yelled. ‘I hate you!’
The screams were muffled by the walls of the hut and the mist outside, so by the time they reached the rocky slopes of the valley they were scarcely powerful enough to create an echo.
