‘And you told me, if memory serves, that nothing of interest had emerged from the interview.’
Hulda nodded, feeling herself break out in a sweat. She wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of an interrogation, and you could hardly call this anything else.
‘ “Nowhere near solving it” – those were your exact words, weren’t they?’
Again, she nodded. Magnús waited for her to answer and, this time, she couldn’t stand the pressure: ‘That’s right.’
After a further pause, Magnús said, on a slightly gentler note than before: ‘You know, I’m a little surprised at you, Hulda.’
‘Why?’
‘I thought you were one of the best in the business. In fact, I know you are. You’ve proved that repeatedly over the years.’
Hulda waited, unsure how to react to this, one of the first and only compliments he’d ever given her.
‘The thing is, she’s confessed.’
‘Confessed?’ Hulda couldn’t believe her ears. Was it possible? After all that had happened; after Hulda had risked her neck to spare the woman.
‘Yes. We arrested her last night and she admitted to having knocked down that man, that bastard paedophile. Naturally, she has my sympathy, but the inescapable fact is that she ran the man down – deliberately. What do you say to that?’
‘It’s unbelievable,’ said Hulda, striving, but no doubt failing, to strike a convincing note.
‘Yes, unbelievable. But she had a powerful motive, as we both know.’
‘Yes, she did.’ Hulda made an effort to breathe calmly.
‘She can expect to do time. And her son, well, who knows what’ll happen to him? It’s tough, Hulda; don’t you agree?’
‘Yes, of course. I really don’t know what to say …’
‘One can’t help but sympathize with her.’
‘Well, I suppose …’
‘You’ve got a reputation for that, Hulda: for giving people the benefit of the doubt. Avoiding passing judgement. I’m aware of that much, though, sadly, we’ve never got to know each other as well as we might have done.’
Sadly. The hypocrisy of it.
‘Did you give her an easy ride?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘During the interview.’
‘No, far from it. I came down pretty hard on her, considering the circumstances.’
‘With no result?’
‘No.’
‘The thing is, Hulda, there’s one part I don’t quite understand,’ he said, drawing his brows together and employing that familiar patronizing tone he’d used so often before. ‘You see, Emma claims that she confessed to you during your conversation …’
It was as if Magnús had lobbed a hand grenade into the room. Hulda felt herself go weak at the knees. Was there any way she could dig herself out of this? How much had Emma said? Why had she betrayed Hulda like that? It was incomprehensible.
Or was Magnús bluffing?
Fishing for the truth?
Trying to trick Hulda into admitting misconduct?
The problem was, she couldn’t read him, didn’t know how to play the next move. Should she make a clean breast of things or carry on lying to him and deny it?
Hulda took her time before answering. ‘Well,’ she said eventually, ‘to tell the truth, she was very unclear. Of course, she was still in a distressed state about those pictures we found of her son. It’s possible she may have thought she’d confessed to something, but that wasn’t how I experienced our conversation.’ She dabbed at the perspiration on her brow.
‘I see.’ Magnús’s face remained impassive.
He was quite good at this, Hulda realized: she’d underestimated him.
‘So it was all a misunderstanding between the two of you. Could that explain it?’
Hulda had the feeling that she was digging herself deeper and deeper into a hole with every question she answered. She felt uncomfortable in Magnús’s office, as if she were trapped there.
‘Must have been. Are you absolutely sure she did it – knocked him down, I mean? Regardless of her confession?’
‘What are you implying?’ he asked slowly, sounding more curious than surprised.
‘Perhaps it was just a cry for attention, especially if she told you she’d already confessed before.’ Hulda went on trying to brazen it out, though all she really wanted at this stage was to give in and admit everything.
‘She was definitely responsible for the hit-and-run, I don’t think there’s any real doubt about that. But that’s not the main issue here.’
‘Oh?’
‘She had more to tell me …’
At this, Hulda’s heart began racing so fast she thought she might faint, and Magnús spun out the moment, as if he were enjoying watching her squirm.
‘Emma told me you’d got in touch with her later that same evening, after the interview. Is that correct?’
‘I don’t remember. Yes, maybe, to check some details for my report.’
‘Hulda, she claims you rang to tell her not to worry about her confession. That you weren’t going to take it any further.’ And now he raised his voice, his face like thunder. ‘Is that possible, Hulda? Is there the slightest possibility that she’s telling the truth?’
How was she supposed to respond to this? Ruin her record on the eve of her retirement, all for an act of kindness that had rebounded on her? Or continue to deny it? After all, it was Emma’s word against hers.
To win time, she opted not to say anything.
‘Do you know what I think, Hulda? I think you felt sorry for her. No one wastes any pity on a paedophile – not me, not you – but that doesn’t mean we can take the law into our own hands. If you ask me, I think that sympathy for this woman led you to cross a line. Which I can understand, in a way.’ He paused briefly, but Hulda remained obstinately mute. ‘She would be facing prison, mother and son would be separated … I do understand. You lost your daughter, after all.’
‘Keep my daughter out of this!’ Hulda shouted. ‘What the hell do you know about her? You don’t know a thing about me and my family and you never have!’ This explosion took even Hulda by surprise, but at least it succeeded in momentarily wrong-footing Magnús. He’d better not dare to drag Dimma into this again. If he did, Hulda couldn’t be held responsible for her actions.
‘I’m
