The Darkness Knows

55

He’d had no sleep at all that night, and was acutely aware of the fact when he got back behind the wheel of his car and took the road out of town. After being awake for so many hours on the trot, he felt oddly detached from his surroundings. He hadn’t even tried to go to bed. The rest of the night had been spent in a meeting with Marta at the police station, during which they had come to an agreement about the next move. The local police had been duly alerted.

While at the station, Konrád had apologised to Salóme for bursting into her house in the middle of the night, full of wild accusations. She was understanding, though he didn’t feel he deserved it. The statement she had given Marta was consistent in every detail with the story she had told Konrád: she and Bernhard had been childhood friends; many years later, their paths had crossed again, and ever since then he had made an effort to stay in touch with her.

‘I’ve been thinking about the time we met at the class reunion,’ Salóme said.

‘He was still with his wife at the time?’

‘Yes, he told me he was married. But our relationship wasn’t like that. We were never an item. Like I said, it felt as if he needed someone to talk to. He was having a really hard time. His behaviour was seriously paranoid. He didn’t trust anybody and was convinced people were talking about him behind his back. Of course I had no idea what was bothering him. Bernhard was very cagey, and if you tried to ask any personal questions, he was liable to fly off the handle and walk out on you. He was a nervous wreck by the time he went into rehab. I went to see him once and he just broke down in tears but wouldn’t tell me why. After he came out of the treatment centre he seemed better and I didn’t hear from him as much. But he got in touch again when they found the body on the glacier. He wanted to discuss the case. He asked if the police had spoken to me again and if you’d got a lead; if you had your sights set on anyone.’

Salóme paused. ‘Why were you spying on Bernhard?’ she asked abruptly. ‘Why did you think we’d been mixed up in something together?’

‘Because I found out that you two knew each other and it seemed suspicious, in the circumstances.’

‘That Villi you mentioned — who was he? Did Bernhard do something to him?’

‘Possibly,’ Konrád said. ‘We don’t know for sure.’

‘Did you really think Bernhard and I had conspired to kill Sigurvin?’

‘I got carried away,’ Konrád said. ‘This case has messed with my head, messed with my judgement, but I’m hoping it’ll all be over soon. I really hope there’s finally going to be an end to this bloody business.’

Konrád was in no hurry. He drove towards the sun as it rose over the Bláfjöll mountain range. The days were growing perceptibly shorter; winter was just around the corner. Soon the sun would only crawl above the horizon for four brief hours, in a feeble attempt to light up the night-filled vault of the sky.