‘She didn’t mention anything like that,’ insisted Mensalder.
‘Are you sure you two didn’t arrange another meeting?’
‘Yes, quite sure. Positive. We did nothing of the sort.’
‘So she didn’t ask you to buy her any records?’
‘No, she didn’t, or... maybe I’ve forgotten. You’re muddling me. But we definitely never arranged to meet like you’re implying. I never saw her again after that. Never. Only saw her that one time and that’s the truth. The absolute truth!’
‘So you didn’t meet up with Dagbjört?’
‘No.’
‘She didn’t get into your car the day she vanished?’
‘No, I swear.’
‘All right,’ said Erlendur. ‘I don’t suppose we’ll get anywhere like this. We’ll see what you say when the police come to take you in. You realise I’ll have to notify them. You realise that, don’t you, Mensalder?’
‘I can’t see why you have to take it any further. Why you won’t believe me. I didn’t touch her. I don’t understand why you’re acting like this. I just don’t get it.’
‘No, well, we’ll see. Maybe my colleagues will make more progress with you.’
Erlendur crossed the forecourt towards his car. The instant he left shelter the wind latched its claws into him, sending an icy chill through his body. He found his keys and was opening the car door when he heard a voice calling. He couldn’t make out the words and no longer cared anyway. He had leaned on Mensalder as hard as he dared and had got precious little out of him. The threat of going to the police was an empty one: he had no real evidence against the man. He started thinking instead about driving straight out to the base to try and track down Marion and Caroline and find out how they were getting on. He hoped to God that Caroline was all right and hadn’t put herself at risk by colluding with them.
Again he thought he heard a voice.
‘... never showed up,’ he caught before the wind snatched the rest away.
Erlendur turned. ‘What did you say?’
‘She never showed up,’ called Mensalder, looking around nervously as if he didn’t want anyone else to hear.
Erlendur shut the car door and walked back towards him.
‘What are you saying?’
‘I waited for her with the records for more than half an hour but then I had to drive out to Keflavík,’ said Mensalder. ‘She never came to meet me. She said she would but she never came.’
‘Dagbjört, you mean?’
‘Yes, Dagbjört. Then I heard she’d gone missing and I never told anyone because I didn’t see what it had to do with me.’ Mensalder dropped his gaze. ‘I didn’t see what it had to do with me.’
44
Quickly adjusting to the gloom in the hangar, Marion followed Caroline in the direction of the giant work platform that towered up to the rafters. There was no one else around and the only illumination came from the dim fluorescent lights along the side walls. No work seemed to be in progress at present. Marion made out what looked like two fighter aircraft at the other end of the hangar. There were various aeroplane parts lying on the floor along the walls to the right. A jet engine was suspended from a pulley.
Marion’s eyes travelled up the scaffolding, tall as a block of flats. It consisted of countless steel platforms slotted together, with a ladder in the middle providing access to the top level. The plumbers’ paraphernalia had been removed as their job here was finished. Marion calculated that if Kristvin had fallen from the scaffolding there would be evidence on the floor below, but the concrete was so filthy and stained with oil and years’ of other accumulated grime that without proper forensic analysis it would be impossible to determine if any of it was Kristvin’s blood. There was certainly no way of telling in the present circumstances.
All was quiet in the hangar. Caroline stood stock-still, listening and peering around in the semi-darkness, alert as a wild animal. Only when she was absolutely sure they were alone did she gesture to Marion to follow her up the ladder. She felt her way slowly, rung by rung.
‘Hope you don’t get vertigo,’ whispered Marion.
‘I’ve always been shit-scared of heights — flying too — but right now I’m just shit-scared,’ Caroline whispered back.
She reached the top surprisingly quickly, nevertheless, with Marion close behind. They stood on the platform, their legs trembling and jelly-like with the effort. It gave a good view of the hangar.
‘Isn’t the place guarded?’ asked Marion in a low voice.
‘I’d have thought so.’
‘Haven’t you ever been in here before?’
‘No, never had any reason to. I had no idea how vast it was.’
‘It’s mind-boggling.’
Marion surveyed the platform. It was fenced in on all sides by a handrail a metre or so high. The new fire-extinguisher system was right in front of them. From the pipes, which ran along the steel girders, gold-coloured sprinklers hung like colossal Christmas decorations. There were two smaller wheeled platforms that reached right up under the roof. Marion assumed the plumbers must have stood on these while fixing the water pipes to the girders.
‘Do you think they store bombs in here?’ asked Marion.
‘I wouldn’t know where,’ said Caroline, surveying the largely empty space. ‘Maybe they keep them in different hangars, or underground.’
‘Shouldn’t they be stored within easy reach for loading? Isn’t speed the main object?’
‘Sure. Maybe Kristvin saw them in here and they’ve been moved since then. They might not even be in the country any longer.’
‘True.’
‘Could Kristvin have fallen off here?’ asked Caroline, peeping gingerly over the edge. ‘It’s a hell of a drop. It’s making me giddy.’
‘He’d have died instantly,’ said Marion. ‘That’s clear. No one could survive a drop like that, straight down onto a concrete floor. It would go a long way to explaining his injuries. We’ve been working on the assumption all along that they were the result of a major fall.’
‘What can he have been doing all the way up here?’ whispered Caroline. ‘It’s only been used for installing the fire extinguishers and I’m guessing that all the people who worked up here were Icelandics. Surely it’s just as likely that it was a quarrel between locals that went badly wrong?’
‘But the men working up here claim they didn’t know Kristvin,’ said Marion, ‘though naturally there’s a chance they were lying. But we couldn’t find any obvious links. No, I’m thinking he may have fled up here. To hide.’
‘This is the last place I’d hide,’ said Caroline, snatching another nervous glance over the rail.
‘I don’t suppose he had much choice. If he was trying to escape.’
‘Maybe someone thought this would be a good place to meet,’ said Caroline, ‘especially if he was planning to push Kristvin off.’
‘I’m guessing it would’ve been from this side then,’ said Marion, walking to the edge of the platform where there was a narrow gap, no more than a couple of metres wide, separating it from the northern wall of the hangar. It was also furthest from the lights. Marion peered down at the floor.
Caroline was far from happy up here and the feeling only intensified as the minutes passed. She had not been lying when she said she hated heights and it was obvious she could hardly bring herself to look down. She ran a hand along the rail.