“Me?” Osp said, putting a heap of towels into a laundry basket. “Nothing dirty, I hope. I’ve had enough of dirty old men at this hotel.”
“No,” Erlendur said. “Nothing dirty”
“Fatso asked me if I’d been grassing to you, telling you shit. And the chef shouted at me like I was stealing from his buffet. They knew we’d been talking.”
“Everyone knows more or less everything about everyone else at this hotel,” Erlendur said. “But they never really say anything about anyone. Such people are very difficult to deal with. Like you, for example.”
“Me?” Osp went into the room she was cleaning and Erlendur followed her inside as he had done before.
“You tell me everything and I believe every word because you create an honest and truthful impression, but actually you’re only telling a fraction of what you know, which is also a lie of sorts. No less serious for us, the police. That sort of lie. Do you know what I’m talking about?”
Osp did not reply. She was busy changing the beds. Erlendur watched her. He couldn’t read what she was thinking. She acted as if he wasn’t in the room. As if she could shake him off if she just pretended he was not there.
“For example, you didn’t tell me that you have a brother” Erlendur said.
“Why should I tell you that?”
“Because he’s in trouble.”
“He’s not in any trouble.”
“Not with me, he’s not,” Erlendur said. “I haven’t got him into trouble. But he is in trouble and he sometimes goes to his sister for help when he needs it.”
“I don’t get you,” Osp said.
“I’ll tell you. He’s been in prison twice, not long stretches, for burglary and theft. Some of it has been found out, other things doubtless haven’t, that’s the way it goes. These are typical petty offences by a small-time criminal. Typical crimes by a junkie who’s in debt. He’s on the most expensive stuff now and never has enough money. But dealers don’t do things by halves. They’ve caught him more than once and beaten him up. Once they threatened to kneecap him. So he needs to do odd jobs besides stealing to buy his drugs. To cover his debts”
Osp put down the linen.
“He has various recourses for financing his habit,” Erlendur said. “You probably know that. Like all those kids do. Kids who are hopeless junkies”
Osp remained silent.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Did Stina tell you this?” Osp said. “I saw her here yesterday. I’ve often seen her here and if anyone’s a tart it’s her.”
“She didn’t tell me any of this,” Erlendur said, not allowing Osp to change the subject. “It wasn’t long ago your brother was in the corridor where Gudlaugur was living. He could even have been there since the murder. He may have been there very recently. His smell’s still mere, for those who recognise it. For people who smoke hash and use speed and cook heroin.”
Osp stared at him. Erlendur didn’t have much to work on when he went to see her. Only the fact that the alcove was spotlessly clean, but he could tell from her reaction that what he was saying was not so wide of the mark. He wondered whether to take an even greater gamble. After deliberating for a while, he decided to give it a shot.
“We found his chewing tobacco too,” Erlendur said. “Has he been using that for long?”
Osp was still staring at him without saying a word. Finally she looked down at the bed. Took a long look, until she seemed to resign herself.
“Since he was fifteen,” she said, almost inaudibly.
He waited for her to go on, but she added nothing and they stood facing each other in the hotel room, and Erlendur allowed the silence to reign for a while. In the end Osp sighed and sat down on the bed.
“He’s always broke,” she said softly. “Owes everyone money. All the time. And then they threaten him and beat him up, but he still keeps on and his debts mount up. Sometimes he gets money and can pay part of it off. Mum and Dad gave up on him ages ago. Threw him out when he was seventeen. They sent him to rehab and he ran away. He didn’t come home for a week or so and they put a missing persons announcement in the papers. He didn’t give a shit. He’s been dossing around ever since. I’m the only one in the family who keeps in touch with him. Sometimes I let him into the basement in the winter. He’s slept in the alcove when he needs to hide. I’ve banned him from having drugs down there but I can’t control him either. No one has any control over him.”
“Have you given him money? To pay off those debts?”
“Sometimes, but it’s never enough. They’ve been round to Mum and Dad threatening blue murder and they smashed Dad’s car in, so now they’re paying to try to get the thugs off their backs, but it’s just so much. They charge ridiculous interest on those debts and when they talk to the police, guys like you, the cops say they can’t do anything because it’s only threats, and apparently it’s OK to threaten people.”
She looked at Erlendur.
“If they kill Dad, maybe you’ll look into the matter.”
“Did your brother know Gudlaugur? They must have known about each other. From the basement”
“They knew each other,” Osp said gloomily.
“How?”
“Gulli paid him for…” Osp stopped.
“For what?”
“Favours he did.”
“Sexual favours?”
“Yes, sexual favours”
“How do you know that?”
“My brother told me.”
“Was he with Gudlaugur that afternoon?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him for days, not since …” She stopped. “I haven’t seen him since Gudlaugur was stabbed,” she then said. “He hasn’t been in touch.”
“I think he may have been in the corridor not so long ago. Since Gudlaugur’s murder.”
“I haven’t seen him.”
“Do you think he attacked Gudlaugur?”
“I don’t know,” Osp said. “All I know is that he’s never attacked anyone. And he’s constantly on the run and he must be on the run now because of this, even though he didn’t do anything. He could never hurt anyone.”
And you don’t know where he is now?”
“No, I haven’t heard from him.”
“Do you know whether he knew that British man I mentioned to you. Henry Wapshott? The one with the child pornography”
“No, he didn’t know him. I don’t think so anyway. What are you asking that for?”
“Is he gay? Your brother?”
Osp looked at him.
“I know he does anything for money,” she said. “But I don’t think he’s gay”
“Will you tell him I want to talk to him. If he noticed anything in the basement I need to speak to him about it. I also need to ask him about his relationship with Gudlaugur. I need to know whether he saw him the day he was murdered. Will you do that for me? Tell him I need to talk to him?”
“Do you think he did it? Killed Gudlaugur?”
“I don’t know,” Erlendur said. “If I don’t hear from him very soon I’ll have to declare him wanted for questioning.”
Osp showed no reaction.
“Did you know that Gudlaugur was gay?” he asked.
Osp looked up.
“Judging from what my brother said he seems to have been. And judging from what he paid my brother for being with him …”
Osp stopped.
“Did you know that Gudlaugur was dead when you were asked to go and fetch him?” Erlendur asked.
She looked at him.
“No, I didn’t know. Don’t try to pin this on me. Is that what you’re trying to do? Do you reckon I killed him?”
“You didn’t tell me about your brother in the basement”
“He’s always in trouble but I know he didn’t do that. I know he could never do anything like that. Never.”
“You two must be close, the way you take care of him.”
“We’ve always been good friends,” Osp said as she stood up. “I’ll talk to him if he gets in touch. Tell him you need to meet him in case he knows anything about what happened.”
With a nod, Erlendur said he would be at the hotel for most of the day and she could always find him there.