Read Online Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason - Free Book Online Page A

thing. We got divorced. You probably know that.'
    'You've no idea what happened to the boys today?'
    'I. . . it's terrible, absolutely terrible ... I would never have believed this kind of thing could happen in this country. Attacking a child like that!'
    'What do you think happened?'
    'Isn't it obvious? Isn't it racism? Is there any other reason for attacking a child? What can a child do to anyone?'
    'We still don't know what happened,' Erlendur said. 'You haven't phoned the boys recently or seen them?'
    'No. I took Elías to the cinema a while back. I never had much contact with Niran.'
    'And you can't imagine what could have happened?'
    Ódinn shook his head.
    'Do you think something's happened to Niran as well?'
    'We don't know. There's a search under way for him. Do you have any ideas?'
    'About his whereabouts? No, none. I have no idea.'
    'Sunee moved out when you got divorced,' Erlendur said. 'The boys don't appear to have adjusted particularly well to their new neighbourhood. Did you take an interest in that at all?'
    Ódinn did not answer immediately.
    'Did you never hear about any trouble?'
    'I wasn't in touch with Sunee much,' Ódinn said eventually. 'It was over.'
    'I'm really asking more about the two boys,' Erlendur said. 'Your son in particular, perhaps.'
    Ódinn did not reply.
    'Elías was always more attached to his mother,' he said at last. 'We often argued about his upbringing. She had her own way entirely in bringing him up. She even called him by a Thai name. She rarely called him Elías.'
    'She's a long way from home. She wants to hold on to something connected with her past in a new country,' Erlendur said.
    Ódinn looked at him without saying a word.
    'Your mother speaks highly of her,' Erlendur said. 'I gather that they're good friends. She hurried over to Sunee's flat as soon as she heard the news.'
    'They've always got on well together.'
    'I understand Sunee's your second wife from Thailand.'
    'Yes,' Ódinn said.
    'I also understand you were not very pleased when Sunee told you she had an older son and wanted to send for him,' Erlendur said.
    'I suspected as much,' Ódinn said. 'It was nothing new. She'd told me she was single, then she wanted to bring Niran over.'
    'What did you think about that?'
    'I wasn't pleased about having the boy. But I stayed out of the matter, left it entirely up to her. I had no say in it.'
    'So you didn't want to divorce her immediately then?'
    'Sunee was okay,' Ódinn said.
    'She hasn't learned much Icelandic in the time she's lived here,' Erlendur said.
    'No,' Ódinn said.
    'Did you help her with it at all?'
    'What are you asking about that for? What's that got to do with anything? Shouldn't you be catching the person who did this instead of asking me stupid irrelevant questions? What kind of questions are these anyway?'
    'Your son was probably attacked in the afternoon,' Erlendur said. 'Where were you then?'
    'At work,' Ódinn said. 'I was at work when you lot came. Do you think I killed my son? Are you mad?'
    He said this without raising his voice and without becoming worked up, as if the notion were simply too ludicrous to get angry about.
    'We know from experience that such matters are often family-related,' Erlendur said without changing his expression. 'There's nothing unnatural about me asking where you spent the day.'
    Ódinn remained silent.
    'Is there anyone at work who could confirm your whereabouts?'
    'Yes, a couple of blokes. I can't believe you think I'm implicated in this!'
    'It's part of the job,' Erlendur said. A lot of what I get involved with is more far-fetched than that.'
    Are you telling me that I attacked the boy to get my own back on Sunee?'
    Erlendur shrugged.
    Are you out of your mind?'
    'Stay where you are,' Erlendur said when Ódinn rose to his feet. 'What we need to do is to examine all the possibilities. Why should you want to get your own back on Sunee?'
    'What do you mean? I don't want to get my own back on her!'
    'I didn't mention any