“I mean, if it’s a smokescreen of some kind.”
“Could be, I suppose,” Gunna conceded, unconvinced. “I’d like you to dig into Hallur’s basement again today.”
“Where to, chief?” Helgi asked again. “Back to the station first?”
“Ach. Let’s take a little ride around Kopavogur on the way, shall we? There’s nothing like staying away from the shop for five minutes to stimulate the grey matter. There’s a bakery at Hamraborg, so we can stop for an early lunch break.”
LATER THAT AFTERNOON, Gunna bustled past Sigvaldi at the desk with her phone at her ear, but was rewarded with only Eirikur’s voicemail. On the way up the stairs, she met S?valdur on the way down for the second time that day.
“We’re going to have to stop meeting like this, Gunnhildur,” he warned her.
“Nothing to worry about, S?valdur,” she shot back. “Nobody would ever believe it.”
S?valdur stopped a few steps past her. “The guy who topped Bjartmar. He’s the one who sent all those blackmail demands. Thought of that?”
“Come on.”
“All right. So there’s an accomplice.”
Gunna stopped and looked back at him. “Like who?”
“Like his wife. It’s obvious enough.”
“You are joking, surely?”
“No, of course not.”
“Good grief,” Gunna muttered to herself, making her way back up and leaving S?valdur on the stairs.
Back at her desk, she remembered that Eirikur was busy. She drummed the desk with her fingers and dialled Helgi.
“Any joy?” she demanded as soon as he replied.
“Sod all. The man has reams of paperwork and at least half a dozen bank accounts. His wife was delighted to find a couple with a good bit of cash in them that she didn’t know about. No big withdrawals, though.”
“Fair enough. Going to be long?”
“No, don’t think so.”
“All right. Eirikur’s running an errand for me elsewhere, and I think it’s time I had another chat with Jonas Valur. I’ve been handed copies of half a dozen letters he’s received.”
“I’m sure he’ll be delighted when you show up. You don’t want to wait for me and we’ll go mob- handed?”
“No, just give me a call when you’re finished and on the way back here. It feels like it’s been a bloody long day. I’ll see if I can find Jonas Valur and then go home from there.”
THERE WAS NO sign of life at Kleifar’s offices. Gunna rattled the door and got no response. She stepped back and looked at the building’s corrugated-iron plates that had once been red but were now closer to pink after decades of alternate sun and rain. She crossed the street for a better view and noticed a faint light behind one of the windows, as if an internal door had been left open. Curious, she walked to the corner of the building in the hope of being able to see through one of the end windows, but there was nothing but darkness.
Back in front of the building, she was about to give up when the faint light winked off. She rattled the door a second time. Again there was no response, and this time she walked quickly to the far end of the building and round the corner, where she could see Jonas Valur’s black Mercedes tucked away in a corner of the car park, enclosed on three sides by the backs of buildings. Suddenly the car’s internal light came on and Gunna hurried towards it.
Jonas Valur had emerged from the back door of the building, hauling behind him a suitcase on wheels that bumped down the steps. “Good evening, Jonas Valur. Going away somewhere?” Gunna asked as the car park’s security light clicked on and flooded them with its harsh glow.
Taken unawares, Jonas Valur didn’t even bother to hide his scowl of displeasure.
“This is bordering on harassment, Sergeant,” he groaned.
“Quite the contrary. I’ve been very gentle and understanding.”
“Look, I’ve had you or your colleagues prowling around for days, dogging my tracks and asking all kinds of questions about my movements. Don’t you think enough is enough?”
“When you’ve answered all my questions truthfully, then enough will be enough,” Gunna said, unfolding a sheet of paper from her pocket and handing it to him.
“What’s this?”
“Have a look. I’m wondering if it’s something familiar.”
He held it out at arm’s length and shook his head.
“Rubbish,” he said unconvincingly.
“And how many of these notes have you received?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he rasped, handing the note back to her.
“It’s a copy. Keep it and compare it to the rest of your collection,” Gunna told him. “Now, you wouldn’t be Shorty by any chance, would you?”
“Who the hell are you?” Jonas Valur grated, and Gunna saw the man’s eyes widening with surprise as he glared past her. She was halfway through turning to look over her shoulder when her head felt as if something had exploded next to her and she sensed the taste of iron on her tongue as the world went black.
• • •
GUNNA SHIVERED AND wondered why she was unable to move. She knew she was lying on her back, and lifted her right hand to put it to her throbbing head. She kept her eyes firmly closed, sensing that opening them was going to hurt.
In the event, it wasn’t so bad, lying in half-darkness. She closed them again and tried a second time to move her legs and left arm. It was then she realized that something heavy was holding her down. She made an effort to open one eye again, and decided that the acrid smell of aftershave had to be coming from somewhere very close by.
With both eyes open and her free hand behind the back of her head to support it, she realized that the heavy weight on top of her was Jonas Valur, and that he was completely inert. Gently lowering her own head back to the cold ground, she fumbled for the man’s head, running her fingers from the top of the gleaming scalp down the face to try and locate a pulse among the folds of his neck.
There was no pulse to be found, and no breath from Jonas Valur’s open mouth. Raising herself as far as she could, she could see that the side of the head that was lying on her chest had been battered, and blood had seeped on to her shirt. For a moment she was thankful that the blood on her fingers wasn’t her own, and wanted to go back to sleep, safe in the knowledge that she was still alive.
Gunna made an effort that set her head ringing and dragged herself from under Jonas Valur’s bulk, letting his body roll on to its side as she sat up and held her head in both hands, resting her elbows on her knees as she felt her limbs drained of strength. She fumbled in her coat pocket for her phone, but came up with her communicator instead and thankfully pressed the emergency button.
She made another effort to get Jonas Valur’s attention, but soon grasped that he was beyond any help, and sat back as a siren howled close by until the flashing blue lights filled the yard and reflected painfully from the dark windows of Kleifar’s offices.
SHE HAD BEEN expecting Steini, but instead Ivar Laxdal and Miss Cruz sat waiting for her.
“Feeling better?” he asked, standing to greet her.
“Yes thanks,” Gunna replied, settling gingerly into a chair. “My head feels like it’s been under a bulldozer, but otherwise fine.”
“You took quite a knock,” he told her seriously, switching to English for the benefit of Miss Cruz.
“Yes, a blow to the right side of your head,” Miss Cruz said, looking over her glasses. “I had a look at you last night when you were brought in here.”
“Did you?” Gunna asked. “It’s a bit hazy.”
