‘How do these things work?’ asked Thora, but only out of curiosity – she was getting to know Stefan well enough to realize that he wouldn’t give in if she badgered him about clues. ‘Does Interpol have a list of people who vanished without a trace?’
‘We’ve contacted them, among others,’ replied Stefan, keeping his cards close to his chest.
‘It was suggested to me that there were a lot of men from the Defence Force helping out in the rescue operation during the eruption,’ she persisted. ‘Could these men have been from the base?’
‘No,’ he replied.‘We’ve already checked, and it’s out of the question. As I said, we’re hoping this will be cleared up soon, but until then it’s not up for discussion.’
Thora could understand his discretion; she wouldn’t preach Stefan’s own job to him any more than necessary. ‘Speaking of foreign countries,’ she said, ‘has anything been heard from the lab where the cardboard box the head came from was sent for testing?’
Judging by Stefan’s face the results of the tests had been received, and were not to his liking. He admitted this reluctantly.
‘And?’ asked Thora.‘What came out?’
‘A rather large quantity of old fingerprints were found on the box,’ said Stefan. ‘Most of them were from individuals unknown, since such a box can travel widely.’He cleared his throat. ‘All the fingerprints were compared with Markus’s and Alda’s and it turned out they had both touched the box at one time.’
Thora grinned broadly. ‘Which provides strong support for Markus’s testimony, as I’m sure you realize.’
‘The presence of Alda’s fingerprints on the box doesn’t necessarily mean she touched it while the head was in it. Maybe she simply lent Markus the box when he needed it for something.’
‘And maybe the moon is made of cheese after all,’ said Thora, still cheerful about this latest news.‘Well,’ she said, and pushed her chair back. ‘I hope I can get all this information more easily from now on. It’s a bit of a pain to have to wait for the judge to order you to hand over whatever you’ve got.’ The district court judge had reprimanded the police for not having handed over all the case files to her, and Thora enjoyed reminding him of it. ‘Is what I received yesterday absolutely everything?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ replied Stefan, gruffly. ‘Everything that was available at that moment.’
‘You also still need to speak to Alda’s co-workers at the A &E because I didn’t see any statements taken from them. Of course you’ve had a lot to do,’Thora said, standing up. ‘I believe something came up there that might be connected to the case.’
At that moment a secretary entered the office with some papers and handed them to Stefan. He sorted out the originals and handed Thora the copies. ‘Here’s the report. It’s got the phone calls to and from Markus’s mobile, as well as to Alda’s home phone and mobile. I circled the phone calls that are within the time frame that we’re focusing on, Sunday evening, the eighth of July.’
Thora sat back down and looked through the photocopied pages. ‘Here’s the phone call from Alda to Markus,’ she said, then flipped to the page with information about his phone. ‘And here is the same phone call received on Markus’s mobile,’ she said, unable to suppress her smile. And here is another call made to him at around the same time,‘ she continued cheerfully. ’You hadn’t mentioned that one to me.‘She looked up from the papers and stared at Stefan. ’You know what this means, of course?‘ she said.
‘We would if we knew who called,’said Stefan, his expression far from happy. ‘As you can see, the number is unknown. It could be an unlisted number, or a call from a foreign mobile system that doesn’t have an agreement for number sharing with Iceland. It might be possible to dig it up, but that takes time.’ He sat up straighter in his chair. ‘While we still don’t know who phoned, we’ve got to assume that it was the accomplice I suggested before.’
‘What rubbish!’ Thora said, now very irritated. If it were possible to find the second person who phoned, and that person could confirm that Markus had answered, his alibi would be watertight. ‘Have you made any attempt to ask my client if he remembers who phoned him?’
‘Yes, as a matter of fact I have,’ said Stefan. ‘It was the first thing I did when I saw this. I made a call to Litla-Hraun
Prison and spoke to Markus. He says he doesn’t remember who phoned him, which is highly suspicious.‘
‘Could you call to mind exactly who phoned you over a week ago?’ asked Thora. ‘Of course not.’ She had had enough. ‘In fact, it would be more suspicious if Markus bad been able to remember who phoned him on the evening in question.’ She stood up. Before she left the office she wondered for a moment whether to mention the autopsy report on Markus’s neighbour, but decided not to. In the light of how everything seemed to be turning against Markus, it made more sense to check this out in more detail before Stefan and his colleagues got their hands on the report. She would meet Markus later, then she could twist his arm in the faint hope that he knew more about ‘Horseshoe Two’ than his brother did.
Chapter Twenty-one
‘Markus, sometimes this is just the way it goes,’ said Thora encouragingly. ‘It doesn’t necessarily mean that the judges consider you guilty; far from it. I got a strong feeling that they doubted the police’s logic and that they were extremely interested when I ran through all the ways in which not only did things not add up, but they actually worked in your favour. I’m convinced that if they had been asked to rule on your guilt or innocence, you would not be here. That decision was not made purely because the police justified keeping you incarcerated during the investigation. It was also because the case is a serious one: it’s not every day five people are found murdered. That four of them appear to be foreign citizens doesn’t help much, either.’ Thora was not exaggerating. She had had a good feeling about the case during the hearing and had been certain of coming out victorious, not least when one of the judges had hesitated over the photo of the feminine-looking man and asked whether it was usual to include both sexes in a photo line-up.
‘Well, that makes me feel much better,’ said Markus drily. He looked at Thora, his anger evident.‘I sit here, locked up, an innocent man, and find myself wondering if I shouldn’t just get myself another lawyer. When I hired you I didn’t expect to end up sitting in prison, suspected of murder. Much less serial murder.’
Thora did not look away, but answered him frankly. ‘If you want to find another lawyer it’s no skin off my nose. I can even give you the names of several colleagues who have more experience in penal cases than I do. It’s your life and your decision.’ She refrained from adding that she was convinced a change of lawyer would have had no effect on the High Court’s ruling.
Markus nodded, rubbing his face distractedly. He had clearly expected to be released. ‘It’s not really all that long to be locked up,’ he said, more subdued. ‘I don’t doubt that you’ve worked your hardest. I’m just going out of my mind over this; I don’t know what’s what any more. I don’t want to change lawyers.’ He started rubbing his jaw. ‘What did my son say?’ he asked anxiously.
‘Naturally he was horrified, but he seems to be a smart kid so I wouldn’t worry too much about him. He understands the circumstances, and I put a lot of emphasis on this incarceration being exclusively during the investigation, and told him it wasn’t the same as a prison sentence,’ said Thora. ‘Don’t worry about him.’
‘Maybe you can phone him again for me?’ he asked, and Thora nodded. ‘Why didn’t they accept that phone call as valid evidence?’ he asked suddenly. ‘I thought it would be enough to show that I was far away from Alda’s home at that precise time? You said it was obvious that the phone was somewhere on the road between Hella and Hvolsvollur.’
‘The police insist you didn’t have your phone with you,’ said Thora. ‘They think
