you had an accomplice, who had your phone with him to provide you with an alibi.’
Markus’s face turned crimson.‘How can they say that?’
‘They’re grasping at straws,’ said Thora. ‘Shortly before
Alda called you, an unknown person also did. He or she unfortunately has an unlisted number, so it will take more time to find them, if that even proves to be possible. Stefan said you don’t remember who it was. Is that still the case?‘
‘Yes,’ said Markus. ‘But I don’t know what that would change. Isn’t it enough that Alda called me?’
‘It would change everything,’said Thora. ‘If we could prove it was you that answered your phone, it would be clear that you were the one on the road to your summerhouse, rather than this imaginary accomplice.’
‘I understand,’ said Markus, now rubbing the skin around his eyes. ‘But no.’ He closed his eyes.‘I just can’t remember. Damn it – it was over a week ago.’
‘Try as hard as you can,’ said Thora. ‘If nothing else, you could give me the names of people who might generally phone you and I could contact them as a last resort. It would take some ammunition away from the police department.’ She was quiet for a moment. ‘It would look better for you if we could pinpoint the person in question while you’re locked up here. Then no one could claim that you influenced a witness.’
‘I’ll try,’ said Markus.‘For example, it’s possible that my brother Leifur called, but he doesn’t have an unlisted number as far as I know. I know that I spoke to him some time that day. He wanted me to drop by, since I was coming to the Islands.’
‘Of course it would be great if it was him,’said Thora. ‘It would be even better, however, if it was someone a little less connected to you.’ She couldn’t make it any plainer.‘Markus,’ she said softly, ‘you do understand, don’t you, how serious this case is?’ She didn’t wait for a reply but instead continued: ‘I think it’s extremely likely that the four men who were in the basement were connected to your father in one way or another. I’m not necessarily saying he killed them, just that he’s involved in the case. Anything else would be too hard to swallow.’ She saw that Markus was about to protest, so she held up a hand to stall him. ‘Just imagine, the bodies are put in your house at the same time as your father is struggling to save his own family. There must have been better hiding places in the Islands, if your father wasn’t involved. It crossed my mind that he might even have hidden the bodies for one of his friends. Alda’s father, Dadi, or even Kjartan. Even though it’s clear to me that Alda is involved in this somehow, it’s not possible that she killed all these men.’
‘My father didn’t do it,’said Markus, but without the intensity of conviction that accompanied most of his statements. ‘I just don’t believe it.’
‘Maybe not,’ said Thora.‘But he knew about it. He had to.’ She drew a deep breath and gestured around at the narrow prison visiting room they sat in. ‘You can’t let your concern for your father be your shackles now. I suggest that I speak to your mother and arrange to meet your father. Maybe we’ll get something out of him; you never know. The oldest memories often survive the longest in people with Alzheimer’s. Even if you’re released in a few days, this case will hang over you until it’s been solved. If the perpetrator is found, at least some people won’t always consider you guilty.’ She gave him a moment for this to sink in.‘Think about it, and I’ll phone you tonight.’
Markus looked up and smiled. ‘Only sixty-eight more hours of this.’
‘Did you know that Alda was obsessed with sex?’ Thora changed the subject, not sure how best to phrase the question. ‘In fact, her computer was full of pornography.’
Markus’s eyes widened. ‘No, I didn’t know that,’ he said. ‘She was always something of a prude. Could it have had something to do with her work?’
‘Maybe,’ said Thora, although she couldn’t really see how this would have helped her work at either the clinic or the A &E. She took out the photos Dis had given her and showed them to him. ‘Do you recognize this tattoo at all?’
Markus peered at the picture.‘No,’ he said. ‘Never seen this.Who’d have something this pitiful written on them?’ he asked, giving her back the page.
‘To tell you the truth, I don’t know,’ she said, passing him the photo of the young man that had also been found in Alda’s desk. ‘How about this man; do you know him?’ Markus was visibly surprised when he saw the photo, but he said nothing, simply shook his head and returned the photo to her.‘You’ve never seen him?’ Thora asked.
‘No; at first he reminded me of a boy 1 used to know years ago, but I can see that it was taken recently,’ said Markus. ‘Who is he, then?’
‘No idea,’ said Thora.‘I was hoping you’d know.’ She put away the pages.‘When did you next meet Alda after the evacuation?’ she asked.‘I was told she’d attended Isafjordur Junior College for a while, but no one knew of her there. Could that have been a misunderstanding?’
‘No, not at all,’ replied Markus.‘Alda went west and started school in Isafjordur after the new year. She then changed schools when she moved to Reykjavik around a year later. That’s when we renewed our acquaintance, because I was going to Reykjavik Junior College, where she transferred to.’ He stared into space, counting under his breath. ‘It was at the beginning of 1974. I was in my first year then.’
‘What year was Alda in?’
‘She was in the same year as me. We were the same age, and she’d finished the first part of the college year out west.’
‘The way I heard it, Alda registered for junior college immediately after the eruption,’ said Thora. ‘She started in the middle of the winter term, and so was moved up a year. I found this quite unusual – is that really what happened?’
‘I heard the same story,’ replied Markus. ‘She was the brightest student in her class, so she’d easily have been able to jump ahead a year.’
‘But then wouldn’t she have been a year ahead of you at Reykjavik Junior College?’ asked Thora.
‘Yes, but maybe she hadn’t passed her exams the spring after the eruption, or regretted not having been able to take the autumn term,’ said Markus impatiently. Clearly he thought this discussion a complete waste of time.
‘Let’s turn to something else,’ said Thora. ‘I understand that the Friday evening before the volcano blew, there was a school dance at which the students in your class all planned to get drunk. Do you remember?’
Markus nodded his head sheepishly.‘That’s the first time I ever drank alcohol, though it might sound unbelievable,’ he said. ‘Most of my friends started experimenting around the time they were confirmed.’ He looked embarrassed but kept going. ‘Dad handled alcohol badly, if you catch my drift. So I planned never to drink, because I didn’t want to be like him.’
‘That was an unusually wise decision for a boy of your age,’ said Thora.
‘It didn’t last long,’ said Markus, and he smiled remorsefully. ‘Pretty much everyone was going to the party and I couldn’t weasel my way out of it. It was the first time I ever got drunk, and I’ll never forget that night.’
‘Do you remember whether Alda was picked up or whether she made her own way home?’ asked Thora.‘Did she perhaps go down to the harbour?’
Markus looked at her, surprised. ‘She certainly wasn’t picked up,’ he said. ‘She wasn’t that drunk; she was in better shape than the rest of us. On the other hand, I had to get picked up by Dad, which was awful. He wasn’t very pleased, that’s for sure. But whether Alda went down to the harbour that night, I have no idea. I doubt it. Why do you ask?’
‘I’ve found out that on that same night something happened at the pier. It was completely covered in blood the next morning, which raises the question of whether these bodies had something to do with it. It crossed my mind that Alda might have somehow stumbled into whatever happened and even got hold of the head there.’
Markus looked at her blankly. ‘And then what? Kept it until she asked me about the box on Monday evening? The eruption started on Monday night, so she would have had the head with her for
