Whoever Krakatoa was, he had killed before and he would kill again. If he could find Dísa.
The Westfjords were the place to go, with their twisty, slow roads and their scattered communities. Grandpa had a tent and some camping gear at Blábrekka — Dísa would borrow that. No hitman would ever find her.
Once the bitcoin had been safely distributed from her wallet to Uncle Eggert’s, and from there to all the investors, she could re-emerge into the world. Or at least get in touch with the police. Perhaps wait until they had arrested Krakatoa or the hitman. If they could arrest him. While Krakatoa was loose, Dísa wouldn’t be safe. She might need a longer-term solution to hide. Where could she go?
Perhaps she should keep some of the bitcoin back to help her go on the run. Twenty million dollars was surely more than the Icelanders had invested; she would also have to figure out how to return the rest of it to investors abroad. A website, or something, where people could make claims. But how to verify them? Tomorrow’s problem.
Maybe Jói could help. After facing down her father, Dísa was a little less worried that Jói would grab her bitcoin and return it to him. Jói would probably be more use than Uncle Eggert in helping her find somewhere to hide.
She was placing a lot of trust in Uncle Eggert. Perhaps, before going to Dalvík, she should drop in and see him in Akureyri. She would need good Wi-Fi and a bit of peace and quiet to send out the string of emails and Facebook messages she had planned for the Thomocoin investors. It would be good to talk through the details with him. He would no doubt be at work, but maybe he could slip away for an hour.
She picked up her phone and called him.
Magnus took Vigdís with him to interview Dísa. They tried her doorbell, with no response. Magnus rang a couple of the other bells in the building. He was just about to give up when the door opened to reveal a tall, dark-haired woman with big bleary eyes, of about Dísa’s age.
‘Hi,’ she said, blinking.
‘Inspector Magnús Ragnarsson,’ Magnus said, holding up his ID. ‘Reykjavík police. And this is Sergeant Vigdís Audardóttir. Do you know where Dísa Ómarsdóttir is?’
‘Have you come about the break-in?’ said the student.
‘What break-in?’
The student, who said her name was Nína, showed them the broken glass in the back door.
‘We need to get forensics on to this,’ said Magnus to Vigdís. ‘Did whoever broke in take anything from any of the flats?’
Nína shrugged. ‘I don’t think so. I told Dísa about it this morning. She did seem kinda worried.’
‘Do you know where we might find her?’ Vigdís asked. ‘Is she in class now?’
‘I don’t really know her,’ said Nína. ‘She hasn’t been here very long. I did know Kata, of course.’
‘So you don’t know what class she might be in?’
‘I doubt she’s in any class.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I saw her leaving the building a couple of hours ago, dragging a suitcase behind her.’
They tried to call Dísa; unsurprisingly she didn’t pick up her phone. Vigdís made some calls to secure the back door to Dísa’s building and to get forensics over there. She also got the ball in motion to get a trace on Dísa’s phone. That needed a warrant, and that would take at least a couple of hours.
Magnus drove to Dísa’s father’s house in Nordurmýri. Ómar Baldvinsson looked, if anything, more strung out than the last time Magnus had spoken to him.
Vigdís and Magnus crammed together on the tatty sofa. Magnus noticed that Ómar had been working on a spreadsheet on his desktop computer when they had interrupted him. A laptop lay on a pile of magazines on a wooden chair.
‘So, I’ve got the both of you, have I, this time?’ Ómar said with a weak smile. ‘How can I help you today?’
‘We’re investigating the murder of Katrín Ingvarsdóttir,’ Magnus said.
‘Ah. Dísa’s friend. That’s very sad.’
‘It is. Did you know her?’
‘Not really. I’d heard about her and I’d met her once or twice, but Dísa and she didn’t become friends until Helga and the girls moved north to Dalvík about ten years ago.’
‘When did you last see Kata?’
‘Last week — at Helga’s funeral. She was with Dísa. I’m not sure I said anything directly to her.’
‘Where were you the night before last at about six p.m.?’
‘Hah! You don’t think I killed her, do you?’
‘Please answer the question, Ómar,’ said Vigdís.
‘All right. I was here. Watching TV.’
‘Alone?’
‘Yes.’
‘So no one can verify that?’
Ómar shrugged. ‘You could ask the neighbours. They are pretty nosy. Especially the old bat downstairs. But I don’t understand. Why would I kill Dísa’s best friend? Wasn’t she found naked anyway? Do you think I’m some kind of rapist?’
‘We think she was stripped to put us off the scent,’ said Magnus. ‘As to why, we think the answer is Thomocoin.’
‘Not this again,’ said Ómar.
‘We believe there is a link between Kata’s death and your wife’s.’
‘I thought you had arrested Helga’s killer? That guy Gunni?’
‘New evidence has come to light which suggests he’s innocent.’
‘Oh. So you think I killed Helga as well? I thought you had already checked that I was in Reykjavík the day she died.’
Vigdís glanced at Magnus.
‘We now think that both her murder and Kata’s were committed by a professional killer,’ Magnus said.
‘Oh.’
‘And that the connection between the two is your daughter. And Thomocoin.’
Ómar ran his fingers over his thinning scalp. ‘Oh.’
‘So we are trying to find the connection between Dísa, Thomocoin and the two murders.’
Ómar frowned. ‘I told you, I can’t help you.’
‘Oh, yes you can,’ said Magnus. ‘This is a double-homicide investigation. I need you to tell me all about Thomocoin. We’re not talking about fraud here. We’re talking about murder.’
‘I need a lawyer before I discuss Thomocoin.’
‘The same professional may have killed a former employee of Thomocoin in North Carolina last year. Cryptocheeseman. Have you heard of him?’
‘I won’t answer any questions about Thomocoin without a lawyer.’
‘Ómar.’ Magnus leaned forward. ‘We think your daughter is in danger. We don’t know exactly why your ex-wife was killed. But we think Kata’s death was a warning to Dísa. To keep quiet about something, maybe. Or to get her to do something else. We don’t know what. But we are pretty sure it has to do with Thomocoin.’
Ómar put his head in his hands. Magnus and Vigdís waited.
After a few seconds, he looked up, despair, anguish and fear filling his eyes. ‘Have you talked to her? What does she say?’
‘She’s gone from Kata’s flat,’ said Magnus. ‘With a suitcase.’
‘I suppose that’s good,’ said Ómar. ‘If she really is in danger.’
‘We’ll find her. But in the meantime, tell us what you know about Thomocoin.’
They waited while Ómar gathered his thoughts. ‘I really don’t know much about it. Sharp first described it to me a few years ago, and I took Dísa to a presentation he gave here in Reykjavík. She was impressed and so was I. She had made a lot of money trading bitcoin, and I thought this new Thomocoin would be a good way of converting her profits into krónur, which was very difficult back then with exchange controls. Actually, it’s still difficult in Iceland. I thought she might make some more money out of Thomocoin. At that point, I hadn’t realized she was giving it all away to Helga.’