The Shadow Killer

44

One of the welders at Daníel’s Shipyard recognised the description of Jósep. The man pushed his goggles up on his forehead and told Flóvent that Jósep sometimes came round to the shipyard to scrounge a coffee. He was always terribly polite but not very talkative. The welder was glad of a break and happy to tell Flóvent what he could about Jósep, saying he didn’t like to see a man that young in the gutter. He was a harmless creature who used to pass through on his way to or from the centre of town. His life consisted of nothing but aimless loitering. The man pulled down his goggles and went back to welding his joint.

The workers at the newly opened shipyard couldn’t keep up with the flood of orders for repairs and refitting. Flóvent contemplated the grey British and American naval vessels anchored in the outer harbour; they were interspersed with Icelandic freighters and fishing vessels, everything from small open motorboats to trawlers. The Icelandic fleet had not emerged unscathed from the dangerous task of plying the oceans in wartime. U-boat attacks were becoming increasingly common and that spring dozens of Icelandic sailors had lost their lives as one boat after another was hit. Most recently the freighter Hekla had been torpedoed off the southern tip of Greenland on her way to America, taking fourteen men down with her. Every time a ship left port people knew the voyage could end in disaster. Flóvent had read that, following the sinking of the Hekla, Icelandic crews were insisting that all trips should be made under the protection of an Allied convoy.

As he walked along the side of the shipyard, towards Grandi, a British motorcycle unit passed him with a great roar of engines, vanishing in the direction of the town centre. A little further on he came to a ramshackle bait shed where a small, heavily bearded young man, wearing a much-patched winter coat but no hat, was bending over a tattered blanket. He had been trying to beat the dirt out of it by banging it against the shed wall. Flóvent asked if he was Jósep. The young man was startled and reluctant to confirm his identity. He seemed wary of talking to Flóvent, perhaps under the impression that he was the owner of the shed. He relaxed a little when it became clear that he was mistaken. Flóvent explained that he just wanted a little chat and they spoke for a while about the ships in the harbour and the dangers of sailing these days. The talk turned to Daníel’s Shipyard, and Jósep said he had friends there. Flóvent asked if he was hoping for a job at the yard, but Jósep said he hadn’t given the matter any thought.

‘But why... How do you know who I am?’ he asked, when it finally dawned on him that Flóvent was addressing him by name.

Flóvent explained as succinctly as he could that he was from the police and had come to speak to Jósep as part of his enquiries into the death of a man called Eyvindur, whom Jósep might remember from his school days. Flóvent noted the tramp’s alarm when he said ‘police’ and hastened to reassure him. He just wanted to ask if Jósep could be of any help to them in their hunt for Eyvindur’s killer.

‘No, no chance,’ said Jósep. ‘I know nothing about it. Nothing at all.’

‘You know he’s dead, don’t you?’

‘Yes, yes, but I know nothing about it. Honest.’

‘When did you last see Eyvindur? Was it a long time ago?’

‘I don’t remember,’ said Jósep. ‘Can’t help you. Can’t help you at all. Why don’t you leave me alone? I sleep here sometimes, but I’m not in anyone’s way and—’

‘It’s all right, Jósep. I’m not here to arrest you,’ said Flóvent, seeing how nervous the man was. ‘I only want to talk to you. You’re not in trouble. Really, you have nothing to fear. It’s just that I spoke to Munda, who offers you meals from time to time, and she told me you were planning to pay her back soon for all her kindness. Can you tell me how you’re planning to do that? Have you got a job? Where are you going to get the money to pay Munda?’

‘Did Munda say that?’

‘Yes.’

‘I haven’t got any money,’ said Jósep firmly. ‘I’ve never had any money. I don’t know what you’re on about. Please, mate, just leave me alone.’

‘The thing is, Eyvindur said he was expecting to come into some money as well,’ said Flóvent, ‘but no one knows where it was supposed to come from. Can you tell me anything about that?’

‘No, I can’t help you.’

‘When you last met Eyvindur, did he tell you about the experiments you were involved in at school? Do you remember?’

‘No, I don’t.’

‘Do you remember the experiments?’

‘No,’ said Jósep flatly.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes.’

‘You don’t know which experiments I’m talking about?’

‘I can’t remember any... any experiments. I don’t remember.’

Seeing that he wasn’t getting anywhere, Flóvent decided to take another approach, though it went against the grain. All he wanted was for Jósep to cooperate.

‘You’re not making it easy for me, are you, Jósep?’ he said. ‘I thought we could have a chat just the two of us, but now I might have to take you down to Pósthússtræti and put you in a cell. See if you’re more talkative there.’

Jósep didn’t react.

‘It seems as though Eyvindur heard about these experiments from one of your old schoolmates, Felix Lunden. Remember him?’

But Jósep had stopped cooperating altogether now that the threat of being thrown in the cells hung in the air.

‘His father, Rudolf Lunden, was in charge of the experiments. And a school nurse was involved too. Maybe you remember her. She was called Brynhildur Hólm. The headmaster, Ebeneser, was also mixed up in the affair. Did Eyvindur tell you all this?’

Jósep shook his head.

‘Eyvindur had started asking questions about what went on. It seems he found out.’

Jósep avoided Flóvent’s gaze.

‘What did your father do, Jósep?’ asked Flóvent, reaching into his breast pocket for the photograph taken long ago in the school grounds.

Jósep kept his eyes lowered.

‘I did a quick check. Your fathers knew each other, didn’t they? Your dad and Eyvindur’s. They did time together. Isn’t that right, Jósep?’

‘Yes,’ muttered Jósep, so quietly that Flóvent could barely hear him.

‘It wasn’t the only time he was behind bars, was it?’

‘No,’ whispered Jósep. ‘He was a... bastard.’

‘Did Eyvindur tell you that Felix and Rudolf Lunden had committed a crime and that you were one of the victims? That you could try and blackmail them?’

Jósep shook his head.

‘This is an extremely serious matter, Jósep.’

The young man seemed tormented by the barrage of questions, but Flóvent had no alternative but to keep up the pressure.

‘Did you write a letter to Rudolf, threatening to expose him unless he paid you a substantial sum of money? Did you tell him to leave the money by the cemetery gate on Sudurgata?’

‘Not... it wasn’t...’

‘Did you or did you not write that letter, Jósep?’

‘Eyvindur told me to do it,’ Jósep whispered. ‘He didn’t dare do it himself. He was always such a coward. He said I had to do it and fetch the money and all the rest. I just did what he told me. He was going to give me half. He promised. But the money didn’t come. Then... then he got killed. But it wasn’t my fault.’

‘What did he say, Jósep? What did Eyvindur say to you?’

‘He needed money because of that... that woman,’ said Jósep, still staring at the ground. ‘He thought he could win her back if he got hold of some cash. She’d walked out on him. He said we could squeeze some money out of those people. He told me what to write, and I took it round, but... nothing happened.’

‘Was he going to talk to Felix, do you know? Eyvindur had a key to Felix’s flat. Have you any idea how he got his hands on it?’

‘He stole it. In the West Fjords. When Felix was plastered.’

‘What was he planning to do with the key?’

‘Break into his place and...’ Jósep didn’t finish.

‘What?’

‘He thought Felix kept money in his flat.’

‘Why did he think that?’

‘Because he was working for the Germans. That’s what Eyvindur thought. He was going to find proof.’

‘Then what? Was he going to blackmail Felix? Or expose him?’

‘I don’t know. He was sure Felix was a spy. He spied on us and now he was spying for the Nazis. Eyvindur said he was a bloody Nazi.’

‘And Eyvindur was going to prove all this by breaking into his place?’

‘Yes.’

‘What did he tell you about the experiments?’

‘He said they were illegal — done in secret. Those people didn’t want anyone to find out about them; Felix had let the cat out of the bag. Eyvindur said Felix used to spy on us when we were kids and tell his father everything. He wasn’t our friend; he only pretended to be. So there was nothing wrong with making them pay. They owed us. Owed us a load of money. Specially...’

‘Specially what?’

‘Specially Rikki’s mum. Eyvindur told me to write that in the letter. He told me to mention Rikki specially.’

‘Rikki? Who’s Rikki?’

Jósep went silent again. Flóvent waited, but when no answer was forthcoming, he held out the school photograph and asked if he recognised the people in it. At first Jósep kept his head turned away, but when Flóvent pushed the pamphlet into his hand, Jósep finally looked at it. He was quick to avert his eyes again, but then he seemed to pull himself together and held the leaflet up for a closer look.

‘What happened to Rikki, Jósep?’

Jósep hesitated a moment longer, then put his finger on the fourth boy in the picture.

‘That’s Rikki,’ he said. ‘Felix was always bullying him. Saying he was skinny and had a small head and that he was thick... That was nothing new. He was always saying stuff like that to us.’

‘About how thick you were?’

Jósep nodded. ‘Felix was always trying to impress his dad. We talked about that, Eyvindur and me, after he found out about those experiments. How Felix’s dad had ordered him to behave like that because he wanted to see what Felix could make us do.’

‘What sort of things did he make you do?’

‘Felix gave Rikki a pill that he said came from the doctor. Told him it was the latest scientific development. It could make people fly. Specially little boys, like Rikki, who didn’t weigh anything.’

‘What happened?’

‘Rikki believed him.’