‘There’s really no evidence yet. But do you know which of their friends or acquaintances might possibly have come to visit? We need to speak to those people, if possible.’
Lena shook her head. ‘No. It was just some people. I didn’t know the night watchmen that well. Friðleifur maybe a bit more, but I didn’t really know anything about him.’
‘What was the name of the other night watchman again?’
Lena was silent and appeared to be engaged in a psychological tug-of-war. ‘You’ll find it out anyway, won’t you? Whether I give you his name or not?’
‘Yes, we already have it. He just hasn’t answered Thóra’s phone calls and I can’t remember it at the moment. Obviously he would know better than anyone what went on there at night-time even if he was sick at home on that particular night. Apparently.’
‘Okay.’ She took a sip of her drink and looked at her phone, as if she were hoping it would ring and save her. The grey screen stared back at her without blinking. ‘You won’t say where you got the name, will you? I don’t want to get anyone into trouble.’
‘No, no. I won’t say a thing, since there’s no reason to. As I said, we already have it – I just can’t remember it.’
Lena nodded so slightly that it was barely noticeable. ‘Look, there were two different teams who worked on the night shift, one week on, one week off, and it was generally always the same guy working with Friðleifur. Occasionally it was someone else, but your best bet by far would be to talk to the man who usually worked with him. The others are probably less important, because they were only with him for the odd night now and then.’
‘And what’s his name?’
‘Margeir. I don’t know his surname.’
CHAPTER 28
Monday, 18 January 2010
The hot tub was warmer than usual and dense steam rose in the cold. From the dark sky snowflakes drifted down onto Thóra and Matthew’s heads as they sat there soaking, with wrinkled fingers and just as wrinkled toes. Sóley was in the children’s pool with her arm round Orri, but Thóra didn’t take her eyes off them in case she lost sight of Sóley’s brightly coloured swimsuit and Orri’s chubby form in the steam that surrounded the group of kids in the shallow water. She and Matthew had given in to their repeated pestering and gone to the pool while Thóra’s mother prepared dinner. There weren’t many adults there and they sat alone in the hot tub; this was the life. This was actually the only sport that Thóra liked doing; unlike Matthew’s running, you could stop whenever you wanted. When you went out for a run, once you got exhausted you still always had to get back home.
‘I don’t really know what to think.’ Thóra slipped further down into the water to warm up her shoulders a bit. ‘The police were keeping their cards close to their chests but I’m convinced it’s Margeir they found dead at Nauthólsvík Beach yesterday. Why would they be concerning themselves with calls to and from his phone, unless it’s because they can’t ask him personally?’ Although she’d resolved to avoid watching the news, she’d scanned the Internet after her conversation with the policeman in the hope of finding out what the case was about. The reason the police were interested in speaking to her was that she’d called Margeir’s mobile phone the day before, and the day before that, too. At first Thóra didn’t understand what the problem was, but she soon worked it out and explained why she’d been trying to contact him. Once that was out of the way, she managed to get to the real reason she’d phoned them, which was to report that Ragna Sölvadóttir had also been abused at the residence. She’d also tried to find out – unsuccessfully – why the police were investigating Margeir’s phone. Because she’d made so little progress on that front, she’d taken a chance on the news, which reported that the body of a young man had been found at Nauthólsvík, apparently the victim of a crime. The name of the deceased could not yet be disclosed. But it seemed clear to Thóra from talking to the police – the mention of a death, then the questions about her calls to Margeir – that the mobile she had called must have been found on or near this body, in which case it was likely to be Margeir.
‘Maybe he’s avoiding the police for some other reason; maybe he’s suspected of something and doesn’t want to talk?’ Matthew wiped the melting snowflakes from his forehead before the water ran into his eyes. ‘This could just be coincidence.’
‘I doubt it.’ Thóra watched Sóley splash water playfully at Orri, who shrieked with delight. ‘From the way the policeman sounded, it seemed serious.’
‘Well, there aren’t many things more serious than cold-blooded murder.’
‘Sure, sure, but the police mentioned a death and there was nothing in the news about any accidental deaths. So it must be related to the fire. Anything else would be too much of a coincidence. On the other hand, Margeir was ruled out as being the father of Lísa’s child, so it can’t be anything to do with that aspect of the case. Not unless the tests were never actually carried out and Glódís was lying to me when she said she’d seen the results of the tests on the night watchmen.’
‘Surely the tests were done? The night watchmen must have been the prime suspects.’
‘Yes, it would have been ridiculous to seriously suspect anyone else. I’m just a bit paranoid. However much the paternity tests cost, the night watchmen must have been included. Unless a decision was made not to investigate the rape; if they’d been planning to bury the matter anyway, it would have been pointless to waste time and money trying to find the guilty party.’ The steam in the children’s pool had thickened and Thóra sat up to get a better view. ‘I’ve also been thinking a lot about what Ægir said about Tryggvi’s therapy and the way it ended. And after what he said about the drawings, I’m extremely keen to find them – especially given what you sensed from Lena. The fact that Glódís won’t let me see the pictures makes me even more bothered about not having access to them.’ Thóra had got in touch with Glódís straight after her meeting with Ægir and been told that Thóra’s visit had reminded her that there were still files around that should have been handed over long ago. It wasn’t appropriate, as far as the relatives were concerned, for an unrelated party to have access to such files and thus it was out of the question to give them to Thóra when they were finally returned. The pictures would go straight to Tryggvi’s parents.
‘But are you sure they won’t let you look at the pictures once they’ve got them back?’
‘I don’t think so, and if that’s the case, how can I be sure they won’t just remove any pictures that depict precisely what I’m looking for – a connection to the fire or to Lísa? Maybe there are pictures of her naked, who knows?’ Thóra pulled herself up even higher in the water as she noticed Sóley and Orri looking like they wanted to get out of the pool. ‘Given his paternity test was negative, it’s highly unlikely, of course; but he could have drawn a picture of the man who impregnated her, seen the deed through the doorway.’ She stood up and waved to the children in order to ensure that they could make their way the short distance over to her. ‘But considering the primitive appearance of the figures he drew, I don’t know how useful they’d be in finding the person who forced himself on Lísa.’
Sóley led Orri to the hot tub; steam drifted up from the children’s bodies but by the time they reached the tub they were starting to shiver. ‘Is this tub horribly hot?’ Sóley stuck one foot just slightly into the water and pulled it straight back out.
‘It feels like it at first. Jump in before you get covered in icicles.’ They did as Thóra said but it wasn’t long before Orri’s eyelids started to droop. His blond head sunk to his chest and there was nothing for it but to go home.