‘Did she want to see you or…?’
‘Yes – she called and asked me to come and see her in Grafarvogur. She greeted me very coldly.’
Sólveig broke off. Erlendur waited patiently. He sensed her discomfort at reopening these old wounds.
‘Leonóra told me that María was at school and that she wanted me to know exactly what had happened at the lake. I told her I didn’t need to know anything but she laughed and said I wouldn’t escape so lightly. I didn’t know what she meant.’
‘Magnús told me about the two of you,’ Leonóra said. ‘He told me you were going to move in together and that he wanted to leave me.’
‘Leonóra,’ Sólveig said, ‘I-’
‘Shut up,’ Leonóra said, without raising her voice. ‘I’m going to tell you what happened. But there are two things you must understand. You must understand that I had to protect the girl and you must understand that it was your fault as well. Yours and Magnús’s. You brought this on us.’
Sólveig did not speak.
‘What were you thinking of?’ Leonóra asked.
‘I didn’t mean to hurt you,’ Sólveig said.
‘Hurt me? You have no idea what you’ve done.’
‘Magnús was unhappy,’ Sólveig said. ‘That’s why he turned to me. He was unhappy.’
‘That’s a lie. He wasn’t unhappy. You stole him from me – you lured him away.’
Sólveig was silent.
‘I don’t want to quarrel with you,’ she said at last, quietly.
‘No, what’s done is done,’ Leonóra said. ‘No one can change it now. But I don’t want to bear the burden alone. You’re responsible too. And so was Magnús. You both were.’
‘No one’s responsible for an accident like that. He fell overboard. It was an accident.’
Leonóra smiled a thin, unreadable smile. She looked to be in a strange state. The house was dark and cold and Leonóra didn’t seem herself. Sólveig wondered if she had been drinking or was on strong medication.
‘He didn’t fall in,’ Leonóra said.
‘What do you mean?’
‘He didn’t fall.’
‘But… I read it in the papers…’
‘Yes, that’s what it said in the papers. But it was a lie.’
‘A lie?’
‘For María’s sake.’
‘I don’t understand you.’
‘Why did you have to take him away from me? Why couldn’t you leave us alone?’
‘He came to me, Leonóra. What lie did you have to tell for María’s sake?’
‘Don’t you understand? We were with Magnús in the boat. María was with us.’
‘With you…? But…’
Sólveig stared at Leonóra.
‘Magnús was alone in the boat,’ she said. ‘It said so in all the news reports.’
‘It was a lie,’ Leonóra said. ‘My lie. I was with him and so was María.’
‘Why… why did you need to lie…? Why…?’
‘I’m telling you. Magnús didn’t fall off the boat.’
‘What, then?’
‘I pushed him,’ Leonóra said. ‘I pushed him and he lost his balance.’
A long time passed before Sólveig spoke again. Erlendur listened to her story in silence, sensing her distress at what had happened.
‘It was Leonóra who pushed Magnús so he fell in,’ she said. ‘They watched him drown. Magnús had told Leonóra about me. They’d quarrelled bitterly that morning. María didn’t know and asked them to come out in the boat with her. Magnús was really angry. They started quarrelling again. Then the engine suddenly broke down. They quarrelled even more violently. Then Magnús stood up to check on the engine. Leonóra shoved him away from her and it all happened in a flash… he went overboard.’
Leonóra regarded Sólveig in silence.
‘Couldn’t you have saved him?’ Sólveig asked.
‘There was nothing we could do. The boat was rocking uncontrollably and it was all we could do to stop ourselves falling in. The boat drifted away from Magnús and by the time we had got it back under control he had vanished.’
‘Oh my God!’ Sólveig gasped.
‘See what you’ve done?’ Leonóra said.
‘Me?’
‘The girl is inconsolable. She blames herself for what happened to her father. For the quarrel. All of it. She’s internalised the whole thing. She imagines that she’s somehow responsible for her father’s death. How do you think that makes her feel? How do you think she feels? How do you think I feel?’
‘You must talk to a doctor, a specialist. She needs help.’
‘I’ll look after María. And if you take this any further I’ll deny the whole thing.’
‘Why are you telling me, then?’
‘You’re not going to get off scot-free. I want you to know that. You’re as responsible as I am!’
Erlendur stared at Sólveig for a long time without speaking after she had finished her story.
‘Why didn’t you go to the police?’ he asked finally. ‘What stopped you?’
‘I felt… I felt as if I bore some of the responsibility myself, as Leonóra said. For what happened. She was quick to point it out to me. “It’s your fault,” she hissed at me. “It’s your fault. All of it. You’re to blame.” All her anger was directed at me. I was out of my mind with fear and grief and a strange kind of concern for Leonóra. The whole thing was just too much for me, much too much. It was such a shock. I was completely unprepared. And then there was poor little María. I couldn’t bring myself to tell the truth about her mother. I couldn’t do it.She…’
‘What?’
‘It was so unreal that I could hardly believe it, could hardly believe it had happened.’
‘You wanted to protect the girl?’ Erlendur said.
‘I hope you understand my position. I didn’t want to punish anyone. It was an accident, however you look at it. It didn’t occur to me to doubt what Leonóra said. She told me she never let María leave her side except when she was at school.’
‘It can’t have been pleasant living with this knowledge,’ Erlendur said.
‘No, you’re right, it hasn’t been pleasant. So imagine how it must have been for them, especially for María. When I heard that she’d committed suicide… somehow it didn’t come as a surprise. I’ve… I’ve blamed myself for letting it happen. For letting Leonóra get away with what she did. Get away with not telling anyone about this.’
‘What were they quarrelling about on the boat?’
‘Magnús said he was going to leave her no matter what she said. It was what he’d told me. He’d had enough of the way she rode roughshod over him, couldn’t stand her any longer, said all that remained was for them to agree on custody of María. Leonóra said she’d see he never got access to the girl. He could forget it. They fought over María right in front of her. No wonder she thought it was all her fault.’
‘Did you ever meet Leonóra or María again after that?’
‘No. Never. Neither of them.’
‘Were there no witnesses?’
‘No. They were completely alone at the lake.’
‘No visitors?’
‘No.’
‘Or tourists?’
‘No. No tourists. That was the week before, when Magnús and I were alone at the holiday cottage. We used it twice, as far as I can remember, to meet in secret. That time he bumped into a woman and told me about her afterwards because she was studying the lakes around the city; she was fascinated by lakes. This was right by the cottage. She was looking at a map and was on her way up to Lake Sandkluftavatn. It stuck in my mind because I’d never heard the name before.’
‘Was she in a car?’ Erlendur asked.
‘Yes, I think so.’
‘What kind of car?’
‘It was yellow.’
‘Yellow? Are you sure?’
‘Yes. They’re called Mini-somethings, aren’t they? I saw it driving away through the birch scrub.’
‘And you think the person driving this car was the woman that Magnús had met?’ Erlendur asked, on the edge of his seat now.