The Darkness Knows

43

Konrád called Marta on his way back to Reykjavík, to say he needed the name of the detective who had led the investigation into Villi’s death. Marta reacted irritably, demanding to know what for, to which Konrád replied vaguely that he just needed some information on one or two things relating to the inquiry.

‘One or two things?’ Marta said sceptically.

‘Yes, just general information.’

‘Like what?’

‘Who they talked to. What emerged from the interviews.’

‘Nothing emerged from them,’ Marta said.

‘I know that. Look, I just want to talk to him. Is that OK?’

‘It was your mate Leó.’

‘Leó? No wonder the case was never solved.’

‘Oh, don’t you start. Be polite to him. The poor bloke’s just come out of rehab.’

‘All right, keep your hair on. I only want to talk to him. How often’s he been in rehab, anyway? Why should society have to endlessly waste money on useless cases like him?’

‘Always the same kind heart,’ Marta said sarcastically. ‘Don’t you dare give him any grief about his drinking.’

‘I’m not promising anything.’

‘That’s what I’m afraid of.’ Marta hung up on him.

Later that day, Konrád spotted Leó striding rapidly out of the yard by the police station on Hverfisgata, and called after him. When Leó saw who it was, he cut Konrád dead and kept walking until he reached the junction with Skúlagata. Konrád started running after him and caught up with him outside the Freemasons’ Lodge. Aware that Leó was a Freemason, Konrád assumed he must be on his way to a meeting there.

‘Leó!’ he shouted. ‘Don’t be like that! I only want a quick word.’

Leó didn’t answer or stop walking until Konrád grabbed him by the arm and hung on.

‘There’s something I need to ask you,’ he said. ‘Stop behaving like an idiot!’

Leó rounded on him. ‘What do you want?’ he snarled. ‘Been listening to lies from any more old alkies?’

‘A man was killed in a hit-and-run on Lindargata in 2009. I understand it was your case. The victim’s name was Vilmar.’

‘Haven’t you retired?’ Leó asked, tearing his arm out of Konrád’s grasp.

‘Yes, I—’

‘Then I have nothing to say to you,’ Leó said. ‘Leave me alone.’

He made to climb the steps to the Freemasons’ Lodge but Konrád blocked his path.

‘Did you talk to an old woman called Vigga, who lived on Lindargata?’

Leó halted, radiating animosity.

‘Do you remember talking to the old woman?’ Konrád repeated.

Leó raised his arm to shove him away but Konrád refused to budge. He had been ready for an unpleasant scene and his old colleague never disappointed.

‘I don’t remember any old woman on Lindargata,’ Leó said angrily. ‘Leave me alone.’

‘She was a witness,’ Konrád said. ‘How could you have missed her?’

‘I don’t know about any old bag from Lindargata witnessing anything. I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

‘She found the man lying in the street,’ Konrád said. ‘How could that have escaped your notice?’

‘It’s the first I’ve heard of it.’

‘That’s hardly a surprise. You obviously weren’t bothered about getting that case “in the bag”.’

‘You can lie about me all you like. It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve done that.’

‘What about the driver? Why couldn’t you find him?’

‘What kind of questions are these? I don’t have to justify myself to you—’

‘How did you go about looking? What evidence were you going on? Who did you talk to?’

‘What do you mean? You know how it works. Why are you wasting my time with all these stupid questions?’

‘Who did you talk to?’

‘Everyone who was relevant,’ Leó snapped. ‘Don’t start getting on your high horse with me. You of all people can’t afford to do that.’

‘No, maybe not, but I wouldn’t have thought the Lindargata case was that complicated.’

‘We... I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but we looked at repeat offenders who’d been picked up for drunk driving. We got descriptions of a few cars that had been spotted in the area that night, but there wasn’t much to go on. Conditions were terrible, visibility was practically nil and there was hardly anyone about. We traced some vehicle owners but didn’t learn anything from them. Their cars showed no signs of being involved in a collision and they were able to give a satisfactory account of their movements.’

‘Did you consider the possibility that the man had been knocked down deliberately?’

‘There was nothing to suggest that. Absolutely no evidence. Why should he have been?’

‘Surely you’d know that better than me?’ Konrád said. ‘I wasn’t the one who screwed up that particular investigation. And it wasn’t me who forced the old man to tell lies about Hjaltalín in the Sigurvin case. What the hell were you thinking?’

‘Shall I tell you? Do you really want to know?’ Leó hissed. ‘It was because you were fucking up the inquiry. The man had threatened Sigurvin. Not only that but he was the last person to see him alive: Sigurvin vanished after they argued in the car park. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together. And we needed to get the case moving. It was going cold on your watch. We needed an arrest; some sort of progress to stop us looking like a bunch of useless pricks.’

‘Meaning what? That two plus two equals throwing any poor sod in jail just to get a conviction?’

‘Hjaltalín killed him. You fucked up the investigation. There was never anyone else in the picture. Face it. And Linda was mixed up in it with him. He wasn’t with her that evening like she’s claiming. She’s lying. They both wanted Sigurvin out of the way. He wanted revenge; she made a packet out of getting rid of the guy. They kept their conspiracy secret all these years and couldn’t risk being seen together again. It’s like they didn’t stop and think through the consequences — the fact that they lived in a little society like Iceland. Everything else went like a dream. If I was Marta, I’d lock her up.’

Konrád could feel himself trembling with anger.

‘Hjaltalín got to you, we all know that,’ Leó went on, twisting the knife. ‘I don’t know how he did it but he got to you and it messed with your judgement, so you let him off. They made a fool out of you, Konrád. A complete bloody fool!’

‘You’re full of shit,’ Konrád snarled, beside himself with fury.

‘Oh, shut your face,’ Leó said. He barged past and pushed open the heavy door of the Freemasons’ Lodge.

‘Were you drinking when the hit-and-run happened? Is that why you couldn’t be arsed to do a proper job?’ Konrád called after him. ‘I’d understand if that was the case.’

‘Shut the fuck up!’ Leó swore, his face crimson with rage.

‘Have fun with your little Freemason friends,’ Konrád sneered, as the door slammed behind Leó.