However, further searches indicated that the couple must have sorted out their differences since they had not apparently separated after all. Thóra suspected that the fact there was nothing left in the coffers for Karítas’s settlement had played its part, though it was rumoured that her husband had concealed a considerable sum from his creditors, including the Icelandic bank’s resolution committee. No doubt sticking with him had seemed preferable to going back to her job at the hotel. The narrowness of Iceland’s social circle was its main drawback: after featuring in the celebrity gossip columns it can hardly have been a tempting prospect for a young woman to return home so ignominiously. Initial reports that Karítas intended to cooperate with the bank had proved unfounded, but when the media subsequently asked questions, they received few answers. Karítas had been uncontactable when the yacht story broke; in fact, she seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth. A representative of her husband had announced that she was staying in Brazil to avoid the press furore, but her mother, who lived in Iceland, was unable to confirm this.
‘Matthew.’ He was glued to his laptop. ‘Have you heard any talk at the bank about the couple who owned the yacht? I know the guy didn’t do business with you directly, but is there any water-cooler gossip about them? About where Karítas might be living at the moment, or whether she’s intending to shed any light on her husband’s business arrangements?’
It took Matthew a while to work out what Thóra was talking about. Although he had made great strides in the language, it sometimes took him a moment or two to switch from German to Icelandic mode. ‘Yes, I’ve heard things, though nothing worth repeating. The women tend to gossip about her; the men, about him.’
‘What do they say?’
‘Nothing very interesting. He’s supposed to have squirrelled away a fortune in assets, which no one’s managed to trace despite an exhaustive search, and apparently she doesn’t want to come home because she won’t be able to flaunt her wealth any more if they have to keep a low profile. The word is that she’s afraid of being questioned by the financial authorities or special prosecutor. I don’t know how seriously to take that, though. It’s probably just speculation.’
Thóra considered. ‘I’m going to try and contact her parents or siblings. They may know how I can get hold of her. I bet she’d be able to provide some useful background on the yacht. Maybe there was a problem the crew weren’t aware of when they set out. Karítas and her husband hadn’t used the boat for a while before she was confiscated – perhaps because of a fault.’
‘Or because a boat like that costs millions of krónur a day to run. They’ve had to tighten their belts in the recession like everyone else.’ Matthew yawned. ‘Why on earth would she talk to you, anyway?’
Thóra closed her laptop. ‘I doubt she’ll have the slightest interest in doing so. But it’s worth trying.’ She stretched lazily. ‘Is her husband a criminal?’
‘What do you mean? The kind with a gun or the kind with a credit rating?’
‘A gun.’
‘I doubt it. What makes you think that?’
‘I just find it incredibly convenient that she should disappear completely at the time most convenient for her husband. One minute she’s on her way home to testify against him; the next, she’s vanished. I started wondering if she might actually be dead. Supposing they’ve bumped her off? It’s quite a while since the press last managed to take any pictures of her, though they’ve been pulling out all the stops over the last few days. Whatever her financial woes, it’s unlike her to lie low – she’s usually so eager to be seen in the media. So maybe it’s all connected. The documents from the resolution committee included a piece of paper with her name and an out-of-date phone number and e-mail address, which started me thinking. Perhaps they’re onto something that they can’t reveal for reasons of bank confidentiality, and her details were a hint to steer me in the right direction.’
‘I find that highly unlikely.’ Matthew looked incredulous. ‘Just because you’re given a piece of paper with a woman’s name and contact details, it doesn’t mean she’s dead. Anyway, you’d be a fool to speak to her family if you do believe she’s been murdered. What are you going to do? Ask her relatives to pass on a message, and assume she’s dead if you don’t hear back?’ He smirked. ‘Not exactly brilliant, is it?’
‘No, I didn’t mean it like that. It would be enough to meet one close relative for a chat. If it turns out the family hasn’t heard from her, then that would support the idea that there’s something wrong. After all, it’s one thing not to talk to the press, but quite another to leave your loved ones in the dark. If there’s any truth in the quotes from her mother in the papers, she doesn’t have a clue where Karítas is. On the other hand, it’s perfectly possible that they know exactly where she is and will be able to put me in touch with her. Which is what I’m hoping for.’
Matthew shook his head, still unconvinced, but at that moment Gylfi and Sigga appeared with Orri asleep in his father’s arms. Sigga took the little boy from him and carried him into the bedroom, but Gylfi hovered. It was obvious that he was bursting with news. ‘Dad rang from Norway.’
‘Oh?’ said Thóra. ‘How’s he?’
‘He’s had an idea. A brainwave, actually.’ Gylfi perched on the arm of Thóra’s sofa. Recently he had shot up to his full height, though he had yet to fill out. Before she knew it, he would be an adult. ‘He’s met a guy in Norway who works for an oil company and apparently he could sort out a job for me if I wanted.’
‘A job?’ Thóra sat bolt upright. ‘This summer, you mean?’
‘Yes. And winter. It’s insanely well paid.’
‘Just hang on a minute.’ There were so many questions racing round Thóra’s head that she didn’t know where to start. ‘I thought you were going straight to university after you’d finished school. This is a crazy idea, isn’t it? And what about Sigga? She’s got a year left of sixth form – are she and Orri supposed to go with you or stay behind?’
‘Sigga can take her final year by distance learning. And I’d be up for taking a gap year. It would give me time to work out what I really want to study. We’d save some money too. I said the pay was unbelievable, didn’t I?’ There was no mistaking his elation; he looked ready to go on-line and buy his ticket right away.
‘Wages may be high in Norway, but the cost of living is astronomical. All your money would go on day-to-day expenses. I mean, what do you think it costs to rent a flat there?’ Thóra racked her brain for a way of dampening his enthusiasm, of making him wake up to the fact that this was an appalling idea. The last thing she wanted was to lose them to a foreign country, though she had been aware for some time that it would not be long before he, Sigga and Orri moved out to set up their own home. She had even assumed it would happen soon after he started university that autumn, but it had never crossed her mind that they might take Orri to live abroad.