Oblivion

12

Kristvin’s sister Nanna could not hide her surprise when Marion Briem and Erlendur turned up early next morning at the nursery school where she worked, asking to speak to her. She was busy dressing the children in their outdoor clothes and after a bit of a tussle she beckoned the two detectives to come out into the playground with her as they were short-staffed due to illness and she had to supervise. Marion asked if she shouldn’t be taking time off; it must be tough coping with her brother’s death, all the more so given the circumstances and the news coverage. Nanna replied that she preferred being at work to moping around at home with nothing to do: she had to keep herself busy. This seemed sensible to Erlendur.

Nanna was Kristvin’s next of kin. The day before, she had asked Erlendur when the post-mortem would be completed so she could start planning the funeral, but he hadn’t been able to inform her. She repeated her question as the three of them stood by a large sandpit, watching the children play, but again received a vague reply. She also wanted to know how the investigation was progressing and was told that naturally it would take time and no results could be expected just yet.

The bitter north wind had dropped, giving way to milder weather. It was still early and the city was dark under an overcast sky. A two-year-old boy started howling, turning a pained gaze on Nanna as a little girl hit him over the head with a pink plastic spade, then shovelled sand over him. Nanna moved the toddler out of harm’s way and comforted him, before putting him down in another, more peaceful sandpit.

‘She’s a little terror, that one,’ Nanna said apologetically as she came back, nodding towards the girl who appeared to Erlendur to be already casting around for a new victim.

‘Yes, she’s quite something,’ said Marion. ‘We’ve talked to your brother’s neighbours. They speak well of him. Say he was quiet. They weren’t aware of many visitors. There was an elderly man living opposite him on the third floor—’

‘Yes, Jóhann,’ said Nanna.

‘You know him?’

‘I’ve seen him about. Kristvin had a lot of time for him.’

‘Jóhann obviously felt the same. He told us your brother was very kind; used to carry his groceries upstairs for him and would always ask if he needed anything when he was going out to the shops himself. He mended the old man’s kitchen sink for him.’

‘They got on well. Kristvin told me Jóhann found it tough at times, living on the third floor.’

‘I take it your brother moved there when he came home from America?’

Nanna nodded. ‘He stayed with me for a while to begin with, but then he found this flat on the top floor of a block without a lift, in the back of beyond. The cheapest place he could find. He took out a mortgage. Owed a lot on his student loan as well.’

‘But he had a good job,’ Erlendur chipped in.

‘Yes, he was on a decent wage once he started work at the airport.’

‘Was he involved in smuggling?’

‘Smuggling?’

Nanna was momentarily flustered, but quickly realised that this was the intention.

‘We found various items in his flat that we have reason to believe came from the naval base,’ said Erlendur. ‘Cigarettes, beer and vodka.

‘Oh, that. I don’t know if any of it was smuggled — yes, probably. It was mostly for his own use but he sometimes gave me some. I asked him to buy me stuff from time to time — gave him the money. You can get it dirt cheap down there compared to the prices at the state off-licence, and of course you can’t get beer here.’

‘And the dope?’ said Marion.

‘Dope?’

‘We found cannabis in his flat. Marijuana.’

‘Oh, the grass,’ said Nanna. ‘Was it in the freezer?’

‘Was he dealing in drugs from his flat?’

‘No, he wasn’t. Not drugs. Occasionally beer and vodka. Jóhann bought some, for example. And one or two other people he knew.’

‘Any idea who they were?’ asked Marion.

‘Is it important?’

‘Could be.’

‘Were you aware he used drugs?’ asked Erlendur.

‘Yes, of course. We both did. Mostly me, though.’

‘You?’

‘Yes.’

‘What...?’

‘It helps with the pain.’

‘What pain?’ asked Erlendur.

Nanna looked at them searchingly.

‘You must have noticed the wig.’

They didn’t react.

‘This here.’ She pointed to her head. ‘Do you think I wear it for fun?’

They still didn’t say anything.

‘I have cancer,’ said Nanna. ‘It’s not long since I finished the second lot of chemotherapy and they say it went well but they can’t promise anything. Just like the first time. Kristvin’s grass helped — it made me feel less sick during the treatment. When he was in America he’d read that marijuana can help cancer patients, so he thought it was worth giving it a try.’

‘Did he get it from the base?’ asked Marion.

‘Yes.’

‘Shouldn’t you have told us this yesterday?’

‘I was going to but then we... we went to the morgue... I thought I’d die before him, you know. Because of the cancer. Then... then I didn’t hear from him and suddenly... suddenly he’s dead. In this horrible way.’

‘You shouldn’t be at work,’ said Marion, taking Nanna’s hand. ‘Can’t we drive you home? You really shouldn’t be here. Isn’t there anyone who can come and keep you company?’

The little girl was still wreaking havoc. This time she destroyed a sandcastle that two other children had taken great pains over, and they burst into tears. Another helper ran over and grabbed the girl by the scruff of her neck when she tried to make off. Nanna went to comfort the castle-builders and help them start again.

‘The little pest,’ she said when she came back, and heaved a deep breath. ‘She’ll be a handful one day.’

‘Are you all right?’ asked Marion.

‘I’m fine,’ said Nanna. ‘I’d rather look after the kids than hang around at home. It’s nothing. I’m all right.’

‘Who sold him the drugs?’ asked Erlendur.

‘I don’t know. All I know is he got them from the base. He had contacts but he didn’t tell me who they were and I didn’t ask too many questions. He said he was careful. I kept asking him about that and telling him to watch himself, and I know he did. My brother was no fool. He knew what he was doing.’

But look how he ended up, Erlendur wanted to say, but stopped himself. He had no desire to increase her suffering; she had enough to cope with. He believed Nanna was telling the truth and that she was desperate to find out what had happened to her brother. He didn’t believe for a moment that she could have played any part in his death, though Marion had hinted as much on their way to the nursery school. Marion wanted to pursue this angle because she hadn’t come clean to them about the booze or drugs, but Erlendur thought she’d simply had too much else on her mind at the time. Marion took the view that she was hiding something from the police about the goods. But Erlendur dis-agreed, especially now that Nanna had admitted to using the drugs for medicinal purposes and apparently didn’t regard the fact as a big deal.

‘How did he travel to and fro?’ asked Erlendur.

‘To and fro?’

‘Between Reykjavík and Keflavík.’

‘Oh, he had a car,’ said Nanna. ‘Haven’t you found it?’

‘What sort of car?’ asked Marion. ‘We didn’t find any car registered in his name.’

‘That’s because it was mine — it’s still in my name. A Toyota Corolla. I sold it to him. We just hadn’t got round to transferring ownership. And as Kristvin had only paid me half, I still use it quite a bit too, so...’

‘You took turns using it?’ finished Erlendur, and wrote down the details: two-door, grey, six years old, constantly breaking down.

‘Yes, but he’s been using it for the last few weeks.’