‘And I’ve spoken to the owner. He says he left it at the airport while he went to Tenerife for three weeks in March.’
‘March?’
‘Yeah. When he came back, it wasn’t there any more.’
‘Which is when he reported it stolen?’
‘Yup. The guy’s a plumber and he was more upset about losing the tools in the back than the car itself, so he was quite cheerful when he found out he might get his spanners and stuff back.’
‘If it’s still there. I don’t want to mess about too much until CID have had a look. I don’t suppose I’ll need to trouble our plumber again if you’ve already got a statement from him,’ Gunna said with her eyes narrowed. She crouched on to her haunches, reached inside the open driver’s door and ran a hand under the seat.
‘A plumber who spends three weeks off his face on sangria doesn’t strike me as the bird-watching type,’ she said, lifting out a compact pair of binoculars, light glinting from the lenses. ‘So, what do you suppose these were used for?’
‘I’m not buying it. Sorry,’ Gunna said forcefully.
‘What else do you have then?’ Sævaldur demanded. ‘Come on, who else could have bumped Einar Eyjólfur off?’
‘That’s just what we’re not going to find out if you refuse to investigate anything other than the first thing that pops up in front of your eyes.’
‘Rubbish,’ Sævaldur sneered. ‘Gústi is as guilty as hell. No doubt.’
‘No doubt in your mind, that is. Look, I’ve a witness who saw a car on the dock late that night, quite likely around the time that Einar Eyjólfur landed in the water.’
‘So what? Some bloke driving around who might or might not have seen something?’
‘It needs to be followed up.’
Sævaldur looked unconvinced and Vilhjálmur Traustason sighed.
‘If you are certain, Sævaldur, that this man is the perpetrator, then I think we should proceed and charge him formally. You don’t agree, Gunnhildur?’ he asked as if calling on deep reserves of patience.
‘You know I don’t,’ Gunna snapped. ‘Gústi’s a scumbag but he’s not a killer. He’s a minor villain who’ll grab an opportunity if it presents itself. He doesn’t kill and he certainly doesn’t plan anything to the extent of driving a hundred kilometres to dispose of a body.’
‘Gústi’s done plenty of nasty stuff. It’s common knowledge. A murder like that’s just a step up to the next level for his sort,’ Sævaldur said. ‘He did five years of an eight-year stretch for GBH. Come on, Gunna. You’ve seen the bastard’s file.’
Gunna’s eyes narrowed and Vilhjálmur’s widened as he listened to the two of them sparring.
‘For your information Gústi confessed and did those five years for one of Mundi Grétarsson’s hoodlums. Gústi didn’t commit the crime, but he did get a very generous payoff for doing the time. I thought you’d know that. It’s common knowledge,’ she snapped.
Vilhjálmur looked horrified. ‘Is this true?’ he demanded, looking hard at Sævaldur.
‘Who the hell knows? The man confessed and he didn’t have an alibi anyway.’
‘Not that anyone looked too hard for one,’ Gunna added. ‘And from what I hear, he’s not the only one to sit out someone else’s time.’
Vilhjálmur frowned. ‘Gunnhildur, are you sure that this man is not connected with the death of Einar Eyjólfur Einarsson?’
‘He may be, but only indirectly as one of the last people to see him alive. I’m completely confident he’s not the killer.’
‘Sævaldur, you have this man in custody?’
‘Of course. We’ve charged him with theft and fraud already for the credit cards.’
‘In that case, keep hold of him as long as you’re able. Gunnhildur, you have until Monday to give me a convincing reason why Sævaldur’s suspect shouldn’t be charged with the murder.’
10
Friday, 5 September
Gunna immersed herself in the national vehicle records and quickly came up with dozens of cars with JA in the number. She was able to eliminate the majority immediately, taking out all of the smaller cars that could not possibly be mistaken for a jeep, even on a dark night.
She worked through the remainder of the list. When Haddi appeared at her door with an expectant look on his face, he found her among a pile of paperwork with a pencil behind one ear and the phone firmly at the other.
He waited expectantly for her to finish speaking.
‘OK. No, not a problem. Thanks for your help,’ she said before putting a finger out to end the call, keeping the receiver in her hand.
‘Any joy?’
‘Not much,’ Gunna admitted. ‘A few possibles. Plenty eliminated.’
She replaced the receiver, leaned back and held up the long list in front of her.
‘There are more than two hundred cars with JA in the number. Around ninety of them are jeeps of some kind and I’ve eliminated all but a dozen or so. There’s a Toyota in Stokkseyri, haven’t reached the owner yet, four of Swiftcar’s rentals which are all BMWs, a few Toyotas and Fords in Reykjavík, even a couple of Hummers. That’s it so far.’
‘Still, it keeps you occupied.’
‘Just a bit. It’s not as if we don’t have enough to keep us out of trouble,’ she grumbled. ‘Anyway, what time is it?’
‘Gone five.’
‘Hell. I’d better be on my way. Laufey’ll be back from school in a minute and I ought to clean the place up and buy some food before she gets home.’
Haddi nodded sagely. ‘Y’know,’ he observed, ‘that’s the kind of thing I’d have expected Laufey to say if you’d been away, not the other way around.’
‘Come on, Haddi. I’m never going to win any perfect housewife prizes, am I?’
Haddi spluttered with what Gunna’s long experience told her was laughter. ‘God, no. Which reminds me, there was a bloke here this morning looking for you while you were over at Keflavík hobnobbing with the chiefs.’
Gunna straightened her stack of papers and placed them in the middle of her desk.
‘Who was that?’ she asked.
‘Haven’t a clue. Old bloke. Moustache. Said it was just a personal call and he’d drop in again later.’
‘Can’t have been important, then,’ Gunna said, squaring her cap. ‘Are you on duty tomorrow, or is it Snorri?’
‘Me tomorrow. Snorri’s off until Monday.’
Haddi waved and retreated as the phone began to ring, while Gunna debated whether or not to answer it, well knowing that she would.
‘Gunnhildur.’
‘Hi, sweetheart.’
At the sound of the familiar voice, she pushed the chair back and lifted her feet on to the upturned waste paper bin that had taken on a new role as a footrest. ‘Get stuffed, Bjössi.’
‘Come on, what kind of language is that?’
‘Bjössi, my dear friend, it’s the only language that you understand. Don’t forget that I’m a tough country girl from the westfjords and I’ve sorted out bigger and nastier men than you.’
Bjössi sighed.
‘You say the nicest things, Gunna.’
‘All part of the Hvalvík force’s service. Being rude to outsiders is what we do best. Now. What do you want?’
‘That blue jeep from the harbour at Sandeyri. Just as you thought, it’s the one that was reported missing.’
‘I knew that already, so what do you have that’s new?’
Bjössi continued, oblivious of Gunna’s interruption. ‘Owner, Rögnvaldur Jónsson, aged thirty-four, Eggertsgata eighty-seven, Akranes. Left it parked at the airport while he went to get pissed in Tenerife. Got off the plane with his straw donkey, and there it was, gone.’
‘Are you going to stop telling me stuff I already know?’
‘Probably not. Forensics have given it a going-over. There are a few dents that the owner couldn’t be sure about, says they might have been there before. Apart from that, no fingerprints. Nothing out of the ordinary apart from those binoculars you found. Good quality ones, the sort that serious bird-watchers use.’