‘Who was it, then?’
‘I made an offer on an apartment in the Islands for my son. He spends so much time there and has always stayed with Leifur and Maria. It doesn’t really work any more, since he’s almost an adult now. I remember that the estate agent called me because the seller’s time limit for accepting offers was about to run out. We discussed what I should do, and the upshot was that I asked him to increase the offer. I’ve done business with him before, so he knows me well and he’ll be able to verify that it was actually me on the phone.’
Thora felt like jumping for joy. Now things were starting to fall into place. ‘Outstanding,’ she said.‘I’ll pass this on to the police, and they can talk to him tomorrow when your custody period is over. They’ll hardly request an extension if you’ve got an alibi.’ She heard Markus sigh with relief.
‘That’s just as well, because I can’t take it here much longer,’ he said. ‘I feel like I’m in limbo. I don’t know what’s happening out in the world, I’m not allowed to read the papers or even watch the news on television. I’ve got a lot of stocks in foreign markets, and this is completely unacceptable. I could be losing tens of millions.’
‘It’s almost over,’ said Thora. ‘I doubt I’ll be in touch with you again about this before tomorrow, because I won’t reach anyone from the investigative team today. The last resort would be to talk to Gudni, of course, but I would prefer to speak to Stefan. There was something else I wanted to talk to you about now, though.’
‘Isn’t there any chance of me getting out tonight, since I’ve got an alibi?’ asked Markus, and Thora wondered if he’d heard what she’d said.
‘I’ll ask, of course,’ said Thora. ‘But it will be refused, since you’re suspected of more than just Alda’s murder. They’ll detain you as long as they can, because of the other bodies. We’re not out of the woods yet, although things are starting to move in the right direction. Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about,’ she added, happy to be able to direct the conversation back onto the right track. ‘I’ve received information pertaining to your father and something that happened in the Islands several days before the eruption. It might not have anything to do with the bodies in the basement, but I suspect it’s closely related. I need to tell the police what I know.’ Thora waited for Markus’s reaction, but he said nothing.
‘What are you talking about exactly?’ he finally asked. ‘Does it look bad for my father?’
‘Yes.’ Thora didn’t see any reason to lie. ‘He was seen in the place where the blood was discovered, without any explanation for it. The blood might have come from a fight, or an assault that ended up with the men being put in the basement. Naturally, the truth will come out, but in order to prove or discount anything the police need to know about this.’
‘Is there any real need for you to tell them?’ asked Markus. ‘If it might not have anything to do with my case?’
‘I’m hoping the police will determine whether the events are related,’ said Thora. ‘If it turns out they are, they can investigate what happened and hopefully figure out who these people were and how they met their maker.’ Thora took a deep breath. ‘You need this case to be solved, Markus. The truth won’t do you any harm.’
‘When is Dad supposed to have been seen at this bloodbath?’ asked Markus, his voice unreadable.
‘The Friday evening before the eruption, the same night you got drunk for the first time,’ she replied.‘Nobody saw him taking part in any violent activity, but he was seen in the place where the blood was found the next morning. Of course that doesn’t necessarily mean anything, and maybe a logical explanation will be found, one that has little to do with him.’She waited for a moment but Markus said nothing. ‘Do you remember if your father went out again after he brought you home?’
Markus snorted. ‘I passed out as soon as we got in. I didn’t even make it to my room – I woke up on the sofa, having thrown up on the carpet, to Mum’s delight. I doubt that Dad would have been in the mood to go anywhere. It’s all a bit of a blur, but I still remember how angry he was.’
‘So your father could have gone out again after bringing you home?’ asked Thora carefully. ‘Without you noticing.’
‘Yes,’ said Markus slowly.‘I guess so.’ He paused. ‘But there’s no way Dad killed anyone and put them in the basement that night. There were no bodies lying around when I put the box there a couple of days later. So I can’t see how it matters, or why you should have to tell the police whether he went out or stayed at home.’
‘If your father didn’t do anything, it’ll be fine,’ said Thora, although she highly doubted this. Many years had passed since these events had occurred and she couldn’t see how anything could be proved after all this time.
‘I’m not that keen to clear my name if it means pinning it all on Dad,’ said Markus stubbornly.‘I’m not that kind of man.’
Thora let her head fall back and she looked up at the ceiling. Christ. ‘Telling the police what I’ve found out doesn’t necessarily implicate him in anything, Markus,’she said, then paused for emphasis. ‘But if he did do something, then it’s not right to detain you as a suspect, and I believe he wouldn’t want that if he understood what was happening. Is that what you’d want for your son?’
‘No,’ admitted Markus reluctantly. ‘Will you talk to my son tonight and tell him I have an alibi for Alda’s murder?’
Thora wasn’t going to let Markus off that easily. ‘I’ll do that, but first I need to be sure you understand what I’m saying. I’m about to call the police with information that will help you, but that might be detrimental to your father. You need to realize that I’m doing what is right for you, as you are my client. Your father is not.’ There was silence on the other end.‘Did you know about the blood? It was found on the pier.’
‘Yes,’ said Markus, slightly sheepishly. ‘I remember it vaguely. I had other things to worry about after my drunken night. Of course at school everybody was talking about the dance, so we weren’t all that interested in the blood – it seemed trivial in comparison to our troubles.’
Thora suspected Markus recalled this more than ‘vaguely’; she was sure he remembered everything from the time that it happened, but had not wanted to tell her for fear of incriminating his father. She could understand the sentiment, but the reason wouldn’t matter to the police. ‘This will all come out,’ she said with finality. ‘At best, your father had nothing to do with the bodies. At worst, he was involved. Unfortunately, we can’t ask him about it.’
‘But he didn’t murder Alda, that much is certain,’ said Markus.
‘No, you’re right,’ said Thora. ‘Maybe her murder isn’t connected to the other bodies at all.’ Was that feasible? Who would kill Alda, if it had nothing to do with the head?
Thora let the stream of words wash over her. Hannes was unstoppable when he talked about himself, especially if he could turn the conversation round to his inspirational ideas about personal morality. In other words, a phone call from him was like a message from heaven.‘So you understand why I can’t discuss any details that fall under the hospital’s confidentiality codes,’ he said smugly. Thora had the feeling that he was looking in the mirror as he spoke.
‘Yes, yes,’ said Thora, suppressing a yawn. ‘I’ll trade you.’
‘What?’ asked Hannes, taken aback.
‘You can have your best golf clubs back, in exchange for this information. I’ll never tell anyone where I got it, or use it against you,’ she said, then waited for his response. The golf clubs in question had fallen to her in the divorce settlement, and she had no use for them whatsoever. They weren’t annoying her; she would just be happy to get them out of her garage, where they’d been gathering dust ever since
Hannes moved out. She had once been adamant about getting them in the settlement, just because she knew how much Hannes wanted to keep them. He believed they were his lucky set, and had often mentioned them to Thora since the divorce in the hope of getting them back.
‘It’s a good deal,’ she added. ‘I could easily get this information by other means, just a bit more slowly.’ Like most paragons of virtue, Hannes’s conviction was not so strong that he wouldn’t betray the sacred trust of his workplace for something he really wanted. Thora had scored a hole in one.
