‘Look after the car, will you? And Vigdís.’
‘I will,’ said Martin with a grin.
Vigdís rolled down the window. ‘What the hell are you doing, Magnús?’
‘I’ll walk back to Raufarhöfn and drop the other car in Akureyri.’ He took a well-thumbed Icelandic — English dictionary out of his pocket and tossed it into Vigdís’s lap. ‘Here. You may need this.’
Vigdís stared at the dictionary, and then at Martin climbing into the seat next to her. ‘You planned this, Magnús!’
‘Have a good trip!’ Magnus said. ‘I’ll tell Baldur I gave you four days’ leave after all the overtime you worked on the case.’
Vigdís shook her head. And then she smiled.
Martin put the car into gear and drove off, towards the south. The long, slow way around the island.
Author’s note
This is based on a much shorter story under the same title that appeared in Deadly Pleasures (edited by Martin Edwards), an anthology of short stories by members of the Crime Writers’ Association.