He could do all that, but he needed capital for his new life on a Caribbean island. He needed those twenty million dollars of bitcoin.
And now Tecumseh had left Iceland, only Jói could get it for him.
Jói would have to be brave. Jói would have to conquer his scruples.
He picked up his phone and selected a number.
‘Hi, Eggert. It’s Jói.’
Forty-Six
The new prison at Hólmsheidi nestled in a wooded hollow just outside Reykjavík, a couple of kilometres off the main Ring Road and safely out of sight of any of the city’s inhabitants. It was an isolated modern modular building of concrete, steel and glass, more akin to a secret defence-research establishment than a prison, facing eastwards across a blasted heath of desolation. It was a hell of a lot more convenient than Litla-Hraun, over an hour away from the capital on the south coast.
The traditional technique after a suspect was arrested in Iceland was to leave him alone in solitary confinement for three weeks and then present him with evidence of his guilt and get him to confess. International prison inspectors had raised eyebrows at this in the past, and the practice was much rarer than it used to be when Magnus had first arrived in the country, but Ólafur had persuaded an Akureyri judge to lock Gunni up for three weeks to sweat.
Those three weeks were nearly up. The last thing Ólafur would want was Magnus muscling his way in to speak to Gunni before he had had his chance.
Which was why Magnus hadn’t told him.
Ólafur would be seriously pissed off, understandably. Magnus knew he was skating on very thin ice. If indeed Gunni was responsible for Helga’s death, Magnus could be screwing up the prosecution. But Magnus was pretty sure Gunni wasn’t.
Some men cope well with solitary confinement; some don’t. Unsurprisingly, a tough old sea captain like Gunni could handle it. As he entered the small interview room in the prison he struck Magnus as calm, composed, but angry.
‘Don’t I need a lawyer to speak to you?’ Gunni asked.
‘You do if we discuss Helga’s murder,’ said Magnus. ‘But I want to talk to you about something else. As a witness.’
The difference between ‘witness’ and ‘suspect’ was key in Icelandic law. Gunni wasn’t a suspect yet for Kata’s murder, and Magnus was pretty sure he wouldn’t become one, but if he did, Magnus would have to stop the interview to allow Gunni to get himself a lawyer.
‘Something else?’ said Gunni.
‘Have you heard that Katrín Ingvarsdóttir was murdered in Reykjavík two days ago?’
‘No. Who’s she?’
‘She was a student from the university. She comes from Dalvík.’
‘Ingvar Brynjólfsson’s daughter? I know her. Poor Ingvar.’ Then he frowned. ‘Wait a minute. Are you here to try to pin that on me as well?’
‘Did you have her killed?’
‘No! I was in here, wasn’t I?’
‘Yes, you were,’ said Magnus. ‘But did you get someone else to kill her?’
‘No! Why should I?’
‘Do you know who did kill her?’
‘Of course not! You said I’m not a suspect.’
‘You’re not,’ said Magnus calmly. ‘But I need to rule you out of the inquiry. Did you know Kata?’
‘I know who she was. I’ve seen her about town. I’m not sure I’ve ever spoken to her.’
‘You never had any sexual liaison with her?’
‘What? No! Kata’s young enough to be my daughter! She’s younger than my daughter.’
‘OK,’ said Magnus. ‘Thank you. I’m sorry I had to ask you those questions, but it is quite a coincidence that two women from Dalvík are murdered two weeks apart.’
‘Well, I didn’t kill either of them, and that’s no coincidence.’ Gunni’s fierce stare reminded Magnus a little of Tryggvi Thór. Strong men angry at accusations against them.
Magnus let the words hang there. He watched Gunni with half a smile, trying to convey the idea that he believed him, without actually saying it.
‘OK. Did you know that Kata was a good friend of Dísa, Helga’s daughter?’ Magnus asked.
‘No. But I’m not surprised. They are about the same age, aren’t they?’
Magnus nodded. ‘Can you think of anything that might link Kata and Helga together?’
Gunni was watching Magnus carefully. Gunni was still suspicious, but he was also curious. ‘Thomocoin. Was Kata involved with Thomocoin?’
‘Not as far as we know,’ said Magnus. ‘Her parents say they didn’t have any spare cash to invest.’
‘I can believe that,’ said Gunni. ‘I never heard Ingvar talk about it, and I doubt he ever had much in savings. But Dísa was involved, wasn’t she?’
‘Yes,’ said Magnus. ‘Through her mother. But yes, she was.’
Gunni sat back in his chair. He grinned. ‘You don’t think I killed Helga, do you?’
Magnus kept his face expressionless.
‘You think that Kata and Helga’s murders are connected,’ he continued. ‘You know I didn’t kill Kata. Which means you think I didn’t kill Helga. Your job is to find out who killed Kata. The other guy — Inspector Ólafur — his job is to find out who killed Helga. Am I right?’
Magnus didn’t answer.
‘Unless you are just playing good cop to the other guy’s bad cop?’
‘I like to think I’m a good cop. Which is why I can’t ask you about Helga’s murder without a lawyer present.’
‘But I can tell you why I didn’t kill her?’
Magnus didn’t move.
‘That knife was planted, you know? Why would I leave a knife with blood on it lying around?’
Magnus didn’t reply, waiting for more.
Gunni went on. ‘I’ve got a little less than an hour unaccounted for the morning Helga was killed, when I was walking the dog. If I killed Helga up on the mountainside, I would have had to run there from my house with my dog running after me, stab her and sprint back. I know that mountain well; it’s just not possible for me to do it in the time. And how would I know she would be at that spot exactly at the time I got there? Whoever did kill her must have been lying in wait for her, probably for at least an hour. It makes no sense! I’ve been thinking about it a lot over the last couple of weeks. I can’t see how a judge can convict me, despite the knife evidence.’
‘If you didn’t kill Helga, who did?’
‘I’ve got no idea. But I bet it’s got something to do with Thomocoin. Some other poor sucker she talked into putting their life savings into it — that’s my guess. Someone from Dalvík. Or maybe a doctor from Akureyri who worked with her. But not me.’
‘And why Kata?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Gunni. ‘That’s your job. But it seems to me it must have something to do with Thomocoin and something to do with Dísa.’
On the way back to police headquarters, Magnus called Árni.
‘Did you speak to Ólafur?’ Magnus asked.
‘Just now.’
‘And?’
‘As we predicted. He’s not happy. He says I shouldn’t be wasting time trying to do the defence’s job for them. I should be looking for evidence to incriminate Gunni.’
‘Is he going to pass on the report to the defence?’
‘He says it’s not relevant. He says someone seeing someone walking along the street looking around is not evidence.’
Idiot.
‘You think Gunni may be innocent, don’t you?’ Árni said.
‘I’m damn sure he is,’ said Magnus. ‘From what Gunni told me, he would have had to run from his house with his dog to the spot where Helga was killed, stab her and run back immediately. And for that to work he would have had to know she would be there at precisely that time.’