The Shadow Killer

45

Billy Wiggins tapped his fingers on the table in front of him as he smoked, cool and unconcerned. Thorson had decided to have him recalled from Hvalfjördur where he was working on the construction of the naval base at Hvítanes. The sergeant hadn’t offered any resistance but had reacted with surprise and wanted to know why they were taking him to Reykjavík. They asked him to be patient; all would be explained in due course, so he accompanied the two military policemen out to their jeep without any fuss and sat quietly in the back seat all the way to town.

Once there he was taken to an interview room that the military police had at their disposal in the detention camp at Kirkjusandur. He accepted a coffee, and someone gave him some cigarettes, as he had finished his own on the journey to Reykjavík. He was stubbing one out when Thorson entered the room and sat down in the chair opposite his. Wiggins recognised Thorson from his visit to the laundry but didn’t seem at all surprised to see him, just grinned, straightened up in his seat and flapped away a cloud of blue smoke.

‘I guessed as much,’ he said. ‘Are you going to tell me what this is all about?’

‘What exactly did you guess?’ asked Thorson.

‘That I’d bump into you again,’ said Wiggins. ‘Did you really have to drag me all the way back from Hvalfjördur? Was it really that urgent? Or were you just trying to embarrass me? Get me into trouble? There were plenty of people around when the police picked me up.’

‘That was unavoidable,’ said Thorson. ‘We need to wrap up this investigation, and we believe we’re onto something. Your name has cropped up more than once in connection with Vera and Eyvindur, and I wanted to talk to you—’

‘Are you arresting me?’ Wiggins interrupted. ‘Am I under arrest?’

‘No, you’re not under arrest. Can you tell me more about your relationship with Vera? What are your plans for the future? Have you discussed them at all?’

‘I didn’t touch that bloke. I thought I’d made that clear the last time we met. I didn’t know him. Never met him. It was Vera’s decision to leave him. These things happen. I was more than willing to help her move out. We had nothing to do with his death. Couples do often break up without killing each other, you know.’

‘Sure,’ said Thorson. ‘And Vera has a pretty impressive record. Has she told you about her fiancé? The man she was with before she met Eyvindur?’

‘I’m not interested,’ said Wiggins. ‘I don’t care about her past.’

‘So you don’t know what she did? How she got even, when he went back on his word?’

Wiggins shook his head, apparently indifferent to Thorson’s question.

‘Do you want to hear?’

‘It’s none of my business,’ Wiggins said.

‘She has a history of manipulating men,’ said Thorson. ‘Men like you, Wiggins.’

‘I don’t doubt it for a minute. A woman like her. Christ, they must have been queuing up.’ Wiggins bared his teeth in a grin.

‘Is she planning to go to England with you when the war’s over?’

‘What kind of question is that? Why don’t you just get to the point? What we do or don’t plan to do — it’s none of your business. Why don’t you just get off our backs?’

‘Can you tell me about the time you —?’

Wiggins leant forward across the table. ‘The fact is, you’ve got nothing on her,’ he said. ‘You’ve got nothing on us. That’s why you’re asking all these stupid questions. Because you don’t have a bloody clue. You’re up to your neck in it, and you’re trying to claw your way out. Well, you’re not getting any help from us, I can tell you that. Why don’t you just leave us alone and concentrate on doing your job?’

‘Can you tell me about the fight outside Hótel Ísland?’ Thorson went on, unperturbed. ‘I gather you didn’t care for a remark some soldiers made about Vera. Can you tell me what they said?’

‘I’m leaving,’ said Wiggins angrily. ‘I haven’t got time for this bollocks.’

He stood up and waited for Thorson to say something or try to stop him. Thorson sat tight, watching him. Wiggins shook his head in disgust and made for the door.

‘Wasn’t it something about her hanging around with a GI?’ said Thorson. ‘I understand you weren’t too pleased to hear that.’

Wiggins halted by the door and swung round.

‘That’s a lie,’ he said. ‘A bloody lie.’

‘If it’s a lie, I expect you heard the truth from her,’ said Thorson. ‘That must have been a relief for you. Unless she... no, surely she wouldn’t lie to you? Why wouldn’t you trust Vera? Are you sure you don’t want to know how she ended it with her fiancé?’

Wiggins hesitated by the door, as if unsure what to do. Thorson, aware that he was the jealous type, had set out to needle him, and reckoned it was working. Finally Wiggins came back, put his hands on the table and bent over him.

‘There was no Yank,’ he said through clenched teeth. ‘I know exactly what you’re doing. There was no Yank. Do you hear me?’

‘Her boyfriend was killed with an American pistol, a Colt .45. It’s standard issue in the US Army,’ said Thorson, trying not to show how unnerved he was by the British sergeant’s threatening proximity. ‘Do you think she asked someone else for help? Someone she’d met recently? A GI, maybe?’

Wiggins glared down at Thorson, his face dark red. ‘There is no Yank,’ he snarled.

‘I suppose it would be pretty easy for you to lay your hands on a weapon like that? Maybe you even have one yourself.’ Thorson said. ‘Why don’t you take a seat?’

‘I haven’t got a Colt .45,’ said Wiggins.

‘You mean you couldn’t get hold of one if you wanted to? I know the defence force has a pretty robust black market.’

‘What would I have shot the bloke for?’ reasoned Wiggins. ‘She’d left him. He didn’t matter. Why the hell would I have risked my life for something so pointless? You tell me that.’

‘Maybe she told you Eyvindur would never leave her alone. That she’d never be truly free. You tracked him down, followed him. You thought he lived in the basement flat because he opened the door with a key, so you took your chance. You shoved him inside, made him kneel on the floor and shot him. Only he didn’t live there: he was visiting an old friend. Of course, there’s no way you could have known that, but it came in handy when the murder was pinned on his friend and it looked like you’d got away with it.’

Wiggins dropped back into his chair. ‘For Christ’s sake,’ he said. ‘I didn’t touch the bloke. I didn’t do it. She only got together with him because she needed somewhere to live when she first came to town. That was the only reason. She wasn’t in love with him. She said as much herself. Then one thing led to another, and she moved out. They weren’t in love. It wasn’t like that.’

‘Of course you didn’t necessarily do the dirty work yourself, so even if you have an alibi — and we’re checking where you were at the time — that doesn’t really tell us much.’

‘What are you on about?’

‘Maybe you’re friendly with a few GIs. Knew someone who might be willing to do you a favour. For money, maybe. Or maybe one of your British pals owes you a favour. The possibilities are endless.’

‘I can’t understand why you won’t leave us alone. We haven’t done a thing.’

‘We’ll see about that,’ said Thorson.

‘We haven’t got any secrets from each other. It’s the real thing. Our relationship’s got nothing to do with “the Situation” or anything like that. It’s real and I don’t like the way you talk about her. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.’

‘What do you mean, you don’t have any secrets?’ asked Thorson.

‘I know all about her fiancé,’ said Wiggins. ‘She told me herself. I don’t need you to tell me. I know why she left him. She had every right.’

‘Oh?’

‘He treated her badly,’ said Wiggins. ‘Used to knock her about. Was always putting her down, followed her everywhere. She did her best to please him, but he only got worse, so in the end she left him and moved to Reykjavík. She told me the whole story. We haven’t got any secrets. So don’t try and run her down. Because it won’t work, you hear?’

‘Why do you think we suspect she was involved in Eyvindur’s death? Why do you think we brought you all the way back from Hvalfjördur?’

‘Because you’re making a mistake.’

‘She was engaged and cheated on her fiancé, then suggested that her lover go out fishing with him and come back alone. See why we’re interested in you two? See why we’re interested in her?’

‘But that was understandable,’ said Wiggins. ‘Can’t you see that?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘She was asking for help. It was a cry for help. And I’m not surprised, considering how the bloke treated her. Not a bit surprised. I understand her. I’d have done exactly the same in her shoes.’