‘The police?’ Karítas finally sat up properly. ‘What do they want? I haven’t done anything.’
‘Perhaps because there’s a possibility that the body of a woman was found on board the yacht. In the freezer, to be precise. At first people thought it must have been you.’
‘Shit, why would they think that?’ Interesting that she seemed less worked up about the presence of a dead woman in the freezer than the fact that the woman had been wrongly identified. ‘Anyway, what are you talking about? A woman? In the freezer?’
‘There was no body in the freezer when I was there.’ Karítas’s mother looked outraged. ‘What’s this nonsense?’
‘All I know is that the police are investigating the matter. As I explained, my involvement is indirect, so I may have got it wrong. But what were you saying about Ægir? Did he speak to you before going on board? Or meet up with you in Lisbon? You must have been there at the same time.’
Karítas scratched her neck, leaving red marks. ‘No, I didn’t see him. But I did talk to him on the phone. That’s not a crime. In fact, he rang me.’
‘Really?’ Thóra was trying hard to keep her voice friendly. ‘Was that when he was in Portugal?’
‘No, here in Iceland. I rang that bloody resolution committee and the woman who answered the phone told me he was dealing with the yacht. He wasn’t there, though, so I asked if he could call me back and gave her my number. He rang. Big deal.’
‘What did you want from him?’
‘I wanted to go on board. Like I do now. He had the keys.’
‘What happened? Did he agree to help you?’
‘Sort of. At first he was really unhelpful.’ She gave Thóra a dirty look. ‘Like you. But I talked him round and he agreed to arrange it.’
‘What did you promise in return?’ Bella opened her mouth to add a further comment that Thóra feared would be highly inflammatory, but she didn’t get a chance.
‘I said I’d make it worth his while.’ Karítas flushed a little when she saw Bella’s grin. ‘Not in the way you’re insinuating. I was going to pay him. Pay him well.’
‘Just to get your dresses back?’ Thóra couldn’t imagine promising a hefty reward for the return of any of her own clothes.
‘Not just them. I need to pick up a few other items too.’ Karítas’s lips thinned until they almost disappeared.
‘And what happened?’
‘He was going to meet me in Lisbon before the yacht left. But it didn’t work out.’
‘Why not?’ Thóra had given up trying to be nice.
‘I didn’t go. Something came up and I didn’t need his help any more. Or so I thought.’ Karítas bared her teeth in a failed attempt at a smile. ‘But now I’m hoping you can sort out the red tape for me and let me in. You know, better late than never, and all that.’
Thóra studied this woman who had been created in the likeness of an angel, the beautiful outer shell concealing something much darker inside. The missing people were of no consequence to her, merely an inconvenience. It didn’t seem to matter that they included two little girls. ‘I’ll consider it if you tell me what it is you want. The police have been over the yacht with a fine-toothed comb. I can’t quite see what could be so important to you apart from the dresses.’
‘You don’t need to worry about that. If you’re going to get all weird about it I’ll pay you. How about that?’
‘No, thanks.’ Out of the corner of her eye Thóra caught Begga’s expression of relief and swung round to her. ‘Is something the matter?’
The woman jumped. ‘Oh no, nothing. I was just worried about the money. We’re in a spot of bother at the moment, you see. Only temporary, mind.’ She turned to her daughter. ‘Darling, when it comes to little things like this it makes more sense to trade information than to pay for it. She doesn’t want your money anyway.’ She gazed pleadingly at her daughter, brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes. Her grey roots had not been touched up since Thóra and Bella’s last visit.
Karítas was not remotely grateful for this intervention. She shot her mother a spiteful look. ‘I’m selling this house, Mum. It’s not up for discussion. You’ll just have to fend for yourself until everything’s sorted out.’ She added to Thóra: ‘Lawyers handle conveyancing, don’t they?’ Her mother seemed to shrink in her ornate chair, a symbol of a lifestyle that would soon be history.
‘I’m not an estate agent.’ Thóra caught a smirk on Bella’s face. She seemed to be delighted with her employer, for the first time in living memory. ‘And I’d like to know why you didn’t go ahead with your meeting with Ægir, since it was so important to you.’
‘I told you. The situation changed. I didn’t need him any more and I wasn’t going to pay him for what someone else was prepared to do for less.’
‘Someone else?’
‘Yes. I bumped into one of the crew members in town – I recognised him – and he was much nicer than that Ægir. I discussed the problem with him and he was more than willing to oblige. But everything got screwed up because his stupid friend had an accident and he had to help him, so he couldn’t meet me as planned. He rang and said he’d sort it when they reached Reykjavík. What was I supposed to do? By then it was too late to try and persuade Ægir to meet me because the captain had arrived and was staying on board. So I had a wasted journey to Lisbon and was forced to wait until the Lady K got to Reykjavík.’ She closed her eyes. ‘Then everyone goes and disappears, and I’m the one that loses out.’
‘What was this man called?’ asked Thóra, though there could only be one answer if the man’s friend had had an accident in Lisbon.
Karítas was silent for a moment, thinking. Then she turned her heavily mascaraed gaze on Thóra. ‘Halli, I think. He used to work for me on the Lady K in the old days. Yes, I’m pretty sure his name was Halli.’
Chapter 29
The hardest part, Ægir thought, was not having a clue how far they were from their destination. He had no idea how long he had been asleep; nor could he remember what Thráinn had said about the length of time remaining. Had he said twenty-four hours, or a day? And if the latter, what had he meant by a day? Twelve hours? Was it possible they only had a few hours left at sea? He cursed himself for not having checked the clock at the time or demanded more detailed information. Had he done so, he would have been able to calculate how far the yacht had sailed while he was asleep and plan his next moves accordingly, such as whether it would pay to jump ship in a lifeboat with the girls. The raft might be equipped with an emergency transmitter that would be activated when it hit the water, but Ægir didn’t know how far the signal would carry, so this course of action would only make sense if the yacht was nearing Iceland. The ocean surrounding them was so vast that there was almost no chance of crossing the path of another vessel if they were still up to a day’s journey from land.
In any case, it was too late now. Thráinn wouldn’t be giving any more answers, at least not in this world; and Ægir wasn’t about to seek out Halli, as the question would no doubt be his last. He lay back and stared at the ceiling, then closed his eyes and watched the white specks dancing on the lids. Never had so much ridden on a decision of his. Never had he felt so bewildered – or alone.
‘Daddy? What’s the time?’ He looked over at Arna who was sitting up rubbing her eyes. She had fallen asleep on a crayon and it had stuck to her jumper without her noticing.