through it all tonight and see if I can make sense of it.’
‘No.’ Ívar Laxdal shook his head. ‘Don’t waste your time. If nothing jumped out at you right away, then it’s probably not going to. Take the whole lot to a specialist over at financial and ask them to guide you through it. But you have some names, at least?’
‘There’s no shortage of people who would like to do this group of people a bad turn,’ Gunna said. ‘But murder? I don’t know. I have a list of the companies that Sólfell Investment and all the other companies that this bunch bought and sold over the last few years, although I doubt it’s a complete list. A lot of them are in Denmark and Sweden, one or two in Germany and there’s one in Britain as well. My guess is that we’re spoilt for choice for people who would happily knock these shysters off.’
‘So where do we start?’
‘That’s the problem. I’m also concerned about Elvar Pálsson, the missing link. Is he going to turn up as a corpse? Or is he sunning himself somewhere a long way south of here? My feeling is that this character is either keeping out of harm’s way or else he’s already been dealt with.’
‘Or he’s involved?’
Gunna shivered. ‘Sending a message or taking care of unfinished business?’
‘Could be either. This woman’s husband is back tomorrow, right?’
‘No, he’s already back. I’ve just come from meeting the two of them. He’s not saying more than he has to, and he looks frightened.’
‘He’s a dentist?’
‘He is. A wealthy dentist.’
‘Is there any other kind?’
‘Wealthier than most, I understand.’
Ívar Laxdal’s thumb scratched the stubble on his chin. ‘Gunnhildur, go home. You have five minutes to be out of the building.’
‘Make it ten.’
‘Not a moment longer.’
‘Who are you?’ Jóhann asked, clearly intrigued by the slight young woman sitting in front of him while Sunna María hovered behind him.
‘My name’s Bára. I do the kind of work I think you’re looking for.’
‘How do you know what we’re looking for?’
‘Because you called me.’
She studied Jóhann and could learn little from the man’s tired face, while Sunna María’s nervous fingers told her more. Jóhann’s face was impassive, with lines that radiated from behind his eyes and she could sense that on a good day there could be a quick humour there, but he had come straight from the airport after a day’s travelling and it was clear that his patience was thin.
‘What do you offer?’
‘Personal protection. I stay with you, watch your back, keep bystanders away, that kind of thing. A lot of it’s gauging the temperature, understanding what’s going on around us, avoiding dangerous situations before they occur rather than having to deal with them when they happen,’ Bára said. ‘Although that’s naturally part of the brief as well. But it depends, and I’d have to have an idea of what to expect.’
‘What are your credentials? Experience?’
‘Five years as a police officer, and I was at the embassy in Brussels for a year. Is it the press you’re having problems with?’
Sunna María looked at Jóhann and shook her head rapidly. ‘You tell her.’
Jóhann cleared his throat. ‘A friend of ours has been murdered,’ he said. Bára took care not to show any surprise.
‘Here in Iceland? You mean the man who was murdered in Borgarfjördur a few days ago?’
‘Yes,’ Jóhann said in a dry voice. ‘Sunna, would you?’ He asked, nodding at the minibar in the corner of the room. ‘Ach, I seem to spend half my life in hotel rooms, and now I come home and have to spend the night in yet another one.’
He sipped the whisky Sunna María handed him. ‘Drink?’
Bára shook her head. ‘I’m at work.’
‘Not just Villi,’ Sunna María broke in. Nobody knows where Elvar is.’
‘There could have been two murders?’
‘We don’t know that,’ Jóhann said. ‘Elvar appears to have dropped off
‘No.’ Ívar Laxdal shook his head. ‘Don’t waste your time. If nothing jumped out at you right away, then it’s probably not going to. Take the whole lot to a specialist over at financial and ask them to guide you through it. But you have some names, at least?’
‘There’s no shortage of people who would like to do this group of people a bad turn,’ Gunna said. ‘But murder? I don’t know. I have a list of the companies that Sólfell Investment and all the other companies that this bunch bought and sold over the last few years, although I doubt it’s a complete list. A lot of them are in Denmark and Sweden, one or two in Germany and there’s one in Britain as well. My guess is that we’re spoilt for choice for people who would happily knock these shysters off.’
‘So where do we start?’
‘That’s the problem. I’m also concerned about Elvar Pálsson, the missing link. Is he going to turn up as a corpse? Or is he sunning himself somewhere a long way south of here? My feeling is that this character is either keeping out of harm’s way or else he’s already been dealt with.’
‘Or he’s involved?’
Gunna shivered. ‘Sending a message or taking care of unfinished business?’
‘Could be either. This woman’s husband is back tomorrow, right?’
‘No, he’s already back. I’ve just come from meeting the two of them. He’s not saying more than he has to, and he looks frightened.’
‘He’s a dentist?’
‘He is. A wealthy dentist.’
‘Is there any other kind?’
‘Wealthier than most, I understand.’
Ívar Laxdal’s thumb scratched the stubble on his chin. ‘Gunnhildur, go home. You have five minutes to be out of the building.’
‘Make it ten.’
‘Not a moment longer.’
‘Who are you?’ Jóhann asked, clearly intrigued by the slight young woman sitting in front of him while Sunna María hovered behind him.
‘My name’s Bára. I do the kind of work I think you’re looking for.’
‘How do you know what we’re looking for?’
‘Because you called me.’
She studied Jóhann and could learn little from the man’s tired face, while Sunna María’s nervous fingers told her more. Jóhann’s face was impassive, with lines that radiated from behind his eyes and she could sense that on a good day there could be a quick humour there, but he had come straight from the airport after a day’s travelling and it was clear that his patience was thin.
‘What do you offer?’
‘Personal protection. I stay with you, watch your back, keep bystanders away, that kind of thing. A lot of it’s gauging the temperature, understanding what’s going on around us, avoiding dangerous situations before they occur rather than having to deal with them when they happen,’ Bára said. ‘Although that’s naturally part of the brief as well. But it depends, and I’d have to have an idea of what to expect.’
‘What are your credentials? Experience?’
‘Five years as a police officer, and I was at the embassy in Brussels for a year. Is it the press you’re having problems with?’
Sunna María looked at Jóhann and shook her head rapidly. ‘You tell her.’
Jóhann cleared his throat. ‘A friend of ours has been murdered,’ he said. Bára took care not to show any surprise.
‘Here in Iceland? You mean the man who was murdered in Borgarfjördur a few days ago?’
‘Yes,’ Jóhann said in a dry voice. ‘Sunna, would you?’ He asked, nodding at the minibar in the corner of the room. ‘Ach, I seem to spend half my life in hotel rooms, and now I come home and have to spend the night in yet another one.’
He sipped the whisky Sunna María handed him. ‘Drink?’
Bára shook her head. ‘I’m at work.’
‘Not just Villi,’ Sunna María broke in. Nobody knows where Elvar is.’
‘There could have been two murders?’
‘We don’t know that,’ Jóhann said. ‘Elvar appears to have dropped off
Similar Books
