Oblivion

26

Two days later Erlendur received an unexpected phone call from Caroline. She asked for Marion first, but to everyone’s surprise Marion had taken sick leave, an almost unheard of event. Learning that Marion wasn’t available, Caroline asked to speak to Erlendur instead. He was taken aback as he’d heard that their meeting had not gone well. He was sitting in his office, going through the old files on the Dagbjört case yet again. He knew he shouldn’t be spending time on this now as the investigation into Kristvin’s death was top priority. But Dagbjört wouldn’t leave him alone, especially since Erlendur had established that the same man was still living next door.

The reason for Caroline’s call was simple. She had managed to track down the woman who had been having an affair with Kristvin.

‘Are you sure?’ asked Erlendur.

‘Of course I’m sure,’ said Caroline impatiently, ‘or I wouldn’t be calling. You two can meet her if you like. She’s prepared to tell you all she knows, on condition we don’t expose her affair, if possible.’

‘That’s her problem, isn’t it?’

‘I didn’t make any promises.’

‘Marion’s not in today,’ said Erlendur. ‘But I could be with you in an hour.’

‘Get moving then,’ said Caroline, and gave him brief directions before saying a brusque goodbye.

Later she explained to Erlendur how, following her meeting with Marion at the bowling alley, she had gone about identifying the woman. It turned out she lived in the enlisted quarters they had visited a few days earlier. She had stayed in Caroline’s mind because of her manner during the original interviews; the unease she had tried to conceal as she stood at the door of her apartment, fielding questions from the Icelandic police about whether she had known Kristvin. The woman had been alone at home and Caroline had felt instinctively that she was hiding something. So she went down to the PX, where the woman worked, struck up conversation with her and asked her in more detail about the grey Toyota Corolla and Kristvin. The woman stuck to her story, expressed surprise at the questions and repeated that she didn’t know the Icelander.

Caroline spoke to her again that evening. The woman insisted she had nothing to say to her, but her nerve went when Caroline threatened to haul her in for questioning on suspicion of being involved in Kristvin’s murder. The woman swore blind she’d had nothing to do with it but in the end reluctantly admitted that Kristvin may not have been a complete stranger to her. She admitted further that she was scared of her husband and didn’t know what he would do if he ever found out she’d been cheating on him, and with an Icelander too, as he had a low opinion of the locals. Caroline asked if there was any chance he might already have heard about her affair and taken action, but the woman said it was out of the question. She and Kristvin had been incredibly careful. She was sure her husband knew nothing about her infidelity.

Caroline had asked Erlendur to meet them both behind the PX, and when he arrived the two women were standing there waiting for him. They climbed into the car and Caroline told him to drive over to the international passenger terminal. He stopped in the car park as if they were ordinary citizens there to pick up friends or relatives from the airport.

Caroline was sitting in the back seat with the woman, Joan, who was plump and blonde with a good-natured expression. She explained that in the evenings she sometimes filled in for her friend who was a cocktail waitress at the Animal Locker, the enlisted club, also known as the Zoo. That’s where she had met Kristvin the first time. He had been in with a couple of friends, also flight mechanics, she thought, and the two of them had got talking at the bar. He had told her he loved the States, he had trained there and wouldn’t mind living there one day. With his qualifications he could work anywhere in the world and reckoned he would have no problem finding a job in the Promised Land. He had been offered positions by some major airlines when he’d finished his training and had big plans for the future. It was clear he’d been showing off, flirting with the cocktail waitress at the Animal Locker.

‘So did you two start meeting up after that?’ asked Caroline.

‘You promised this wouldn’t go any further,’ said Joan with a slightly sing-song drawl that Erlendur associated with the Deep South. She’d been smoking when she got into the car and was already lighting the next cigarette.

‘We’ll have to see about that.’

‘No, you promised.’

‘You know I can’t promise something like that,’ said Caroline. ‘I’m not sure you appreciate the extreme seriousness of this—’

‘You promised—’

‘I didn’t promise anything. Let’s hear what you have to say, then we’ll have a better idea of the situation. I’m sure the Icelandic police are very grateful for your cooperation,’ she added, catching Erlendur’s eye.

He nodded.

‘What happened after you met at the Animal Locker?’ he asked.

‘He didn’t know I was married,’ said Joan. ‘I didn’t tell him. Not right away. We met about three times. Once at the hotel near here, in the town whose name I can never remember.’

‘Keflavík?’

‘That’s the one. Then twice at my apartment when Earl flew to Greenland. Earl’s my husband,’ she explained to Erlendur.

‘This wasn’t the first time you’d cheated on your husband, was it?’ said Caroline bluntly.

‘Why do you say that?’ asked Joan, with an expression of aggrieved surprise.

‘Just a hunch,’ said Caroline.

‘I won’t be judged by you... I don’t know what—’

‘I’m not judging you. Far from it.’

‘Earl’s—’

Joan broke off and Erlendur sensed that she was seething with rage.

‘You bitch!’ she spat. ‘Ten years ago your kind wouldn’t have been allowed to talk to me like that.’

‘What did you say? What did you call me?’

‘You heard me.’

‘Because I’m black? Is that what you mean?’

‘You don’t talk to me like that,’ said Joan. She stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray in the car door, fished another out of the packet and lit it. ‘No nigger talks to me like that.’

‘I’ll talk to you how I like. White trash!’ snapped Caroline. ‘Just be grateful I don’t lock you up for disrespecting a police officer.’

‘You should hear how Earl talks about you people. He hates you.’

‘You people?’

‘Yes, you people.’

‘Earl’s what?’ asked Erlendur, hastily intervening. ‘You were about to say something about your husband.’

Joan shot Caroline a look of loathing before turning to Erlendur.

‘Earl won’t so much as look at me,’ she said, the pain breaking through her voice. ‘He never pays me any attention. There’s no love in him. No affection. I try my best but he’s always so cold, and we never have any time together. He’s always shooting off somewhere. Things’ve been like that for a long time and it sucks. It plays hell with your marriage.’

Erlendur couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for her, though he had the impression that she had made this speech before. In Kristvin’s ear, perhaps.

‘So that makes it OK to play around with other men?’ said Caroline.

‘You shut your mouth! It’s not like that,’ said Joan, looking to Erlendur for understanding. ‘I’m not playing around.’

‘Just a minute,’ said Caroline. ‘Are you saying you don’t want to sleep with your husband’s buddies in the marines so you turn to locals like Kristvin instead? Icelandics who come to the Animal Locker for a good time?’

Joan ignored her.

‘So your husband, Earl, wasn’t in the country the last time you saw Kristvin? Is that right?’ asked Erlendur, frowning at Caroline to get her to leave Joan alone.

‘No, he wasn’t. He’s still away. But I’m expecting him home soon.’

‘Can we get confirmation of that?’ Erlendur asked Caroline.

‘Oh, you can be sure I’ll remember to check up on that,’ said Caroline.

‘Kristvin drove round to see you in his car, didn’t he?’ said Erlendur. ‘The last time you met?’

‘Yes, he parked outside the next-door dorm and we were together for a couple hours. I guess he left my place around eleven.’

‘Was he going home after he left you?’

‘I think so, I don’t know. He didn’t mention any different.’

‘Were you aware that his tyres had been slashed?’

‘No. I knew nothing about that, so I guess it happened while he was with me,’ said Joan. ‘Listen, I have to get back to the PX. I nearly had a heart attack when you knocked on my door and started asking about Kris, and I was so upset when I heard—’

‘Oh, for Christ’s sake, don’t start claiming you loved him,’ said Caroline.

‘Shut your mouth!’ said Joan. ‘You shouldn’t go trampling all over other people’s feelings. You don’t know what I’m like. You know nothing about me.’

‘No, that’s for sure.’

‘Do you know how Kristvin went about getting hold of marijuana?’ said Erlendur.

‘No,’ said Joan.

‘Are you sure?’

‘I have no idea how he got it.’

‘Were you aware he used drugs?’

‘No.’

‘And of course you’ve never seen anything like that,’ said Caroline.

‘Shut up,’ said Joan. ‘I’m not talking to you.’

‘How did he get into this club, the Animal Locker?’ asked Erlendur, starting the car. He was keen to return Joan to work before a fight broke out in the back seat.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Don’t Icelanders need someone from the base to vouch for them when they go to places like that? What’s it called...?’

‘You mean a sponsor?’

‘Yes. Who was his sponsor? The first time you met?’

‘I didn’t know him, I think he’d only just been transferred here,’ said Joan, sucking in smoke. ‘“W”, I think Kris said. That’s all I know. I think he just called him “W”.’

‘“W”? That’s all?’

‘Yeah. I have no idea how they knew each other. No idea. I never saw him. I think he’d left by the time... by the time Kris and me got acquainted.’

‘Did he tell you anything about this “W”?’

‘No,’ said Joan. ‘I don’t know who he is. No idea.’

‘Is he a soldier?’

‘I don’t know. There’s no point asking me. I know nothing about the guy.’

‘This club or bar, the Animal Locker — what kind of place is it?’

‘What kind? Well, the officers’ club’s the fanciest; that’s for the highest ranks. The Animal Locker’s about as different from that as you can get. It’s the enlisted club and there’s a reason why they call it the Zoo. There’s a hell of a lot of trouble and fighting goes on there. They serve the liquor in plastic cups nowadays because glass got too dangerous. The Zoo’s that kind of club. Ask her,’ said Joan, pointing at Caroline. ‘She comes in sometimes.’