‘I know nothing about that,’ Baldvin said. ‘She may have been more receptive than other people; she thought she saw things as she was waking up. It’s not uncommon. And not unnatural, if that’s what you’re driving at.’
‘No, of course not.’
Baldvin hesitated. He had taken a seat opposite Erlendur again.
‘Maybe I should have a word with your superiors,’ he said.
‘Of course,’ Erlendur said. ‘If you think it’ll make you feel better.’
‘It’s… speaking of ghosts. There’s one thing I haven’t told you,’ Baldvin said, suddenly burying his face in his hands. ‘You might understand Maria better if you knew. What she did. It might allay your suspicions. I hope you understand that I didn’t do anything to her. That what she did, she did alone.’
Erlendur remained silent.
‘It’s connected with the accident at Thingvellir.’
‘The accident? You mean when Magnus died?’
‘Yes. I thought I wouldn’t need to bring it up but since you seem to think something shady has happened it’s probably best if I tell you. I promised Maria not to tell anyone but I don’t like your visits and I want them to stop. I don’t want you coming round here with your hints and insinuations. I want you to stop this and let us… let me mourn my wife in peace.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Something Maria told me after Leonora died. About her father and Lake Thingvallavatn.’
‘Which was?’
Baldvin took a deep breath.
‘Leonora and Maria’s description of what happened when he drowned is correct on all the main points apart from one. You may have examined the case; you seem incapable of leaving any of our affairs alone.’
‘I know something about it,’ Erlendur said.
‘I only knew the official version, like everyone else. The propeller came loose, Magnus probably tried to fiddle with the motor and fell overboard, the water was freezing cold and he drowned.’
‘Yes.’
‘Well, according to Maria, he wasn’t alone in the boat. I know I shouldn’t be telling you this but I don’t know how else to get rid of you.’
‘Who was with him in the boat?’
‘Leonora.’
‘Leonora?’
‘Yes. Leonora and…’
‘And who?’
‘Maria.’
‘Maria was in the boat as well?’
‘Magnus went behind Leonora’s back; he was having an affair. I gather he told her at Thingvellir. At the holiday cottage. Leonora was shattered. She’d had no idea. Then Magnus, Leonora and Maria went out in the boat. Maria didn’t tell me what happened there but we know that Magnus fell overboard. The end came very quickly. No one survives long in Lake Thingvallavatn in autumn.’
‘And Maria?’
‘Maria witnessed it,’ Baldvin said. ‘She said nothing when the police arrived, simply confirmed the story that Magnus had been alone in the boat.’
‘Didn’t she tell you what happened on board?’
‘No. She didn’t want to.’
‘And you believed her?’
‘Of course.’
‘Did it affect her badly?’
‘Yes, all her life. It wasn’t until after Leonora had died, after the harrowing period when she’d lain dying here in the house, that Maria told me. I promised not to tell a soul. I hope you’ll honour that promise.’
‘Was that why they didn’t touch his money? Because of a guilty conscience?’
‘The land was completely worthless until the suburbs around Reykjavik started to grow. They forgot all about it until a big building contractor tracked them down and made them an offer. Three hundred million. They were flabbergasted.’
Baldvin looked at the photograph of Maria that stood on the table beside them.
‘She’d quite simply had enough,’ he said. ‘She’d never been able to talk to anyone about what happened and Leonora somehow managed to make her complicit in her guilt, secured her silence. Maria couldn’t live alone with the truth and… chose this way out.’
‘You mean that the suicide was connected to this business with her father?’
‘It seems obvious to me,’ Baldvin said. ‘I wasn’t going to tell you but…’
Erlendur rose to his feet.
‘I won’t bother you any more,’ he said. ‘That’s enough for today.’
‘Are you going to use this knowledge? About what happened at Thingvellir?’
‘I see no reason to reopen the case. It was a long time ago and both Leonora and Maria are dead.’
Baldvin escorted Erlendur to the door. He had already stepped out on to the pavement when he turned back.
‘Just one more thing,’ Erlendur said. ‘Do you have a shower at Thingvellir?’
‘A shower?’ Baldvin said, perplexed.
‘Yes, or a bathtub?’
‘We have both. A shower and a hot tub. I expect you mean the hot tub. It’s out on the veranda. Why do you ask?’
‘No reason. Of course, a hot tub. Doesn’t everyone have one at their holiday home?’
‘Goodbye.’
‘Yes, goodbye.’
Maria had not had any problems with hallucinations for a long time until her father appeared to her in the garden and shouted at her to be careful, No one else had seen him, No one else had heard him shouting, Her father vanished as suddenly as he had appeared and all Maria could hear afterwards was the moaning of the wind and the slamming of the gate, Fleeing inside, she locked the door to the veranda, retreated into her bedroom and buried her face in the pillow.
She had heard that voice before during the seance with Andersen, exactly the same words of warning, but did not know what they were supposed to mean, why they had been said and how much notice she should take of them, She did not know what she was supposed to be careful of.
She was still awake when Baldvin came home late that night and they returned to the topic of the seance with Magdalena that Maria had told him about, She described the meeting and its effect on her more fully, saying she not only believed what had emerged there but wanted to believe it too, Wanted to believe that there was another life after this one, That our time on Earth was not the end of it all.
Baldvin lay listening to her in silence.
‘Have I ever told you about a guy I knew when I was studying medicine? His name was Tryggvi,’ he said.
‘No,’ Maria said.
‘He wanted to try and find out if there was an afterlife, He persuaded his cousin who was a doctor to help him, He had read something about a French experiment on near-death experience, We studied medicine together, There was a girl with us, The four of us took part in the experiment.’
Maria listened attentively to Baldvin’s account of how they had stopped Tryggvi’s heart, then revived him, and how it had worked perfectly except that Tryggvi had had nothing to tell.
‘What became of him?’ Maria asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Baldvin said, ‘I haven’t seen him since.’
A long silence descended on the room where Leonora’s final struggle had taken place.
‘Do you think…?’
Maria broke off.
‘What?’ Baldvin asked.
