‘There’s a lot of money at stake. Baldvin is seriously in debt and is hardly the type to pay it off, despite the fact that as a doctor he’s on a decent salary. You two get rid of Maria and live in the lap of luxury for the rest of your lives. I know of murders that have been committed for much lower sums.’
‘You’re calling it murder?’
‘I don’t know what else to call it. When one thinks about it. Are you Magdalena?’
Karolina gave Erlendur a long look, her expression very sober.
‘I think you should go now,’ she said finally.
‘Did you tell Maria something that might have triggered the events that ended in her suicide?’
‘I have nothing more to say.’
‘Did you play some part in Maria’s death?’
Karolina was on her feet. She walked into the hall and opened the front door.
‘Get out,’ she said.
Erlendur had also risen to his feet and followed her out.
‘Would you admit that you played even the tiniest role in what happened to Maria?’ he asked.
‘No,’ Karolina said. ‘She was unhappy. She committed suicide. Will you please leave now?’
‘Has Baldvin ever told you about an experiment that he performed when he was a medical student at university? He was involved in causing a young man to die and then bringing him back to life. Did you know about that?’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘I think it was the tipping point,’ Erlendur said.
‘What?’
‘Ask Baldvin. Ask him if he knows a man called Tryggvi. If he has any contact with him today. You ask him that.’
‘Will you get out now?’ Karolina said.
Erlendur stood in the doorway, refusing to give up. Karolina was crimson in the face.
‘I think I know what happened at the holiday cottage,’ he said. ‘And it’s not a pretty story.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
Karolina pushed him out of the door but Erlendur still refused to give up.
‘Tell Baldvin I know about the defibrillator,’ he said as the door slammed shut.
32
Erlendur sat waiting in the dark, in a state of uncertainty.
He had woken late that morning. Eva Lind had dropped by on the previous evening and they had talked about Valgerdur. He knew that Eva wasn’t very keen on her and that if she saw Valgerdur’s car parked in front of his block she would sometimes wait for Erlendur’s girlfriend to leave before knocking on his door.
‘Why can’t you just be nice to her?’ Erlendur asked his daughter. ‘She’s forever taking your side when we talk about you. You could be good friends if you’d only let yourself get to know her.’
‘I’m not interested,’ Eva Lind said. ‘I’m not interested in the women in your life.’
‘Women? There are no women. There’s Valgerdur and that’s it. There never have been any women.’
‘Relax,’ Eva Lind said. ‘Got any coffee?’
‘What do you want?’
‘Oh, you know, I was just bored.’
Erlendur sat down in his chair. Eva Lind was lying on the sofa opposite him.
‘Are you planning to sleep here?’ Erlendur asked, looking at the clock. It was well past midnight.
‘I dunno,’ Eva Lind said. ‘Would you mind reading me the chapter about your brother again?’
Erlendur looked at his daughter for a long time before getting up and going over to the bookcase. He took out the book containing the account and, taking his seat again, began to read about the incident and his father’s ineffectiveness and how he himself was described as gloomy and withdrawn and how he had searched for his brother’s remains. He glanced over at his daughter when he had finished reading. He thought she had fallen asleep. Putting down the book on a small table beside the sofa, he sat with his hands in his lap, thinking how angry his mother had been with the man who wrote the account. A long time passed, until Eva Lind eventually sighed.
‘You’ve been trying to keep him alive ever since,’ she said.
‘I don’t know if…’
‘Isn’t it time to let him die?’
Eva Lind opened her eyes and, turning her head, fixed her father with her stare.
‘Isn’t it time you let him die?’ she asked again.
Erlendur still did not answer.
‘Why are you interfering in this?’ he asked at last.
‘Because you’re unhappy, probably even unhappier than me sometimes,’ Eva Lind answered.
‘I don’t know if it’s anything to do with you,’ Erlendur said. ‘It’s my business. I do what I have to.’
‘Then go out east or wherever it is you were born. Go out there and do what you have to do. Get rid of him and free yourself. You owe it to yourself after all these years. And him too. Let him die. You owe it to yourself and to him. You have to free yourself from him. You have to free yourself from this ghost.’
‘Why are you interfering in this?’ he repeated.
‘Says you who can never leave anyone alone.’
They were both silent for a while until Eva Lind asked if she could sleep on the sofa since she couldn’t be bothered to go home.
‘Be my guest,’ Erlendur said. ‘Sleep here.’
He stood up to get ready for bed.
‘If I ever needed to, I did it ages ago,’ Eva Lind said, turning her face into the corner of the sofa.
‘Needed to what?’
‘Forgive you,’ she said.
Erlendur was startled out of his reverie by the sound of a car stopping in the drive. A door opened and he heard footsteps on the gravel outside, coming in the direction of the boat shed. Daylight shone in through two little windows, one on each side, illuminating the dust motes in the air. Outside he could see the sunlight gleaming on Lake Thingvallavatn, which was as smooth as a mirror in the still autumn weather. The door opened and Baldvin stepped inside, closing it behind him. There was a slight pause before the light came on overhead. Baldvin didn’t notice him at first and Erlendur saw him search for something, then bend down and straighten up again with the defibrillator in his arms.
‘I thought maybe you weren’t coming,’ Erlendur said, rising from the corner where he had been sitting, and stepping into the light.
Baldvin started, almost dropping the machine.
‘Christ, you startled me,’ he gasped, before regaining his composure and trying to put on a show of anger and outrage. ‘What…? What’s this supposed to mean? What are you doing here?’
‘Isn’t it rather a question of what you’re doing here?’ Erlendur asked levelly.
‘I… This is my holiday home… What do you mean, what am I doing here? It’s none of your business. Won’t you… Why are you following me?’
‘I’d begun to think that you weren’t coming,’ Erlendur said. ‘But you couldn’t stand it any longer and were going to dispose of the defibrillator in a safe place. Your conscience was starting to plague you. Perhaps you’re no longer as confident of getting away with it as you were.’
‘I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about. Why won’t you leave me alone?’
‘It’s because of Maria; she’s haunting me like an old ghost story. There are a number of things concerning her I want to talk to you about, various questions that I know she herself would have wanted to ask you.’
‘What bullshit is this? Did you break the lock on the door?’
‘I did that the other day,’ Erlendur admitted, ‘when I was trying to fill in the gaps.’
