Suddenly the floodlights came on outside. Thóra stood up and went to the window, more to have something different to do than out of any raging curiosity. The lights had been going on and off regularly due to the police driving in and out of the camp. What they were doing, Thóra didn’t know, but she guessed they were still searching for the missing body parts. Although it was dark outside now, so perhaps it wasn’t that, but either way something was going on; maybe they had business in the village, since they must at least have wanted to question the young woman and the hunter’s son. And of course the hunter himself. Maybe they were looking for him everywhere. Thóra watched a car drive up to the cafeteria. As she had thought, it was the police.
‘I’d do anything for a cup of coffee.’ Alvar ran his finger around one of the stains on the tabletop. ‘At the very least we should be able to have something to drink, seeing as how we can’t even help out.’
Thóra turned to him. ‘Shall I check and see whether we can get something from them?’ She longed to get out of the room even for just a few minutes. The fresh air would rejuvenate her and help her survive the night. ‘I’d really like a cup of coffee myself.’ She was glad that Matthew and the doctor were sleeping, otherwise one of them would have gone. She walked slowly to the door so as not to wake them, and carefully opened it onto the corridor. There she drew a deep breath, happy to be free of the room’s stale air. But it wasn’t until she went out onto the landing that her lungs got what they desired. She stood there for a few moments and enjoyed feeling the cold air stream into her. Then she set off, making sure not to walk too quickly, so she could relish her freedom for as long as possible. Her happiness was short-lived. When she walked around the corner of the building she was so startled that her stored-up energy vanished into the cold night. Up against the gable stood the hunter. Thóra would have missed him if he hadn’t spoken softly to her as she walked past. He had positioned himself behind a snowdrift that had formed near the wall of the building. He had probably found his chance to sneak into the camp when the police car set off the floodlights.
The man was far from being invisible or looking like he’d be capable of disappearing into his surroundings, but he seemed in some unfathomable way to assimilate with them, so that anyone not focused solely on searching for him would never notice him. Perhaps it was because he was so completely motionless. ‘The police are probably looking for you.’ Thóra’s voice was shrill with shock, but she could do nothing about it.
‘We’re all looking for something. I’m also looking – although not for myself.’ The man did not seem to move a muscle. ‘I’m looking for my daughter. The people here moved her and I have to know where she was laid to rest.’
Of everything that had happened in the camp this was the worst thing he could ask about. Thóra felt a lump in her throat. Oh, you mean her – yes, she was moved from her grave into some desk drawers. ‘I don’t have her.’ She could think of nothing better to say.
‘I will trade with you. I know that you are looking for someone from here. You will have her in exchange. I know that you moved my daughter. You laid the track. I will trade with you.’ The man seemed serious about this. He moved now, to adjust the rifle he held at his hip. Thóra hadn’t noticed it earlier and the weapon made her even more uneasy.
‘Do you have the woman who disappeared from the camp?’ Thóra tried to imagine how long it would take the police to appear if she screamed with all her might. ‘Is she alive?’
‘No. Not any more.’ The hunter’s eyes narrowed. ‘Nor is my daughter. So it is a fair trade.’
Thóra had to ask about one thing, even though the man had a rifle and help was far away. ‘Did you cut the men up?’
The hunter’s surprise seemed sincere. ‘No. I do not understand what you mean. Will you trade with me or not?’
‘I can’t,’ replied Thóra. ‘The police have your daughter’s bones.’ She saw that the man was not pleased with this news. ‘You will get them back, definitely, but it won’t be immediately.’
‘Then when?’ A howl came from somewhere in the distance. First from one dog, but then others joined in. ‘I must have them back.’ Thóra tried to think logically. ‘I promise that you will get them back. It’s just not possible right now. The police have the bones because they were found here. Her cairn ended up beneath the track that you mentioned and they had no other choice but to move them. They tried to consult the villagers, and if the villagers had agreed to talk to them the bones would probably have been returned to you.’ She took a deep breath. ‘You’ve got to trust me and return the woman. It means a great deal to us, and she has a husband in Iceland who needs to know what happened.’ She regretted this last statement. If the hunter had murdered the woman, it was ridiculous to talk about finding out what had happened to her. ‘He has the right to stop hoping that she’s still alive.’
‘Hope is often better than certainty.’ The hunter suddenly became alert. He seemed to hear something that escaped Thóra’s notice. He looked at her and then nodded. ‘It will be here behind the house in just a short time. Go back in and do not come out again until half an hour from now. Do not go to the police until I am gone, and do not tell them that I was here.’ He saw that Thóra was struggling with these conditions. ‘Otherwise it will not happen. And I need to have Usinna’s bones as soon as possible.’
‘Fine. Agreed.’ Thóra felt her heart pound in her chest. ‘I’m leaving. I’m leaving now.’
The man nodded again silently and when it looked as if he would say no more she turned on her heel and hurried back into the office building. She stood for a long time in the vestibule and tried to get her bearings. If she told her companions about this, the police would learn of the man’s visit. Matthew was the only one she could trust with it. Her problem was not how to lighten her own burden, but how she could let the police know that Oddný Hildur had been found, and as soon as possible. She couldn’t allow foxes or other creatures to get to the body while she waited for the police to come across it by accident behind the building. They had already combed the whole area around the camp and it was unlikely that they would repeat the search without good reason. She took off her boots and made a decision – but she was not looking forward to it.
‘No coffee?’ Alvar stared at Thóra in surprise when she returned to the meeting room.
‘Oh, I decided not to go.’ Thóra had forgotten her original errand. ‘I realized I really couldn’t disturb them; they’re probably doing something important and they’d just have been annoyed. It’s not as though they’ve forgotten we’re here, so someone’s bound to come with food and drink for us soon.’ She squeezed out a smile, took a seat next to Matthew – who was still snoring – and tried to act as if everything were normal.
Friðrikka and Eyjólfur both sat in grim silence as the minutes ticked past. A quarter of an hour later the radiator switched itself on again. Thóra jumped slightly in her seat, because she understood what was happening. Fortunately no one seemed to take much notice of her reaction, except for Bella, who raised her eyebrows before continuing with her game of Solitaire. When just over half an hour had passed, Thóra acted as if she had heard something unusual. ‘What was that? Did you hear that?’ She looked around, hoping her acting was not as awful as she felt it was.
‘What?’ Eyjólfur was the only one who appeared interested. Alvar had raised his head from his chest but otherwise his curiosity did not appear to be aroused. However, when Eyjólfur stood up, he did the same.