Magnus had been awake for a while, emailing Árni and Vigdís in Iceland. They had applied for a warrant to search Rósa’s home and office and seize any computers she might have there; it should be granted that morning. The circumstantial evidence was strong that Rósa was at Glaumbaer when Carlotta had died, but there was as yet no proof that would stand up in court that she had killed her.
The standard of proof required was lower now, because she was no longer alive to be prosecuted and there were no inquests in Iceland, but the police had to be certain that she had indeed killed Carlotta, not least to be sure that Carlotta’s murderer wasn’t still at large.
Magnus wasn’t yet convinced. It was probable they would turn up the evidence to convince him; it would just require patience, thoroughness and a little imagination.
And he was still wondering about Suzy Henshaw.
As for Nancy Fishburn’s murder, the staff at Rósa’s law firm confirmed that she had been in the office all morning, until dashing off for the airport — presumably she had stopped at home to pick up a suitcase, but that needed to be checked. Rósa’s assistant recalled that Rósa had booked the flight to Greenland that morning, just after she had got into the office, and had announced that she was taking a couple of days off at the beginning of the following week.
So, Rósa hadn’t killed Nancy Fishburn. Once again, Einar was looking the best bet for that. The Reykjavík police would interview their neighbours to see if anyone saw Einar leave home that morning early enough to have met Nancy at her hotel.
When Magnus arrived, a meeting was beginning, with Paulsen in charge. Most of the faces around the table were Inuit, with the exception of two Danes, one young, one old. All were in uniform — the police force in Greenland didn’t seem to run to detectives in civilian clothes, so Magnus felt out of place in his jeans. The discussion was in Danish, which Magnus found almost impossible to follow, but the grizzled Danish constable sitting next to him helped with the odd translation into English. At least the legal system wasn’t too different from Iceland’s.
From what Magnus could figure out, Einar hadn’t confessed. Nor were his whereabouts clear for a four-hour period in the late morning, when he claimed he had walked part way to the Blomsterdalen. A Danish tourist had seen him about a kilometre north of the airport on the track towards the Blomsterdalen; that tallied with Einar’s story. No one had seen him on Signal Hill, the hill above the airport. Another witness, a Dane who lived at an isolated summer cabin on the other side of a small lake from the route to the Blomsterdalen, reported seeing a lone figure on the road jump off it to hide behind a bush when a car drove by. The figure was far too far away to be identified, but the witness thought it was a man and that he wasn’t particularly tall. Which Einar was. But then the witness wasn’t absolutely sure.
The police needed better than that.
They had already received Rósa’s phone records from TELE Greenland, which was impressively quick work, and Magnus asked for a copy of them so he could send them to Reykjavík to be cross-referenced with Carlotta and Einar’s records from there.
Three forensics guys from Nuuk were present: they were police officers in uniform with specialist forensics training, but they hadn’t had time to do much the evening before. Constable Frandsen had found the murder weapon, a vicious-looking hunting knife of the kind that could be found in every Greenlandic home, tossed into the brush twenty metres from the body.
Paulsen invited Magnus to deliver a brief report in English on the investigation in Iceland of Carlotta’s and Nancy’s murders, and the possible connection to Rósa’s. But as Magnus spoke, he realized the connections didn’t quite make sense: something was missing. He was beginning to think it would only be when Paulsen persuaded Einar to confess that they would have the true picture.
Paulsen said something rapidly in Danish — Magnus wasn’t quite sure what it was, except that it included the word ‘Beccari’. Then she repeated it in English for his benefit. Professor Beccari had called the police first thing that morning to say he had some information to give them about Rósa. Paulsen had asked him to come into the station at nine-thirty and she invited Magnus to join her for the interview.
Paulsen doled out tasks to the assembled officers, most of which centred on finding witnesses to establish a precise timeline for Einar’s whereabouts during the day. Then she sent them off to the helicopters and Narsarsuaq.
Paulsen wanted Magnus to join her for a briefing with the local prosecutor, but first Professor Beccari was waiting to speak to them.
The professor was sitting in the station’s interview room, staring out of the window at a stall in the fish market by the harbour covered in seal flesh and blood. A gory sight.
‘I wasn’t expecting to see you here,’ he said to Magnus. ‘So there must be a link to Carlotta’s murder.’
‘We’ll see.’ Magnus noted that Beccari had already made the link himself. ‘But this is Inspector Paulsen’s investigation.’
‘What have you got to tell us, professor?’ Paulsen asked.
‘It’s about poor Rósa,’ Beccari said. ‘The moment I heard she had died, I knew I had to get in touch with you.’
‘How did you hear?’
‘At breakfast at the hotel some guests were talking about a murder at Narsarsuaq. A tourist. So I immediately called Eygló who told me it was Rósa. The poor woman! It was definitely murder?’
Beccari’s hands were flashing in much the same agitation as Magnus remembered when he had first interviewed him about Carlotta’s death.
‘She was stabbed,’ said Paulsen.
‘Right.’ Beccari paused. ‘Then I have something to tell you.’
He gathered himself and began his story. ‘I joined Rósa and the television crew coming over here to Greenland. I have always wanted to visit this country and it seemed like a great opportunity. But if you’ve spoken to them you’ll know that the atmosphere among the team was really bad. Something to do with Einar and Eygló and Rósa. It was obvious to anyone that they were all upset with each other, and it was becoming really unpleasant. So on Saturday I decided to leave them and explore Greenland by myself for a couple of days. I’ve been staying here.’
‘At the Hotel Qaqortoq?’ It was where Magnus was staying; it was probably the only decent hotel in town.
‘That’s right. Anyway, I ended up talking with Rósa a fair bit, because the rest of them were not speaking to each other. We got on well; she was an intelligent woman, and I like intelligent women. Saturday’s filming had been a disaster and Suzy ended it early. I was sitting in the back of the boat with Rósa, returning across the fjord to Narsarsuaq. Until that point she had always seemed cool and in control. But she looked scared.
‘I asked her what was wrong. She seemed to think for a few moments and then said that she had something important to tell me. If nothing happened to her, then I should just forget that she had said anything. But if something did happen to her then I should tell them that she was sorry for what she had done.’
‘“Them”? What did she mean by “them”?’ Paulsen asked.
‘That’s exactly what I asked! But Rósa said if something happened to her I would know whom to tell.’ Beccari looked at Magnus and Paulsen with incredulity. ‘I thought, how could I possibly know? I asked her what she had done, and of course she wouldn’t tell me. She said maybe nothing would happen to her, in which case I should just forget the whole conversation, but she begged me, if something did happen, to do what she had asked me.’
Beccari’s blue eyes were popping. ‘Well! What was I to do? She seemed deadly serious, and very upset. So I promised. What else could I do?