‘Through here, please,’ said the dark-haired girl, her snow-white smile gleaming. ‘And I hope it all goes marvellously for you.’ She opened the door to the office, turned and left.
Dís was on the telephone but indicated that Thóra should take a seat before putting down the phone, standing up and extending her hand. She was wearing a white fitted shirt and black jeans that hugged her slender waist, as well as a thick belt that clashed with an otherwise conservative outfit. Thóra thought they were about the same age, and noticed that the doctor was in very good shape. Her body didn’t look like it had been sculpted with a scalpel, but rather by blood, sweat and tears- probably requiring several hours a day with a personal trainer. It must be important for a plastic surgeon to look good.
‘Hello,’ said Dís, who seemed aware of Thóra’s scrutiny of her body. She sat back down.‘I’m sorry to have made you wait; I didn’t expect to be so busy. It’s usually quite calm here before lunch.’
‘That’s fine,’ said Thóra. ‘I’m just grateful that you were available to meet me at such short notice.’
‘I gathered it was important,’said Dís, smiling hesitantly. Her face was not dissimilar to Thóra’s, with high cheekbones and a wide mouth. The main difference was that Dís had nicely styled hair and flawless make-up, whereas Thóra usually dragged her hair into a messy ponytail and wore only mascara. ‘Of course I want to do anything I can to help apprehend whoever did this to Alda. I saw in the paper that a man had been taken into custody. I hope the sentence fits his disgusting crime.’
Thóra cleared her throat. ‘Ah, yes. I forgot to mention that I am actually representing the suspect.’She could see this information was not well received. The doctor’s friendly face hardened. ‘He says he’s innocent, and it’s indisputable that the police don’t have much to go on. His custody period is unusually short given the seriousness of the case, which reflects the judge’s doubts about my client’s guilt. There is a lot of evidence that actually supports his plea of innocence. I’m looking for information to back him up, and at the same time I want to find out whoactually did murder Alda.’ She drew a deep breath. ‘No one who cared for her will want to see the wrong man punished.’
Dís said nothing. She gazed thoughtfully at Thóra, who looked resolutely back. Then Dís’s expression suddenly seemed to relax. ‘Of course I don’t want that,’ she said. ‘Nobody wants an innocent man to be found guilty. So shall we say that I’m prepared to help you in the unlikely event that this man didn’t do it?’
Thóra decided not to spend any more time defending Markus to the doctor. She hadn’t come here to argue, and it wouldn’t strengthen her position to antagonize her informant.‘Okay, thanks.’ She turned to her list of questions, determined to make the most of her time since she didn’t have long. One of the people sitting outside was probably waiting for a consultation with the woman about some urgent operation. ‘When you heard that Alda had been murdered,’ she said, ‘did you wonder how such a thing could have happened, or who could possibly have wanted to harm her?’
Dís didn’t take time to think, but replied immediately. ‘I must admit, the first time I heard it was murder was this morning, when I read about the custody order. As you know, I was the one who discovered Alda, and I thought at that point that she’d killed herself. Suicides don’t often make it to the papers, so I was very surprised this morning when I saw her death had been reported. I actually have no idea what else has gone on since I found her body. No one’s told us anything about the progress of the investigation.’ She added hurriedly:‘Of course, we didn’t even think that there was an investigation.’
‘You say we,’ said Thóra.‘Who do you mean?’
‘Oh, yes, of course,’ Dís replied. ‘I mean myself and Agúst, my partner in the clinic. He’s a plastic surgeon too, and Alda worked with both of us.’
‘I understand,’ said Thóra. ‘But when you saw this morning that it was a murder investigation – did anyone come to mind as the culprit?’
Dís’s cheeks reddened slightly and she muttered a negative, before enquiring: ‘A thief, maybe?’
‘Well, I don’t know about that,’ Thóra replied. ‘Would anything in Alda’s house have been particularly attractive to thieves?’
‘No, nothing I can think of,’said Dís. ‘But are burglars that picky? I suppose Alda had everything one might imagine a petty thief would steal – television, stereo equipment, some jewellery. Maybe these things weren’t top of the range, but I would imagine anyone poor enough to take others’ property isn’t very fussy.’
‘That’s true,’ conceded Thóra. ‘But they’re also not usually into killing people and making it look like suicide.’
‘No, I don’t imagine they are,’ said Dis. ‘It’s just that Alda had no enemies I’m aware of, so that was the only thing I could come up with.’
‘No ex-husbands or boyfriends who had been bothering or harassing her?’ asked Thóra.
‘Nothing likethat,’ the woman replied. ‘Not to my knowledge. As a matter of fact she was divorced, but as far as I gathered the divorce was amicable, and they hadn’t had any recent contact. As far as boyfriends were concerned, she kept that to herself, if there were any. She never spoke to me about men.’
Thóra found it incredible that the woman hadn’t been in any relationships. The autopsy report stated that she had had breast implants, signs of a face-lift, Botox in her forehead and scars where the bags under her eyes had been removed, along with evidence of stomach stapling and several other minor operations. Why would she undergo such ordeals if not to attract a man’s attention? ‘Could she have been in relationships that she chose not to talk about?’ she asked.
‘Yes, yes,’ replied Dis, and her cheeks flushed again. ‘That’s quite likely. Alda didn’t confide in people much, although she was always pleasant and friendly.’
‘Did she ever mention why she never went to the Westmann Islands, or talk about a bad experience she’d had around the time of the eruption there?’ Considering that Dis had described Alda as the shy, retiring type, Thóra didn’t expect much of an answer to this question.
‘She never talked about the Westmann Islands,’ said Dis. ‘She tended to change the subject if conversation ever turned to anything about the Islands, which wasn’t often.’ She looked curiously at Thóra. ‘What experience are you referring to?’ she asked. ‘Alda never mentioned anything.’
Thóra chose not to answer the doctor’s question, since she didn’t know what had happened. She smiled at the woman and simply said ‘Botox,’ then waited for Dis’s reaction. She clearly couldn’t expect any useful theories on Alda’s murder or insight into her life, so she might as well change the subject.
Thóra didn’t have to wait long for Dis’s reaction, though it was somewhat baffling. The woman leaned back in her chair and said nothing for a moment. She looked straight at Thóra, who would have given a lot to know what she was thinking.‘What about Botox? Are you thinking of getting some injections?’She pulled out a pen. ‘If so, you need to make an appointment like everyone else.’
Thóra smiled fiercely, so all the possible wrinkles in her face would show themselves. ‘No, actually I’m not,’ she said. ‘Not right now, anyway. The forensic pathologist’s tests revealed that Botox is one of the likeliest causes of Alda’s death.’
‘What?’ muttered Dis, not completely convincingly in Thóra’s opinion.‘How could that be? Botox isn’t life-threatening.’
‘Not in the forehead,’ said Thóra. ‘I can’t tell you what the report said, other than that the Botox was used in a very unconventional manner.’ She could see that the doctor was almost biting her tongue with the effort not to blurt out questions. ‘Could Alda possibly have had Botox at home?’ she asked, before Dis’s curiosity could get the better of her.