‘Have you been in here since Matti left?’
Tota said nothing and Gunna pulled the drawers of a small dresser open to find only dust inside. Some of Matti’s clothes were draped over the back of a chair and the creaking wardrobe was empty apart from a raincoat that might have gone out of fashion a generation ago.
‘I said, has anybody been in here since Matti left?’
‘Look under the bed.’
‘Why?’
‘Just look.’
Gunna swept aside the hem of the duvet and bent down to peer at the dust and a noticeable dust-free square patch underneath.
‘Nothing there.’
‘Then the old man’s been in here and nicked Fatso’s porn mags. So he’s been in here.’
‘Tota, do you have any idea where Matti is? I’m not going to bugger about here. This isn’t something trivial.’
‘I don’t know,’ Tota whined. ‘He paid his rent, he went out.’
‘Did he say when he would be back?’
‘No.’
‘Do you expect him back, considering he’s taken most of his stuff?’
‘Maybe. Maybe not. If he isn’t back by the end of the month, I’ll rent his room out to someone else. I could get three Polish in here, easy,’ she said, brightening at the prospect.
‘Let’s try again. Do you know who he was going about with? Any friends who visited him here? Anyone looking for him? Did he mention anyone in particular?’
‘No. Nothing. He whinged all the time about Nonni the Taxi and the bloke at some club he did business for. Some foreigner, he said. I reckon Fatso was a bit scared of him, didn’t want to upset him.’
Gunna shut the door behind her, but decided to keep the surgical gloves on until she was out of the house. ‘What sort of business?’
‘Don’t know. Didn’t ask. But Fatso had plenty of money. Lots of money.’
‘Where from, d’you know?’
‘Ask Fatso when you find him. I’ll bet he won’t tell you either.’
At the front door, Gunna rolled off the gloves, taking her time as Tota was clearly anxious to get back to her television.
‘Thank you for your assistance. If you hear anything about Matti, I’d appreciate it if you let me know. That way I won’t have to look for him down in your cellar, if you get my meaning,’ Gunna said as Tota scowled through the crack of the door.
Dagga decided to take the stairs instead of waiting for the lift. As she reached the first landing, she heard the lift hiss and open above and behind her, but shrugged and decided to carry on anyway.
Hardy stepped from the lift and dialled a number on his mobile, letting it ring until a disembodied voice told him in soothing tones that the number was either switched off or out of range. He cut the voice off before it had a chance to ask him to try again later and stepped quietly into Spearpoint’s offices.
Disa looked up as the door opened and recognized him. Without a word spoken, she buzzed through to Sigurjona.
‘What?’ Sigurjona snapped through the intercom.
‘Mr Hardy is here to see you,’ Disa replied.
‘One minute, please, Disa. Then show him in.’
‘Sigurjona will be right with you,’ she said in her careful English, looking back up at Hardy who simply nodded in reply.
Hardy stood impassive at the desk. Disa found the man sinister. He said little, but what he said was always polite. On his rare visits to Spearpoint’s offices, he always looked the same, always dressed in the same way come rain, shine or snow. As she waited for the minute to pass, Disa thought to herself that what really made Hardy sinister was the impassive look that gave no clue as to what he was thinking.
The intercom light flickered in front of her and Disa looked up to where Hardy was standing at the window, hands folded together behind his back and rocking almost imperceptibly on the balls of his feet.
‘Sigurjona’s free now,’ Disa said to his back. Hardy twisted round soundlessly, nodding at Disa with a hint of a smile.
Sigurjona was sitting at her desk, watching a TV news channel with the sound turned down low. She glowered as Hardy came in and padded across the thick carpet.
‘It’s started again,’ she said, without bothering with a greeting.
‘The blog?’
‘Last week. I thought you had stopped it when it went quiet. I thought you’d found someone who was responsible for all this?’
‘A message has been sent. I’m sure it will be effective.’
‘Yeah,’ Sigurjona spat. ‘And do you know what that stupid Skandalblogger is saying now?’
‘No. I haven’t read it.’
‘All right. It’s saying that someone who drowned in Hvalvik harbour was put there deliberately.’
‘Is that so?’
‘I hear the police are asking questions again.’
‘I see.’
‘I thought I could trust you after Horst said that you could fix anything?’
Hardy wondered how many drinks Sigurjona had already had at this early hour of the afternoon. He felt that drinking while concentration was required was the sure sign of an amateur, or someone in deeper than they could cope with.
‘Some tasks take longer than others, I’m afraid. But the important work is progressing well. I understand that Horst is satisfied with progress at the site in Hvalvik and that the Lagoon site is also coming along well.’
‘Yeah. That’s all on schedule. I have well-paid staff to look after the details, so they do just that,’ Sigurjona said. ‘Now, I’m wondering if you’re going to finish the little job I asked you to do before?’
‘It’s in hand,’ Hardy assured her. ‘It’s not often that something like this can be done overnight. But I have to ask for your help with another matter as well.’
Sigurjona smiled a touch more broadly than she would have done without access to the vodka bottle in the cabinet. ‘In that case we’ll help each other out. But why do you need help with anything from us?’
‘I need to locate someone and, as I don’t have local knowledge, I need assistance from someone who does.’
‘I’m sure one of my people can help. But what about the driver who was fixing stuff for you? Can’t he help you with whatever you’re on the lookout for?’
‘That’s the person I need to locate.’
Without looking away from Hardy’s face, Sigurjona pressed a button on the intercom console on the desk in front of her. ‘Disa, would you ask Jon Oddur to come and have a word with us, please?’
She released the intercom button. ‘By the way, Mr Hardy, what are you doing on Friday night?’
25
Tuesday, 23 September
‘You’re on your own again, Haddi. Anything you need?’
Gunna leaned over the desk and peered at the monitor as Haddi appeared in the doorway. ‘Keflavik again?’ he asked. ‘Taking Snorri as well?’
‘I’m afraid so. I hope this isn’t going to take too long, but it is something a bit out of the ordinary,’ she added as the computer chimed to indicate new messages.
