‘Look into it next time if you need to get in touch. This is a long drive out of town for me, and my time is better spent working on the case itself. Unless you wanted to ask me something specific, or tell me something? I totally understand if you want to keep track of the hours that are going into this or if you want to rethink your position regarding the investigation. That’s not unusual when people realize how quickly it can start getting expensive.’
‘No, that’s not it at all. I was just worried that you haven’t come back to speak to Jakob and I wanted to know whether it was because you were stuck.’
‘Things are coming along, as I say.’ The room suddenly felt unbearably hot. ‘I’ll speak to Jakob when I have a particular reason to, since there’s no point confusing him with multiple visits. He has difficulty discussing what happened, naturally, and I’d prefer not to wear him out or mix up his ideas about what happened with endless questions.’
‘So, this is a long way for you. It would be better if we were located in Reykjavík.’ Jósteinn fell silent, looked up abruptly and then immediately back down into his lap. ‘Don’t you think so?’
‘Yes, probably. But there’s not much we can do about that.’ Thóra decided to try to make good use of this trip by getting Jósteinn to say something about his acquaintance with Ari, who was one of the few people who could have sent the photo to her phone, though he was just as unlikely to have done so as the others who had access to it. ‘Your legal supervisor was Ari Gunnarsson, the same man who defended Jakob. Is this a coincidence, or did it affect your decision to fund a potential reopening of the case? Do you have something against him, perhaps, and are you looking for revenge?’
Jósteinn shook his head, but Thóra thought she saw him redden a bit, even though his head was bowed. ‘No.’
‘So this is simply a coincidence?’
‘Yes.’
Thóra didn’t need a lie detector to work out that Jósteinn was hiding something, but she couldn’t fathom how best to get the truth out of this strange man. She suspected coming down hard on him wouldn’t achieve much. ‘Did he do a good job with your case?’
‘How would I know? I don’t know how others would have done. I probably would have ended up here even if I’d hired every lawyer in the country. If you’re sick, you’re sick. You can’t treat a damaged mind like broken bones. It might be possible if the brain were brittle, not soft. Repairs are always much more complex when you can’t screw or hammer things together.’
‘Yes, that’s… a shame.’ Thóra was keen not to stray any further into this topic. ‘But you must have had a sense of whether he was working on your case wholeheartedly. Did he come to see you? Or did you never meet him?’
‘We met several times during the preparations for the trial. I suppose he could have shown a little more interest, but he wouldn’t be the first or the last person to find it difficult to stay focused in my presence. People don’t understand me, but I understand them. Do you know what I mean?’
‘No, I can’t say I do.’ Thóra took a deep breath before continuing. ‘Did you ever meet Ari in connection with Jakob’s case? Did he ever come here?’
‘Yes, I saw him after Jakob was moved here. He still recognized me, even after all that time.’
Thóra didn’t find that strange; she would be hard pressed to forget this man. ‘But if you think that Ari botched Jakob’s case in some way, and especially if you’re sure he did, you should come out and say so immediately. I’m sure I’d discover it for myself in the end, but it would be less expensive for you to tell me straight away.’
‘I’ll never have the chance to spend all of my money, so a few hours more or less don’t matter. Maybe I like watching you scurry around.’ He didn’t smile or alter his tone, so she couldn’t tell if he was trying to be funny. ‘But I can tell you that Ari puts just enough effort into his work to make it impossible to criticize. It’s a talent some people have; you know they should be trying harder, but you can’t put your finger on anything in particular. For example, one of the cleaners here. She makes the beds but the sheet isn’t stretched well enough over the mattress, but it’s not so baggy that anyone would think to say anything about it.’ Jósteinn lifted his head slightly and stared at the embroidered cushion next to Thóra. He looked pale and didn’t seem aware of the heat in the room. ‘Anyone but me, that is. And why would they pay me any mind?’
Again Thóra chose to ignore the man’s complaints and forged on. ‘So you don’t know for certain that Ari mishandled Jakob’s case somehow?’
‘Actually, I do.’ Jósteinn didn’t look up, his gaze locked on the cross-stitching on the flowery cushion.
‘And would you consider sharing what you know with me?’ Thóra tried to hide her impatience, but was almost ready to shake the information out of the man – once she’d put on some rubber gloves.
‘I know that he didn’t do his job properly, and I can prove it.’ Jósteinn’s expression became almost cheerful. ‘He’s related to one of the victims, and I bet he didn’t tell anyone.’
‘How do you know, if he kept it to himself?’
‘Before I got into doing computer repairs I studied genealogy. I was looking through my own lineage for ancestors with whom I had things in common. I have distant connections to the family of my victim. When you have enough time to spend on your hobbies, you can make decent progress with them. When I’d run out of names to look up, I started on people I knew, and one day I searched for Ari’s family. When Jakob came here and I heard about his case, I recognized the name of one of the victims. After reviewing my records I saw that the father of one of the young men who burned to death was related to Ari. It seemed rather odd, considering Ari had chosen to defend the guy accused of the murders. I found it intriguing. It’s how I became interested in Jakob, actually.’
Thóra frowned. ‘I learned in school that if you go back far enough almost all Icelanders are related somehow. What was the link between these two?’
‘Ari and the father of the boy who died are first cousins. That’s rather closer than usual. You and I, for example, are related seven generations back.’
Thóra was repulsed at the thought that the man had been looking her up in search of some kind of family connection. She hoped his information was out of date, and he didn’t know about Gylfi and Sóley, or Orri. The thought that he’d so much as seen their names in print was unbearable. ‘First cousins?’ If this were true – and considering Jósteinn had a few screws loose, Thóra found it impossible to judge – it was most irregular. In fact, it was downright immoral.
‘He hasn’t really fulfilled his brief as Jakob’s lawyer, has he?’
Thóra didn’t reply, though she privately agreed. ‘Which young man was it?’
‘Tryggvi Einvarðsson. The son of Einvarður Tryggvason and grandson of Tryggvi Helgason; who is the brother of Gunnar Helgason, Ari’s father. So you see, Ari and Einvarður are first cousins. If you want, I can go back and link their lineages to me. I’ve got a great memory.’
‘No, thanks. That’s plenty.’
On the way out Thóra spotted Jakob. His back was turned to her as he bent over a sink in a kitchen that seemed rather small given the number of people living there, washing up with gusto. ‘Hello, Jakob.’ He turned around at her greeting, displaying a giant white apron with large wet patches. ‘How are you?’
Jakob looked at her and appeared not to realize who she was. Then a light clicked on and he beamed at her guilelessly. ‘Have you come to get me? Can I go home to Mummy?’
‘No, Jakob. Not yet, I’m afraid. I’m working on it, and I’ll do everything I can to make that happen. Until then, you’ve got to be brave.’ His smile faded and was replaced by a frown.