My Soul to Take: A Novel of Iceland (22 page)
"You're kidding, right?" said Matthew. "He's so ancient he couldn't kill a potted plant. He may well have something to hide, but I can't quite envisage him sending a text and then scrambling down on to the beach to kill someone. And why are you just focusing on men? The murderer could just as easily be female."
"Like who?" Thora asked. "Vigdis the receptionist? Or that drunken sex therapist, Stefania?"
"Why not?" retorted Matthew. "Or Bergur's wife, as I said earlier? I'm just pointing out that you know far too little to rule anyone out."
Thora sighed. "I know. Unfortunately." She picked up the last page. "Then there are things that I want to look into even though they may have nothing to do with Birna's murder."
"Fire away," said Matthew. "This is fun."
"I'd like to know who Kristin was," Thora said. "Her name's in Birna's diary, so it's possible that she's linked with the murder."
Matthew snorted with laughter, but stopped when Thora glared at him. "Go on."
"Also, I'd like to take a look at Birna's studio. I've been in her room, and although I'm not an architect, it's obvious that she did only a limited amount of work there. There was no computer, for example."
"Have you asked Jonas?"
"No, I haven't. It only occurred to me just now when I was making notes. But I will. Since someone went to the trouble of tearing her room apart, there must be something worth having in it."
"I agree," said Matthew. "But if her studio's in Reykjavik, the police are practically certain to have sealed it."
"I'm almost positive she did some work out here. Jonas seemed to think so," said Thora, turning the page over. "And there's more," she continued, reading through her last few notes. "I'd like to know where Grimur is buried." She looked up from the sheet. "Plus I'm dying to find out what happened to that young man in the wheelchair."
"My God," Matthew said. "Don't start that again."
"I have to know," insisted Thora. "If only because the waiter acted so strangely when I mentioned him. It was very odd." Looking back at the page, she added, "We also need to find out why the police asked Jonas about foxes and pins, and of course what 'RER' stands for. And, as I said, I'd like to know more about the second victim."
"It's good to know exactly what you want," teased Matthew. "That on its own is enough for some people."
Thora wasn't listening. "I also need to know a bit more about Nazi activity in Iceland," she said as she gathered up the papers.
Matthew gave such a mighty groan that Thora thought for a moment he was in pain. "God, the bloody Nazis," he grumbled. "They always turn up sooner or later."
THORA FE
LT as
though she had been transported back in time at least half a century. She was sitting in a living room crammed with highly polished furniture.
"Jonas is very unhappy that this didn't come up when the deeds were signed," she said, the springs of the old sofa creaking as she leaned back. It was an imposing piece of furniture with exceptionally deep seat cushions, so when she finally touched the back of the sofa, she realized what a stupid position she had ended up in and hurriedly sat up again. She was only just tall enough to sit against the back of the sofa without her feet dangling in the air.
Borkur and his sister, Elin, had called her earlier that morning and invited her to their house in Stykkisholmur. Thora decided to take them up on it instead of having them come to the hotel. She welcomed the chance to get away, hoping a change of scenery might clear her mind.
The house was one of the most elegant in town. It had clearly been built by a man of means, and was very well maintained. Probably their great-grandfather's house, Thora thought. He had made money from schooner fishing and had the sense to sell out before the trawlers took over. When they arrived, Matthew had admired the corrugated-iron-clad house. It was beautifully decorated, with white-painted gables, window frames, and guttering. Because the conversation would be held in Icelandic, he had opted instead to look around the town, so Thora was sitting by herself beneath the watchful eyes of Borkur and Elin, who sat facing her with their hands resting authoritatively on the arms of their ornate chairs.
"Those are old wives' tales. I would never have thought them relevant in a modern business deal. Ghosts of abandoned children! I don't know what to say," said Borkur dismissively. "And I can't help wondering if it would have made a difference if he
had
known. All that man was worried about was clinching the deal. He wasn't interested in the salmon run in the river or anything."
"Actually, given the nature of his business, I'm certain this would have mattered a great deal to him," she corrected him politely. "Salmon would be a secondary consideration in this context, but the supernatural definitely wouldn't."
Borkur snorted derisively. "And what's he asking for, exactly, based on this nonsense? A discount on the sale price?"
"Yes, for example," replied Thora. "That would be one option."
"I've never heard anything like it," he bellowed. "Do we need to hire a lawyer?" He turned to his sister, his face thunderous.
Elin, sitting impassively at his side, replied, "Shouldn't we discuss this further? I'm sure we can resolve it." She addressed Thora. "Can't we? Or is Borkur right?"
"If I thought the only solution was a discount or damages, I'd have sent you a letter to that effect," Thora answered. "I've come here to discuss the matter and see if we can't find another way around it."
"Damages," muttered Borkur. "I'm the one who ought to be claiming damages. I should be at work instead of sitting here having this ridiculous conversation."
"Oh, come on," his sister said irritably. "I bet your staff were glad to get rid of you. They'll probably have a collection and pay you to stay away."
Borkur flushed beet-red, but chose not to answer. Instead he turned to Thora again. "Here's your answer," he snarled. "You can tell Jonas that we don't give a shit about this gobbledygook, and neither will anyone else. I can't believe any court would award damages because of a
ghost."
Breathing heavily, he added, "You must have been pretty hard to find—a lawyer who's prepared to take on rubbish like this."
Thora did not care for the implication that she was a third-rate lawyer, but decided to hold her tongue. She knew that losing one's temper was the best way to lose an argument. "Naturally, it's up to you what you do," she said calmly, "but I would like to remind you that judges get annoyed when people don't try their utmost to resolve disputes before litigating. Courts are a last resort, not the first step."
Elin placed her hand over her brother's, which was gripping the carved arm of his chair. "I understand," she said to Thora. "But how else can we resolve this? What do you propose?" She turned to her brother, smiling encouragingly. "We're open to suggestions."
"Call in an exorcist, maybe?" grunted Borkur. "How about that?"
Ignoring him, Thora focused on Elin. "Shouldn't we start by discussing whether you two have ever been aware of any supernatural activity there?"
"Yes, why not," Elin replied, her grip on her brother's fingers tightening. "That's easy. I've never been aware of anything strange going on, because I've hardly spent any time there. Our mother was brought up at Kreppa with our grandfather Grimur. His brother, Bjarni, owned the land at Kirkjustett where the hotel was built, but he died young. If there were any stories about that farm, we wouldn't necessarily have heard them."
"How about you?" Thora asked Borkur. "Have you ever noticed anything, or heard any accounts of either farm being haunted?"
He shook his head impatiently. "Of course not. There's nothing to notice or hear. I don't go in for that bullshit. And I've spent even less time there than Elin."
Thora turned her attention back to the sister. "So how come the farms are in such good condition? I didn't see Kirkjustett before the hotel was built, but we took a look at Kreppa and I assume that Kirkjustett was in a similar state."
"Yes, it would have been," Elin answered, her voice level. "We looked after the farmhouses well." She gestured around to the room they were sitting in. "This house has been in the family ever since my great-grandfather built it. We've always used it as a retreat when we come to this part of the country. It's much more home, and not as remote as those two old farms. My brother and I don't come here often, but we could easily have shared it."
"But why maintain the farmhouses? What was the point?" asked Thora.
"Well," Elin said. "It meant a lot to Mother when she was still in good health. She didn't want to disturb anything because she planned to move back to the countryside in her old age and wanted to keep everything the way it was. That never happened, though, because care provision for the elderly is very basic here, compared with Reykjavik." She lifted her chin. "Nonetheless, we kept the houses after Mother fell ill, because we had the idea that Borkur's children and mine could eventually inherit one farmhouse each. Although the two of us don't mind sharing this house, we knew that someday our children might want to come here with their own families."
"So why did you sell them?" Thora asked. "You kept the farms in good shape for decades because of your children, then sold them once they'd grown up." By way of explanation she added, "I've met your daughter, Elin—Berta—and I expect your other children are of a similar
age."
Elin smiled coolly. "That's just the way it turned out. I only have the one daughter, actually, but Borkur has two sons. Neither of them has shown any interest in Snaefellsnes, so there's no need to hold on to the farms."
"What about Berta?" Thora asked. "I met her here and it sounded like she comes out here quite a lot."
Elin gave the same cold smile. "Berta spends a lot of time here, that's true. But Borkur and I have agreed that I'm going to buy his share of this place, so it's unnecessary for my daughter and me to own two houses in western Iceland. It's enough of an investment for the family to own all those farm properties. In fact, we're getting rid of them one by one."
"Do you own other farms around here?" Thora asked.
"Yes," Borkur chipped in, his ches
t swelling with pride. "Quite a
few."
Thora wrinkled her brow. "So why didn't you just sell Jonas one of those?" she asked, puzzled. She thought that for most people the last thing they sold would be the property with sentimental value.
"Jonas was looking for farmland with an old house on it," Borkur replied morosely. "He really wanted to buy the site once he heard there was not just one farmhouse on it but two."
"He made us a very good offer, as you know," Elin added. "It was simply time to make a decision."
Thora wondered whether to probe further into their reasons for selling the farms. She wasn't convinced, particularly given Elin's chilly demeanor. Not wanting to provoke the woman with more questions, she changed the subject. "Did you know anything about the history of the farms?"
"Did we know anything about it?" repeated Elin. "Of course we did, but unfortunately I'm not much good with things like history and genealogy." She released Borkur's hand. "The same goes for my brother, I'm afraid."
Borkur sat up a little and cleared his throat. "I've always meant to look into it in more detail, but I can never find the time."
"But you must have heard stories from your mother over the years?" persisted Thora. "Don't you remember any about the farms?"
"Our mother didn't really discuss her life here," Elin replied. "She was so young when she moved to Reykjavik with Grandfather." Elin looked down at her lap. "It's no secret that her life wasn't a bed of roses. Kristrun, our grandmother, died when Mum was still a baby, and we understand that Grandfather was far from being a model father. He had a few issues, shall we say, and never recovered properly after Grandmother died." Elin looked up again, into Thora's eyes. "Unfortunately I don't remember him, so I can't judge for myself, but I'm sure he wasn't a bad man."
Thora frowned. "Why do you phrase it like that? Did he mistreat your mother?" Could this be the incest story Soldis had mentioned?
"In a way, yes," replied Elin. "He committed suicide. Mother was only eighteen, and I know I would never let my own child find me dead, so to my mind he wasn't a good father, whatever else can be said for him."
"Oh, come on," objected Borkur suddenly. "You know he was ill. You can't expect someone who's clinically depressed to behave in a way society would deem normal—that's discrimination."
Elin glared angrily at him for a moment without answering. Then she relented slightly. "Of course, my brother has a point. I love Mother so much that I can't help feeling bitter about how he failed her." She looked around the room. "I'm pretty sure the reason Mother kept the farm going was that everything was wonderful when she lived here. It wasn't until they moved to the city that Grandfather's illness developed. She wanted to hold on to her memories of a happy childhood."
"I understand. It must have been difficult," said Thora sympathetically. "I noticed your grandmother's gravestone in the cemetery by the farm, but your grandfather Grimur doesn't seem to be buried with her. If you don't mind me asking, why is that?"
Elin pursed her lips. "Mother said she'd decided that after he died. He left no instructions as to his preferred place of rest, and she didn't want to have him buried here on Snaefellsnes. I think perhaps she wanted to have him close to her, because she was living in Reykjavik."
This seemed a strange kind of logic to Thora. She made herself more comfortable on the sofa. "Tell me, do you know anything about your great-uncle Bjarni, who originally lived at Kirkjustett?"
"He died young from TB," said Borkur quickly, clearly pleased at getting his answer in first. "He lost his wife young too, so the brothers' lives followed a similar pattern. They were both young widowers, each with a daughter."
"She died too," Thora said. "I mean
his daughter, Gudny. TB, wasn't
it?"
"Yes," said Elin firmly. Judging from her expression, she didn't like losing control of the conversation to her brother. "They both fell ill and refused to go to Reykjavik and stay in a sanatarium, as they used to call TB clinics in those days. I don't know if it would have changed anything. I know precious little about tuberculosis—nothing, really—but I know that Grandfather looked after them as best he could; he was a doctor. That wasn't enough, unfortunately."
Thora leaned forward. "I have to ask you something now, and I'm aware you might find it uncomfortable." She paused. The brother and sister sat and waited, as if paralyzed. "I've heard stories about incest on the farm. They say Bjarni abused his daughter. Could that be right?"
"No!" snapped Elin. "That's rubbish. It just goes to show that back then people had nothing better to do than invent filthy stories about respectable folk who had died and couldn't defend themselves against gossip." She fell silent, her face bright red. It clearly wasn't the first time she'd heard this.
"How can you be sure?" Thora asked cautiously. "Your mother might not have known about it because she was so young, and—as you said yourself—you didn't know your grandfather, so you can't have heard his side of the story."
Elin glared wrathfully at Thora. "I've heard my mother deny it so passionately that for me there's not a shred of doubt. It's pure fabrication." She frowned. "To tell the truth, I don't see any point continuing this conversation. If you don't have any more intelligent questions, I think we ought to call it a day."
"I'm sorry," Thora said humbly. "Consider the subject closed." In desperation she tried to broach another subject to avoid being thrown out. "Do you happen to know why your grandfather and his brother quarreled?" she asked hurriedly. "I understand they didn't speak for years."
Elin was still too angry to answer, so Borkur replied. "It was more to do with their wives. The women fell out, and their husbands followed suit. I don't think anyone knows exactly what the dispute was between Grandmother and her sister-in-law, but it was serious enough that the brothers were never the same with each other, even when both women were dead. Stubbornness and grudges run in the family."