He might just have forgotten to turn it on, but the fact that he had left without telling her where he was going — or even saying goodbye — perturbed her. She turned back to the laptop, the thought still nagging.
Several minutes later, her phone rang. But a glance at the screen told her it wasn’t Eddie. ‘Hello?’
‘Hello, Nina?’ It was Tova. ‘Are you okay?’
“I should be asking you that.’
‘I am fine, thank you. But I am still worried about you and Eddie. I told the Ministry of Justice that you were trying to rescue me, but—’
‘That’s okay,’ Nina told her, not wanting to relive the diplomatic debates. ‘Are you at home?’
‘Yes — and there is a police car outside, to watch for the kidnappers if they try again.’
‘Good.’ While Tova seemed calm, Nina could sense the stress in her voice. It was a feeling she knew herself, from unwelcome personal experience. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘I have, ah, been trying to take my mind off what happened by concentrating on work.’
‘I know that feeling,’ Nina told her with black humour.
‘Yes — I said I had been inspired by your work, but I did not expect to have the same kind of experiences as well! I am happy to stay in the lab or my study. But after you told me you were going to look again at all the information about the Valhalla Runestone, I decided to do some more research of my own — about the clue in the runes to the location of the second stone.’
‘You said you thought it was at the bottom of a lake?’
‘Yes, but before, I did not look any farther. There did not seem to be any point. Now, I have gone back to my research and I think I have got closer to its exact position. It is remarkable how bad things can focus the mind.’ An attempt at a laugh. ‘But I do not have access to information that would help me confirm if I am right — not easy access, I mean. I would have to search for it in archives, it will take time.’
‘What kind of information do you need?’
‘Maps, mostly. Old maps of Norway — not only from Viking times, but from one or two centuries ago as well.’
‘The IHA database should have that kind of thing. I can access them from my laptop. You can have whatever you need.’
Tova sounded surprised, but pleased, by the offer. ‘Oh, good! I can bring my notes to your hotel.’
‘No, no, we’ll come to you,’ Nina insisted. ‘The cops can still keep an eye on you — and to be honest, I’m suffering from cabin fever after spending most of the day in here. What’s your address?’ She wrote it down. ‘Okay, we’ll be there soon.’
The two women said their goodbyes, and Nina hung up before trying Eddie’s phone again. No answer. ‘Dammit, Eddie,’ she muttered as she tied her long red hair into a ponytail, then collected her notes and packed her laptop into a bag. She was about to get her coat when the door opened. ‘Eddie?’
‘No, Russian kidnappers,’ came the reply. ‘Who’d you think it was?’ Eddie entered the suite, a colourful scarf hanging down over his battered leather jacket and wetness on his boots where he had been in the snow. He was carrying something about eight inches long in a brown paper bag.
‘Where were you? I tried calling, but it went straight to voicemail.’
‘Police station. I turned my phone off while I was there.’
‘Why did you go back there? Until we hear otherwise, our immunity’s still in effect.’
‘They wanted to ask me some more questions about the kidnappers,’ he said, his tone curt. ‘Thought if I told them, they might let me know if they’d found out anything more themselves.’
‘And had they?’
‘Nope.’ He headed for the suite’s bedroom.
‘What did you buy?’ Nina asked, regarding the bag.
‘Hmm? Oh, just some thicker socks.’ He didn’t look back at her as he went into the other room. ‘My feet got a bit damp during all that business, wanted to make sure I didn’t get frostbite.’ Nina heard the clunk of his suitcase being opened and closed, then he returned. He glanced at her laptop bag. ‘You off somewhere?’
‘Tova did some more research about the location of the second runestone. I was about to go over to her place rather than have her come here; the cops are watching it in case the kidnappers come back.’
‘They won’t.’
Nina cocked her head. ‘You seem very sure of that.’
He looked irritated at being doubted. ‘There were four guys, and now three of ’em are dead. The one who’s left’d be pretty fucking stupid to try anything, especially now that every cop in Stockholm’s looking for him. Why, what did you think I meant?’
‘Nothing, Jeez,’ she said defensively. ‘I was just saying, that’s all. Why are you in such a mood?’
‘’Cause I just spent a couple of hours in a police station. So I’m going straight out again, am I?’
‘You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.’
‘Nah, I’ll come.’ He smiled, exposing the gap between his front teeth. ‘Got my scarf just how I like it, so it’d be a shame to take it off.’
Nina grinned back, relieved that his moment of ill temper had passed. ‘Okay then, Doctor Who. Let’s go.’
Tova lived in a small but comfortable apartment in southern Stockholm. As she had said, there was a police car on station in the street outside, the two officers within watching the visitors suspiciously as they entered the building.
The Swede’s greeting was warmer. ‘Nina, Eddie! Hello again, I am so happy to see you both.’
‘Thanks,’ Nina replied. ‘How are you? Are you okay?’
‘Still shaken, I am afraid,’ Tova said as she took the couple’s coats. ‘Being kidnapped, it is…’ She tried to suppress a shiver. ‘I am just a historian. This is crazy. I never imagined that my work would cause this.’
‘I don’t think they’ll be coming back,’ Eddie told her. ‘You shouldn’t have to worry about ’em.’
‘I hope so! But thank you again for saving me, both of you.’
‘All part of the job,’ said the Englishman with a small smile.
Nina opened her bag. ‘I brought my laptop, so if the IHA database has anything that can help you, we’ll be able to access it.’
Tova nodded. ‘I will show you what I have found out so far.’
She led them through the apartment to a small room lined with bookshelves heavily laden with volumes on Scandinavian history and mythology. On a desk was a map of Norway, along with numerous printed notes. Tova sat and gathered together several pages. ‘This is the English translation of the section of the runes from the Valhalla Runestone that describes the journey to Ragnarök,’ she said, placing one of the pages on the desktop. It was the same text that she had shown them at the museum. Nina read it again, Eddie this time taking considerably more of an interest.